Is Squamish Soft?

Everything and anything to do with climbing in Squamish.
jipstyle
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:07 pm

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by jipstyle » Thu Aug 30, 2012 3:32 pm

hafilax wrote:I know someone who got off-route on the dyke traverse of Snake, fell and broke his heels on the slab below.
Yikes!

Now I'm going to have that thought in my head during my next lead. :P

2eREP
Casual Observer
Casual Observer
Posts: 13
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 11:04 am
Location: White Rock

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by 2eREP » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:12 pm

Tending towards the soft side, and depending upon the area, also wildly inconsistent. I noted that the grades on many routes went up by a letter grade with the introduction of McLean’s 1992 guide. Pre-McLean, and as examples, both Blackwater at the Pet, and the Left Side of the Pillar were rated 11d.

User avatar
jonny2vests
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 168
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 7:38 am
Location: Vancouver & Sheffield

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by jonny2vests » Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:21 pm

I got round to the Grand Wall yesterday. With the exception of Merci Me, I can report that none of it felt soft. Bang on I'd say. Its hard to be objective though, I have to ask myself "How hard would Perry's feel if it was on the deck?". Because after the Pillar and the Sword AND the bolt haul, I maybe should have had a longer rest.

Millennium Falcon next. I'm hoping for an easier ride. Beta is not welcome, unless it's disguised cryptically as encouragement.

jipstyle
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:07 pm

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by jipstyle » Mon Sep 03, 2012 7:35 pm

Have fun!

NateDoggOG
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:35 am

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by NateDoggOG » Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:22 pm

Haha, I did the Grand yesterday as well, after deciding against Freeway. We had a late start though; around two, so managed to avoid the traffic jam that was clogging everything up.
Down around Apron Strings somewhere, I was killing myself laughing watching someone seconding the Sword. At the crux, they were laybacking like mad; no stemming, but there was some serious (and hilarious) back-flagging going on. Then, when they finally managed to get the slots in the back, they just hauled themselves up, beached whale style. All I could see was the little ledge and two legs sticking out from the top of it, kicking a little. They stayed like that for probably a good five minutes.
Was that anyone in your party?
This was my third time doing the Grand completely clean...... love that climb. Perry's is now the only pitch I really find myself having to fight to get.

Did Millennium Falcon on Saturday with Relic. Grade wise, it's fairly on par with the Grand, but where the Grand is physically difficult and everything is fairly obvious, Mill Falcon is technically difficult, with a lot of intricate laybacking and stemming and stuff. It's a very good companion climb.
Have fun :)

User avatar
jonny2vests
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 168
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 7:38 am
Location: Vancouver & Sheffield

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by jonny2vests » Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:24 pm

NateDoggOG wrote:Was that anyone in your party?
Ha, I'm happy to say that wasn't us or Dan & Jason, we were nearly on Bellygood by 2pm.

largelead
I'm New Here
I'm New Here
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:47 am

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by largelead » Sat Sep 08, 2012 9:54 am

Astrologger!! Man that thing is brick hard for the grade!!

I like this quote from mountain project: "its given grade of 11b is way out of line with other local grades and is sandbagged sufficiently so as to be hard on the Ego."

I kind of like the hidden old school sand bags. Keeps everyone in line:)

User avatar
psi4ce
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 167
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2008 4:29 pm
Location: Squamish

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by psi4ce » Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:24 pm

NateDoggOG wrote:I was killing myself laughing watching someone seconding the Sword
That doesn't make you sound like a very nice person.

original gorby
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:34 pm
Location: Squamish

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by original gorby » Sat Sep 08, 2012 7:13 pm

wow NateBloggOG! 3rd time doing the grand wall light clean AND laughing at lesser climbers flailing on the sword... you are such a hardman!

jipstyle
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:07 pm

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by jipstyle » Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:01 pm

If you don't appreciate his sense of humour, fine .. but the passive aggressive digs are a bit lame.

I would have thrashed, cried, humped and aided my way up that line and I still found his post pretty damn funny.

NateDoggOG
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:35 am

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by NateDoggOG » Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:19 pm

Wow, why so serious?

Good to know climbing doesn't affect people's sense of humour.

jipstyle
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:07 pm

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by jipstyle » Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:34 am

I saw this guy posting something that I thought was inappropriate and I was going to make a scathingly sarcastic post mocking him .. then I remembered that I used to make those kinds of posts and thought I'd be the better man and just brag about how much more mature I am.

(seriously, though, how many nested levels of snark can we achieve in this thread? i bet we can go a couple deeper ..)

jipstyle
Full Member
Full Member
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2010 2:07 pm

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by jipstyle » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:03 am

What makes you think that I don't get the jokes? I think you're ALL hilarious.

User avatar
gnarnaphobe
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 279
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:54 pm
Location: Squamish

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by gnarnaphobe » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:50 am

Bearphuckrr how come yous wasn't at the psyke ledge party. Everyone was wondering where you were.

We were in need of your insight and wit.
Imaging how much funner this could be with booze and explosives

NateDoggOG
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 236
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:35 am

Re: Is Squamish Soft?

Post by NateDoggOG » Mon Sep 10, 2012 9:29 am

Wow. I wasn't laughing at the person struggling to climb it. Good on them for going for it! I've had my share of flailing on that climb as well, and it was only through much perseverance that I actually managed to climb it.
But come on. Tell me that you can not possibly picture what appears to be a sheer wall with two legs growing out of it and not find that funny. If I was the climber and situations were reversed, I would hope someone got a kick out of it.
Hell, partway up the Apron yesterday, I was standing on a little ledge spinning around like a ballerina in order to try and get a twist out of my rope. Freakin hilarious. I hope someone saw that sh*t and had a good laugh trying to figure out what I was doing.

Learn to appreciate the little things in life. It'll make it way more enjoyable. If you can laugh at yourself and find humour in the situation, maybe you won't mind other people laughing as well.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests