Squamish Access Society

Compared to other parts of North America, the amount of suspect protection bolts and anchors in the Squamish area is relatively low. Up to now, this rather fortunate state of affairs is the result of legions of volunteers who have contributed their time and money toward this end. In an effort to complement these efforts SAS has recently began two initiatives.

First, we have built up and are currently maintaining an online database of suspect and non disputed bolts (rusty, spinning, etc) and anchors in the Squamish area.  We expect this database to continue to grow and encourage anyone with suggestions to submit them via our website.

Second, we have contracted two local and experienced guiding companies to begin replacing some of these questionable bolts with modern stainless steel bolts meeting the UIAA/EN 959 standard. In phase 1 of the initiative, the following climbs have been re-bolted:

• Merci Me (Grand Wall) and alternate rap anchor
• Dream On (Apron)
• Beat the Clock (Murrin Park)
• Savage Beagle (Chek)
• Mothers Milk (Chek)
• Kigijushi (Chek)
• Cupola Rebuff (Chek): Chains on anchor
• Timber Queen (Chek)

A full report from the contractors can be found here. Images can be viewed here.  In this re-bolting work every effort was made to minimize visual damage to the rock including pulling existing hardware (rather than chopping), use of existing holes for new bolts when possible or camouflaging the old holes with epoxy, and overdrilling the new holes to facilitate future replacement.

Going forward, SAS is planning to begin phase 2 of this initiative in Fall 2010. We welcome any comments, concerns, and/or suggestions of other bolts/anchors to replace.  We will, of course, consider re-bolting classic climbs. In addition to support our recent Climbing Strategy Report we are also targeting the re-bolting of climbs that will work to disperse people further away from the front country and overly popular climbs and thus open up new opportunities.

The Squamish Access Society and The Climber Access Society of BC are organizing a trail day during the Squamish Mountain Festival.  The event is held in partnership with Arc’teryx,  Mountain Equipment Co-op and BC Parks.

What: a half-day of trail and boulder maintenance and garbage collection
Where: Apron Parking Lot, Stawamus Provincial Park
When: meet 9am Saturday July 17th 2010  for coffee, muffins and a briefing

There will be a post event prize raffle for all volunteers including the chance to win one of two crash pads!

Don’t forget to bring:

• Sturdy footwear and gloves
• Appropriate clothing
• Lunch
• Water
• Cell phones, sunscreen, etc…

This year’s festival, which runs July 14th to the 18th, promises to be bigger and better than ever.  Check out the following press release and for more info visit squamishmountainfestival.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

International climbing destination hosts Squamish Mountain Festival.
Celebrate with Royal Robbins, Barry Blanchard and climbing funny man, Cedar Wright, July 14-18.

SQUAMISH, British Columbia (June 29, 2010) – With less than two weeks to go, Squamish is ready to celebrate its internationally renowned climbing culture with some of the sport’s biggest names at the Squamish Mountain Festival.  Films and speakers will be featured at the Eagle Eye Theatre, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada, from July 14 to 18, 2010.

Canadian alpinist Barry Blanchard, Yosemite big wall pioneer Royal Robbins, and crack climbing funny man Cedar Wright, are some of the highlights on the roster of presenters who have survived decades of wild adventures and near misses, and have stories to share about their vertical lifestyles. Also presenting at the festival will be Jason Kruk, Tommy Caldwell and Rob Pizem. Each night will feature climbing and mountain adventure films from around the globe.

The festival opens Wednesday, July 14 at the Eagle Eye Theatre in Squamish with legendary Canadian alpinist, Barry Blanchard. After three decades in the climbing game, Blanchard is a well-known raconteur, writer and mentor. He has been described as “a mountaineer so revered that aspiring alpinists pin his photo in their high school lockers.” Despite the high-level adulation, Blanchard maintains a down-to-earth sense of humour.

“Barry has been a respected member of a small group of very elite alpine climbers for years,” says festival director Ivan Hughes, “and he’s still out there guiding on a regular basis so its been tough trying to get him out here for the festival.”

The Steep Shot Photo Contest takes place Thursday, July 15. This is showcase of the best shooters in the biz and sells out every year! Six photographers are asked to produce a slideshow of their best climbing or climbing related photography. The slide shows are judged and the top 3 presentations are awarded cash prizes.

Friday, July 16 is the Big Wall Climbing Night and features a presentation from Yosemite big wall pioneer Royal Robbins.  Robbins’ accomplishments as rock climber are many. An early advocate of bolt-less, piton-less, clean climbing, Robbins did much to transform climbing culture to minimize the human impact on the vertical wilderness and protect its natural features. As a rock-climbing pioneer, he broke through existing standards to create wholly new skill and difficulty levels. In the 50s, 60s, and into the 70s, Robbins established one daring new climb after another, among them many revered classics on Yosemite’s Half Dome and El Capitan.

