The Common Wealth - New Trad Crag Murrin Park

[smallman]

Hi Folks: Hope you have been enjoying your summer. Kevin Henshaw and myself, Chris Small, have been spent most of the summer digging, trundling, scrubbing, mattocking, landscaping, and other fun activities to create a new moderate trad cliff at Murrin Park called the Common Wealth. With13 routes in the 5.6 - 5.10 + ranges, it has plenty of routes for the common climber to attempt. We have created a topo you can upload here: http://www.quickdrawpublications.com/Fr ... loads.html

Bring a standard rack heavy on small wires and cam to 00. The Common Wealth receives morning sun and afternoon shade and is an ideal hot summer day destination.

Enjoy,

Chris Small

[steven]

Wow this looks like a great addition! Thanks for the hard work everyone.

[Axilla]

We stopped by and checked it out yesterday. Beautiful rock. Nice work you two on a crag that is certain to see a lot of traffic.

Thanks again!

[jipstyle]

Thanks for the excellent work, guys .. I'm looking forward to checking this out this week.

[scrubber]

Congratulations Chris and Kevin. It looks fantastic!

If you found any mysterious bits of random man-made stuff on the cliff, I'm the guilty one. I had envisioned doing what you have done about 12 years ago, but couldn't commit to the amount of work it looked like it was going to entail. Several folks over the years have spotted the "diamond in the rough", but you made it sparkle. I've heard from other sources that the secret weapon is amazing on thick moss. Looking forward to trying it myself one day...

Kris

[steven]

I had a chance to climb at The Common Wealth today and quite enjoyed it. A very nice moderate crag. It was super busy (around 12-15 people at busiest) so i'm sure it will see plenty of traffic.

"It's not easy being green" and "Ancient Squamish Secret" were my two favourite routes. My friends looking for introductory leads really appreciated "The Total Stinkeye", "Rick's Root", and "Partners in Grime".

Thanks again for the hard work. I was blown away by how clean the routes were. That being said, A party did pull off a foot-ball sized piece on "Fanfare For the Common Man" so definitely keep an eye out.

[smallman]

thanks for the good feedback. I am pretty sure which rock came off of fanfare for the common man. I TRIED everything to get that thing off. Crowbar, ice axe, another bigger crowbar, hammer. So surprised it came off.

[hafilax]

I was next to the party on Fanfare when the rock came out. He kicked it off with his foot; probably 5m up the climb. The upper left crack is all pretty hollow sounding and one rock is rattly.

I really enjoyed the climbing. Kind of an intermediate's Sugarloaf. Looked like there's some potential for more routes up around right.

[Lagerbaer]

Did Otto Mattock and the 5.7 to its left. The latter has a big loose rock near the end, but it didn't come out with gentle pulling so I decided to leave it at that. Super fun routes, I'll definitely come back with the topo and try some of the other routes.

[squamish climber]

Chris and Kevin,

I was hoping to get up there and give the climbs a go, before I posted, but I'm not sure when that might happen. I was up there though in July during the CASBC Trail day and the crag was imprinted in my mind as a terrific place to climb. The woods are cool there, shady but quite open. And the climbing looks varied and intriguing -- great addition. I think Jeremy Frimmer would say you followed the first rule of the Dig Club, the Squamish Climbing Community owes you a big thanks.
Here is a view of the topo pdf

[Jeff Thomson]

I just wanted to take a minute to say to the developers of this crag; thank you and congratulations! I spend this morning climbing here and I personally feel that this crag is one of the great contributions of late to easy/moderate climbing in Squamish!
It is well cleaned, every line is nice and independent from the others, the climbing itself I found quite varied and interesting for the grades and the great anchors at the top just finish it off perfectly.
My youngest son has really taken to climbing of late and now that he has "mastered" the Sugarloaf easy routes, this cliff will be the perfect next stepping stone for him.
Cheers, Jeff Thomson

[scrubber]

I just had my first chance to climb there last night with my family and some friends. Lots of fun. The routes are closer together than many other Squamish crags, but still completely independent lines. The cliff is just that featured. By next spring it should be gleaming white, and most of the loose bits will have succumbed to gravity and climbers.

Well worth the visit. Do it soon, because when word spreads it'll be crowded every nice day.

Kris

[SGB]

Agree fully with everything said above.
Took 2 of my kids today to this cliff and they have been to most of the beginner "crack" areas (sugarloaf, pixie's, funarama, octopus, burgers and fries) - this area was probably their favourite
- rest stances
- most routes are straight up
- short hike in
- browning lake for a swim after

[bret]

Im new to squamish and the commonwealth wall was probably my 7th or 8th time out. Great crag.

Groovy Guru well have me coming back!

[smallman]

Hello: Kevin and I completed the final two climbs on the right side of crag last week and will post an updated topo in the near future. In the meantime:

14. A Question of Unbalance. 5.9/10a. 12 m. Chris Small, Kevin Henshaw. 2012.
Climbs the paired shallow seams to just right of Stihl Cleaning. the question refers to what thoughts popped into my head during the first ascent. Am I balanced? Committing technical bouldery start leads into much easier climbing above. Small cams and nuts required.

15. Furry Children Misbehavin'. 5.8. 12m. Chris Small, Kevin Henshaw. 2012.
Oh, Squamites and their canine kids. Uses the right most thin seam and arete. Try using just the seam only for a very technical challenge

Both climbs share an anchor under the big tree.