Pet Wall closed till 5th of April

[Fre]

I was at Neat and Cool when they broke down their fake rock bit in the corner. The dude needed a chainsaw to cut down the little construction and then they lifted it out of there. He was in a bit of a rush but at the same time he was pretty concerned about cleaning up the place in a decent manner. He had two adjuncts that were running around with brooms etc, so I thought the film industry was pretty good at cleaning up there...
I'm a bit surprised to hear they left that bit of fake rock... can we simply dispose of it ourselves?
Communication-wise:
do they need more days at Murrin (longer than the 5th of April)?
Is all of Murrin off-limits except for Nightmare Rock?

One of the production managers I spoke to a couple of months ago was a very nice guy. Nicer than some climbers I've met..

[pbeckham]

Some good points and valid concerns expressed here.
Re the Pet, as far as I know, production is supposed to be pretty much out of the area by the end of the week, three four days over the April 5 completion date.
I haven't been over to the Chief campground or Bullethead boulders to assess activities or impacts but will pass along the concerns I'm hearing to our Locations Manager.
To the best of my knowledge, Brian Moorehead was liaising on behalf of the SAS with the film production working in the Bluffs and he can better speak to the issue of the apparently abandoned set piece. Similarly, any concerns about impacts at the Chief and elsewhere should be directed to Brian and/or our local BC Parks Ranger Katy Chambers. They will in turn make sure production does what's required. It's important that we avoid confrontation and I suggest we wait till production is finished filming and has completed the required remediation before passing judgment. There is a process in place and it's up to everyone to participate to make it work.

To keep things in perspective, I went back and looked at the area off of Psyche Ledge where we filmed Pathfinder a few years ago. It looked pretty horrendous while we were in there in the muck and rain but today the area looks well recovered and the bouldering trails are by far and away the most obvious impact.

Finally, there have been suggestions made that Squamish needs a credible and effective Film Commission to ensure a level playing field for all filming in Squamish. The Smoke Bluff Advisory Committee has organized a mechanism along these lines and we would all do well to support it and encourage the development of a more comprehensive agency.

Sincerely,

PB

[squamish climber]

I received word from the Smoke Bluff Park Advisory Committee that the remains of the set (fake rock pieces) left in Smoke Blufffs are now gone. Apparently they were to be used elsewhere and that's why they were not hauled away with the rest of the trash.

[Peter]

I'm actually getting tired of this. Pet Wall is not in the Park, it is on Crown land. I don't believe the movie company (and it is Twilight btw) has any more right there than we do. This is becoming more of a trend, as climbing gets more popular it appears in more movies etc. I don't think it's fair for them to close off entire crags, doing damage, and then not compensating the climbing community......

The climbing community doesn't own Pet Wall nor do we have any right whatsoever to compensation. The fact that we're inconvenienced doesn't hold any weight.

.

I disagree.
Pet Wall is just one example, and we are fortunate to have local climbers working the set. But that's not always going to be the case. My rant was purely about protecting the sport and our resource and letting all users know that it exists and should be respected. Sure it's a public resource, but so are mountain bike trails. If a movie shoot blocked off the Half Nelson trail for several days and then "tinkered" with it, do you think SORCA and the mountain bike community would just sit idly by? Not likely, in fact they would probably be notified beforehand to prevent the riot. Climbing days are precious and the finite rock available is precious too. If a movie set blocks a road or takes over a park etc there is usually some sort of compensation, I don't know why the climbing community can't get the same. Our sport most be respected, be it by movie companies, or any other temporary user of our only resource.

[pbeckham]

"Climbing days are precious and the finite rock available is precious too. If a movie set blocks a road or takes over a park etc there is usually some sort of compensation, I don't know why the climbing community can't get the same. Our sport most be respected, be it by movie companies, or any other temporary user of our only resource."

I disagree with this view and let me qualify any of my comments by saying I'm not speaking on behalf of this production, the film industry in general or climbers. My perspective is that of someone who has lived and climbed in Squamish for over three decades, has developed some popular crags and routes and works in the film industry.

I'm not seeing the precious climbing days being missed.
It has pissed down rain most every day we've worked at the Pet and on the Chief and I expect that by the time the crags dry out enough for the regular climbing season to start (usually early to mid May), this production will be done and gone.

Climbers don't own any crags in Squamish and are owed zero compensation for anything, period. They are owed the same respect and consideration as any other user group or members of the public. This production pays the agreed compensation to the citizens of British Columbia through the terms of a Park Use Permit.

We'd all be better off by relinquishing a commonly held but misguided and overly inflated view of climbing's importance or contribution in the greater scheme of things.

Perry Beckham

[BK]

Perry hits the nail squarely on the head. Squamish in winter = skiing, and if I hear the word compensated one more time I'm going to puke