On the Alpine Climbing Night, Saturday, July 17, the festival welcomes back Cedar Wright who first presented at the festival in 2008. Cedar learned climbing at the age of 21 on Northern California’s majestic sea cliffs. While he worked toward his B.A. in English from Humboldt State, he quickly progressed as a climber and was soon establishing numerous first-ascent free climbs throughout the area. After earning his degree he started wintering in Joshua Tree and spending the rest of the year in Yosemite, where he became an accomplished free soloist, speed climber, aid climber and free climber.

“We wanted to bring Cedar back because he’s been doing so many incredible climbs lately and filming lots of his adventures,” says Hughes, “a lot of other climbers are out there doing presentations these days but few are as entertaining, enlightening and at the same time hilarious as Cedar, we just had to get him back here.”

The Squamish Mountain Festival is presented by Arc’teryx. Tickets are available in Squamish at Climb On, Valhalla Pure, the Squamish Adventure Centre and online at www.squamishmountainfestival.com.

The dates for the 2010 Squamish Mountain Festival have been set.  The fun this year happens between July 14th and 18th.  A temporary site has been set up here, with links to clips and beta from last year’s festival.  Confirmed speakers for 2010 include none other than Royal Robbins, Barry Blanchard, and Tommy Caldwell. As usual, there will be a trail day planned during the festival.  Stay tuned for more information as the planning gets underway for this now classic fest of shows, parties and (of course) climbing!

Want to learn more about the impacts of the proposed Garibaldi at Squamish all-season ski resort?

Don’t feel like you really know what this project is all about?

Then go to the Community Meeting hosted by Save Garibaldi on April 12th at the Sea to Sky Hotel, 6:30 - 9:00pm (directions).

Guest speakers will share their knowledge and points of view regarding the effects of GAS on the Sea to Sky corridor. This will then be followed by a Q & A period during which members of the audience will be invited to ask questions, voice their concerns or simply share their thoughts.

Click here to read the Squamish Access Society’s position on Garibaldi at Squamish.

Check out the films at the Howe Sound Brew Pub on Thursday, March 25, doors at 7pm , show at 8pm.  Tickets are available on-line at www.vimff.org (tour page) or in Squamish at Valhalla Pure and Climb On.  Tickets are $12 advance and $14 at the door.

THE FILMS:

Rush Hour Dream - 5 minutes
Jury’s Award (Festival Award)
Dusseldorf, Germany. An office worker goes to work and falls asleep in the tramway. In his dream he wakes up in a beautiful mountainside and discovers that he is carrying a paraglider in his laptop bag.

Continuum Project – Zion  - 19 minutes
Rob Pizem and Mike Anderson crush brawny off-widths and delicate face climbing in Zion.

Samsara - 19 minutes
Best Film on Mountaineering (The Alpine Club of Canada Award)
Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk set out to attempt a first ascent of a 2200 m rock and ice route in the heart of the lofty, knife-sharp Vindhya Mountains in India.

The Argentine Project - 7 minutes
3 friends taking a trip and hoping to create a mountain bike flick with one bike, 2 cameras… and a little Spanish.

INTERMISSION

Hey Presto - 10 minutes
World class climber Sonnie Trotter teams up with world class belayer Cory Richards to take on the Squamish classic, ‘Presto’.

Welsh Connection - Pembroke - 10 minutes
Best Film on Rock Climbing (Katherine Rae Award)
British hot shot Timmy Emmett tries and climbs hair raising R routes on the Pembroke cliff in Wales.

Rowing the Atlantic - 24 minutes
Best Water Film (Festival Award)
Story of Roz Savage’s journey from an ordinary career woman to an adventurer, facing the most intimidating challenge of her life - rowing 1700 km across the Atlantic Ocean.

The following email from the Sea-to-Sky Improvement was released with information about traveling Hwy 99:

This bulletin is being sent to you whether you are a regular user of the Sea-to-Sky highway or an occasional participant in public consultation meetings over the past few years.  We have tried to minimize cross-postings, hope you find it useful, and invite you to share it with those you know who may benefit from the information.

There are no road works with scheduled delays in the corridor, though drivers are advised to watch for maintenance crews on the highway.

The main page of the project website now features regular updates on travel on the Sea-to-Sky highway over the coming weeks.  See www.seatoskyimprovements.ca

The current Traffic Information webpage is accessible via this link:
http://projects.ch2m.com/TrafficUpdate/travelling-sts.asp

2010 Games Operations

As Olympic Games approach, various modifications to the highway have been made, and are nearly complete.

To better plan your travel in early 2010, here are a few useful links:

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/transportation_2010/index.html
Ministry of Transportation website on highway travel during the Olympics

http://travelsmart2010.ca/ “Know before you go”, everything you need to know about travel during the Olympic Games

http://www.whistler2010.com/pdf/SEA-TO-SKY-checkpoint.pdf or http://www.seatoskyimprovements.ca/documents/2010/GamesTravelUpdate.pdf
About the Sea-to-Sky checkpoint at Alice Lake, to operate from 6am – 6pm February 11 to 28, 2010.

