Visiting Britsh Climber

[pep]

Hi Guys
me and the wife are heading your way next year, we are thinking of spending Jun-Aug around Squamish area and hoped you could help with a bit of info. would the weather be good that time of year? what guide books would you recommend for surrounding areas?

thanks pep

[glomeruli]

the weather is typically dry that time of year allowing for lots of good climbing.

pick up a copy of Squamish Select (Bourdon) for info on the classic and most popular climbs (which would most likely be sufficient for 3 months of climbing)

or

The Climbers Guide to Squamish (McLane) for a more comprhensive list.

[Doc]

I like Squamish Select better but The Climbers Guide to Squamish is more comprehensive.

[rich k]

also
http://www.squamishclimbing.com/topos/Chek.pdf
by donation

[t-bone]

As much as it pains me to say this....Squamish Select is easily the best of the two.

McClanes guide has many errors, bad topos, a poor rating system, and the photo quality is absolutely terrible. Also, the pages are too small.

I love the fact it includes ALL the climbs; hopefully the next edition will see a drastic formatting change.

[Brendan]

Squamish Select

who's McClane??

[pep]

Thanks for your replies much appreciated, just wondered if any of you guys know a good place to pick up a cheap reliable car? Emphasis on the word cheap.

Thanks pep

[ras]

[quote="pep"]Thanks for your replies much appreciated, just wondered if any of you guys know a good place to pick up a cheap reliable car? Emphasis on the word cheap. [/quote]

No magic I know of for cars, you'll have to slog through the buy-n-sell and online sites like the rest of us , but just so you know, you can do pretty well with a cheap reliable bicycle in squamish. The sport climbing up the corridor to Whister isn't accessible, but the smoke bluffs and chief and downtown squamish are all easy.

[pep]

cheers Ras,

thats great if i can get by without a car.. can you get a bus to the sport climbing venue or to buy food ect?

[original gorby]

Hey Pep, I lived in downtown Squamish for 2 years without a car... walked to work, grocery store, bank, post office, pub as well as the Smoke Bluffs, the Malamute and The Chief. A cheap bike with a solid lock would be the way to go.
Also... Not sure why everybody on this website feels the need to slag K. McLanes guidebook. I have both books and I use the McLane book WAY more than the other one. If buying only one book - buy the comprehensive guide to all the climbs of Squamish.

My two cents....

[ras]

[quote="original gorby"]
Also... Not sure why everybody on this website feels the need to slag K. McLanes guidebook. I have both books and I use the McLane book WAY more than the other one. If buying only one book - buy the comprehensive guide to all the climbs of Squamish.

My two cents....[/quote]

This is way off-topic, but what the hay.

I think its a common problem with guide books to areas the size of squamish. You can get clear and easy to use, but not comprehensive. Or you can get comprehensive. At least, the red river gorge, new river, and red rocks guide books are like that. There are the huge have-every-single-climb books, but they have so much information they are hard to navigate at times, and the smaller "select" guidebooks are often easier to use.

Kevin's books are monumental. He's trying to get every climb, and he does pretty well. Squamish (and BC) climbing wouldn't be the same without Elaho's books, and I sure appreciate them. But I carry the squish select with me most days.

Some people just like to gripe.

Speaking of which, how about that rain?

[ras]

[quote="pep"]cheers Ras,

thats great if i can get by without a car.. can you get a bus to the sport climbing venue or to buy food ect?[/quote]

You can do everything without a car, except get to the good sport climbing!

No buses.

[pep]

Sounds like my kind of town! now just the little problem of 6 months to kill!... oh well i'll av to entertain myself with some gritstone.

laters guys

[t-bone]

Don't get me wrong....I have pretty much every Elaho publication and most of them are excellent. However the most recent Squamish book was quite disappointing (to me). Go climb the 'good' climb Bad Pants Party if you want an example of what I mean

[c-plus]

Go climb the 'good' climb Bad Pants Party if you want an example of what I mean

LOL...thread-drift alert! i get the impression kevin's never gonna live that climb down around here...

but in his defense, it's not as if it's even remotely possible for him to climb every single route in the book and i would assume he's gotta rely on third party info a lot of the time. for any climb that relatively new, you gotta assume that there has yet to be any consensus on either the grade or quality...

more on topic, for a visiting climber, i'd definately recommend the new squamish select. lots of good sport and trad routes to keep you busy for your entire visit...