A few TR's of Squamish Climbing

[squamish climber]

At the end of August visiting climbers get around to posting about their trip to Squamish. Reading these TR's gives a diverse and interesting perspective on how people experience squamish climbing. Here's a brief list. Let these climbers know what you think of their TR's by dropping a line here.

driving, singing, learning, climbing, smiling
http://climbchai.blogspot.ca/2012_08_01_archive.html
A Jewish neuroscientist and her partner spent a few weeks in August climbing. Here’s something she wrote that I think everybody can agree with:

The amazing thing about climbing in Squamish is that trad, sport and bouldering can all be found in close proximity. Yesterday we took a semi-rest day. We climbed 6 easy pitches up one portion of the Chief called the Apron. On our decent, we ran into some friends who were bouldering, so we joined them for the rest of the evening. World-class multi-pitch trad and bouldering in one day, you can't beat that!

Bergljot Støer
http://bergljotski.blogspot.ca/2012/09/ ... amish.html
A little boulder blurb from a transplanted Norwegian. She wrote an interesting take on the different climbers in Squamish:
It seems as if you can roughly divide the climbers in Squamish into three categories while you're sitting and observing the scene:

1) Hippies: Wear organic cotton and secondhand clothes with plenty of holes. Often asymmetric haircuts and smell a lot like Skunk Cabbage. Still have new climbing shoes and boulder mats. Drink green smoothies.
2) Technical: Wear the newest down jackets and technical clothing, have new climbing equipment in new backpacks and dark shades. Always have brushes and use them frequently, not just the toothbrushes but also the rather excessive "pole-mounted steel-brush". (I still don't get the reason for spending 3-5 minutes brushing all of the holds on the problem when the next thing you do is drown your hands in chalk and have another go?)
3) Yoga: Girls in yoga-pants and tank-tops, probably climb harder than any of the above.

Walkabout: Squamish Climbing Trip

Boe Trosset from Bellingham, Washington was up in Squamish over Labour Day weekend with friend and they climbed Angels Crest. Some nice photos of the route plus this beautiful shot of the Chief:


Corey Gargano
Feet on earth. Knock on wood. Touch stone. Good luck to all. ~ Ed Abbey
Check out Corey’s photography - it’s very good. Like this one of the crux pitch on the Butress:


Vertical Vagabond:
Virginia , from Washington DC did a 3000 mile detour when she changed her mind about climbing on the East Coast and headed west and north to Squamish. By the sounds of it the decision was a good one. She met some good people and did a lot of thinking and growing. Read her account about pushing herself to lead her first multi-pitch on Slot Machine. It’s all relative for everyone but the feeling of self achievement is universal in climbing.

Roaming free with the bear, the beaver and the buffalo
http://bearbeaverbuffalo.blogspot.ca/20 ... astal.html
After 25 years Doug and Di return to the Northwest and visit and climb in “Big Blue” a camper van they purchased on the Island. This couple managed to do a lot of great climbing using Marc’s Bourdon’s new book and the top 100 climbs list as a guide, including Kigijiushi, Charlotte’s Web, Emile , Small is Beautiful, Hairpin, Calculus Crack, Arrowroot and Turnip.
Granite Redemption:
http://graniteredemption.blogspot.ca/20 ... uh_16.html
Jack Ziegler is your classic Squamish Climbing bum. Jack’s been here are all summer, he even went in on shared accommodation in Valleycliff. Jack’s climbed all over Squamish, and all disciplines. Check out the his solo on Polaris (5.12a) which apparently is all fixed for solo climbing. And like most visiting climbers, Jack faces a bit of angst about whether to stay or go:

I really like the climbing community here in Squamish. And the people I've met from Vancouver. The outdoors are so accessible here and they take good care of it and have a positive attitude to sharing it with the world. I wonder if Boulder would be like that too or if the people there are full of themselves and their outdoors or just stupid with how they manage it (Yosemite valley for example...) oh but there is the canadian rain. The rain is coming and always comes. Will it turn my climbing paradise into hell? Will I run to Boulder to find I don't like it there? Or will I go back to Indian creek and live in my van in the Utah desert and continue the lonely unpredictable free spirit life? Or maybe I'll just stop taking rest days and never worry again..

Love Affair with Granite: Exodus
http://theloveaffairwithgravity.blogspo ... xodus.html
Toby Pritchard is another climber who spent most of the summer in Squamish. Check out his great shots on High Plains Drifter and Stairway to Heaven plus some camp life photos.