Some Grand Days Out - Graffiti Removal at Squamish

[Dru]

I am pretty sure that I ran into the kids who painted that pot flag graffitti just after they had painted it and rest assured they were not climbers. Rather they painted it there because that was as high as they felt able to hike.

[Brendan]

that was as high as they felt able to hike.

The REEFER will do that to you.
They should have stuck to the Chief boulders

[slopr]

They didn't even make it up the hill to the Chief boulders! this painting was not even halfway up the old highway bed. Must have been some real good sh*t.
Thanks for the cleaning efforts!!

[Brendan]

[Anders Ourom]

Reviving an old thread..

Anyway, it was time to regroup, and work out new tactics. Some US climbing friends recommended a product called Removall, which it turns out used to be made in Vancouver. It's supposedly biodegradable, and costs about $50 for a 4 l bucket. We recently tried it out on the perched boulder about 2/3 of the way up the backside trail, on a showery day. It worked very well. Apply the paste, wait a while, then scrub with a soft brush and rinse. Repeat. (A pressure washer is ideal, but obviously not feasible there.) It seems more effective than the "Goof Off" solvent plus wire brush, and less visible.

Before:


After:


In the after photo, you can also see the results of garbage collection that day. I often hike up the backside at the end of a day's climbing, to get behind the traffic and relax, and pick up garbage en route. But a few times a year, including once in the spring before everything buds, I work through all the hidden spots, and all around below the south summit. We got four full bags that day, mostly cans and plastic bottles. Probably over 100 total - they were crushed, to fit in.

The next graffiti removal project will be at the Little Smoke Bluffs, the ugly red one left of the top of Up, Up & Away. Logistically more complicated, in that ropes etc will be needed.

[BK]

Thanks for your sustained work Anders!

Interesting to note the last one was another memorial RIP. I understand the impulse but there simply has to be anotherway to memorialize someone besides a plaque or paint job. I think the deceased would likely prefer something more useful as well, if they had the chance to comment.

does the land holders (BC parks and District of squamish) contribute to your efforts?

[Anders Ourom]

Well, I'm just hoping that others will feel more of a sense of stewardship and community, and take on similar things. I keep BC Parks and the Little Smoke Bluffs committee informed of what I'm doing, but there's no committee or anything. (Parks has offered to pay for the Removall, and contributed materials, e.g. for painting over graffiti on the stairs and posts on the backside trail last summer.) Just trying to contribute a bit.

It would be nice if either or both organizations/parks had a "memorial" program. That is, a program whereby the friends and families of dead climbers could donate to a specified project, or to the general welfare of either or both park, and receive some reasonably permanent recognition. The Feldhammer kiosk, at the start of the Grand Wall trail, is a good example. Not all projects have a place for a plaque, but that might be solved with a general memorial somewhere like the campground. Simply add names as needed.

The proliferation of plaques at the Chief, and the recent addition of memorial graffiti, are a real concern. (I'd never want such a thing, myself.) A memorial project program might help with this, and with funding for the park - although the government should do better with such funding, there's no reason we shouldn't help. Maybe the Access Society can sit down with the various parties and develop a list, ready to go? Peter?