People travelling south from Squamish should be aware of the only scheduled games-time delay in the corridor:
February 13 – February 28
*20 – 30 min delays to southbound traffic between 7:00 – 7:45 am for Whistler Mountaineer train at Porteau (20 minutes south of Squamish).
See also: http://www.seatoskyimprovements.ca/documents/2010/PorteauLanes.pdf

For More information:

You can always call the toll-free Project Information Line at 1-877-4safe99 (1-877-472-3399) prior to your trip for up-to-date traffic information.  Please send questions by email to roadclosuresanddelays@seatoskyimprovements.ca

Please visit www.theweathernetwork.com to register for Road Alerts by text message in the event of unexpected, sustained highway closures.

Keep the Sea-to-Sky open – Do your part.  Drive defensively.

Thank you,
Pam Tattersfield

Traffic Communications Manager
Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project

604-315-4749 (toll-free through Service BC 1-800-663-7867)
website: http://www.seatoskyimprovements.ca/
traffic info: 1-877-4 SAFE 99 (1-877-472-3399)

The Squamish Climbing Strategy report of November 2008 was presented to Squamish Council on November 24th by Kevin McLane and Todd Gerhart for the SAS. The 30 minute slide show highlighting key aspects of the report’s findings and recommendations was very well received.  This resulted in Council approving a package of actions on January 12th that will impact on climbing around Squamish in many ways. Council gave unanimous approval to the 12 staff recommendations.

These 12 action recommendations are well worth reading, and although the wheels of government move slowly, the District of Squamish seems set on a course that will steadily improve and secure rock climbing and alpine access in the Squamish area.

The staff report can be read online here [PDF, 2.3MB].

Due to some very close calls over the last few months, route cleaning (in particular on the Chief) has become a matter of deep concern for the SAS and BC parks.  There have been instances of intentionally trundled debris coming very close to hitting people at the base of the Chief.  The SAS urges extreme caution by anyone retro-cleaning or establishing new lines anywhere in Squamish, but especially in Stawamus, Shannon Falls and Murrin provincial parks.  To date climbers have had the liberty to self-govern their actions, and cleaning routes is a vital part of a sustainable climbing environment.  However, the SAS strongly suggests any cleaners think long and hard about the merits of their activity and follow logical steps of communicating and carrying out their intentions, the most obvious one being to ensure by all means necessary that no one is below the cleaning area.

Death or injury to anyone would obviously be a tragic result of any cleaning activity, but as well prove to have huge implications for climbing and new route activity in the parks and most likely other jurisdictions in the Squamish area and province wide.

Route cleaning has come up as part of the discussion taking place at the newly formed Squamish Climbers’ Advisory Group, a group of climbers and BC Parks staff tackling immediate and strategic issues related to climbing matters.

The CRAG is a group of climbers who comprise a committee to represent the greater Squamish climbing public in assisting BC Parks and possibly other agencies in policy regarding management of climbs and climbing affairs.

It was established in late 2009 under coordination by the Squamish Access Society in partnership with BC Parks (BCP) and follows and builds upon recommendation #2 to BC Parks of the Squamish Climbing Strategy Report which we released in early 2009.

The SAS approached several members of the climbing community.  The following people volunteered their time and energy to be included in the start-up of the group:  Andre Ike, Andrew Boyd, Colin Moorhead, Craig McGee, Jasmin Caton, Charlie Harrison, John Howe, Jeremy Frimer, Jeremy Smith, Kevin McLane, Marc Bourdon and Peter Winter.

The group’s make-up is evolving, but what is critical is that it adequately reflects the needs of the climbing community in the broadest sense.

A rough indication of the work envisioned into 2010 and beyond includes:

• Developing a vision of how Squamish climbing can be its best 10 years from now.
• Working with BCP on issues of immediate concern, including a revision of the 1999 Rock Climbing Strategy
• Developing principles by which climbers should try to conduct themselves regarding cleaning, new route development, retro-management and other related matters
• Developing a database of climbs based on pitch attributes to provide a baseline of our climbing resources, showing how many of each type of climb and pitch we have
• Developing a long term plan to address issues regarding climbing in the parks specifically, and potentially other venues, especially as regards balancing capacity (having enough available climbs to absorb growth) and values (the things that make Squamish climbing what it is)

Four meetings of the group have been held, initially just among the climbers, and the last two with BC Parks.  On pressing substantive matters the group has spent some time discussing route cleaning as this issue has become acute with several close calls over the last few months, as well as issues around the annual falcon closure.  Terms of reference are being developed and the group is tackling how best to move forward with regard to process and procedure.  A means by which to keep the public informed of the progress of the group and to receive community feedback is also being worked on.

It is exciting to have a group of dedicated, passionate climbers help forge the future of a sustainable climbing experience in Squamish.