Squamish Access Society

On Sunday April 1st, the SAS organized a work party to improve the base of Foundation Wall up at Chek. As many of you will know, it had deteriorated heavily over the years with a lot of erosion. Prior to the work undertaken, the base was essentially a steep clay slope with no area to throw on shoes and throw down a rope tarp, let alone belay comfortably and safely from.

Eight people put in 6 hours of work with picks, shovels and a lot of back power to establish platforms and even out the slope. The SAS would like to thank ClimbOn in Squamish in particular for the miraculous appearance of the required cedar planking.

On a few of the climbs, we are considering moving the first bolts downward or adding another, to adjust them back to their original style before the base erosion and recent base work. We are also considering some gravel coverage for the platforms.

The recent considerable amount of snow left the Conroy Creek Forest Service Road blocked by plow debris. Parking even at the side of highway was difficult.

The gravel pit opposite The Rehab Project and Ripple Tower now serves as the new salt-shed for the highway maintenance crews. Parking there is allowed for Ripple Tower, The Rehab. or Pleasure Dome, etc… during the winter months. Please leave space for trucks to enter and exit.

Currently, there are no significant access issues affecting this area. The only exception is for climbers to be aware of the active heavy machinery coming-and-going from the gravel pit which serves as parking for the Rehab project, Ripple Tower, etc… and most recently for the Pleasure Dome. Park off to the side and near the highway at the south entrance point. [An aside: when you pull back onto the highway heading south, be aware that you are in one of three lanes merging into one, particularly at times of heavy “Whistler traffic”]

The Conroy Creek FSR has seen some great work by the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and the Arts recently. The road is very well graded as of the date of posting; so much so that you could go up on a two wheel drive, low-clearance vehicle. There is a new lower parking lot (a 100 meters or so shy of the top ) with toilet and graded “tent-spots”, and the upper lot has been filled in, with the addition of drainage pipes. The “swamp” of previous years should be a thing of the past. This area was the sight of a significant Climbers’ Access Society of B.C. initiative in the spring of 2006, which saw the building of the aforementioned toilet, two picnic tables at the upper parking lot, and a notice-posting structure near the entrance of the Forgotten Wall (which sports an area map). The medium- term plan is to have this area recognized by the Ministry as an official “Recreation Site”.