Squamish, B.C. 7/24 - 7/25/10

The Boealps Basic Rock Climbing (BRC) class was headed up to Canada for a weekend of climbing so I tagged along to do some rock climbing myself. Unfortunately my body wanted to make it a little more difficult and I went home sick Thursday and stayed home Friday. The smart decision would have been to stay at home over the weekend and recover, but that was not the fun option so I elected to go camping and climbing instead. However, I did bring a box of Kleenex, package of Halls cough drops, Cold Eez, and some ibuprofen. I was ready to take on the rock.

We left about 7 PM Friday evening to head up to Squamish, B.C. which is north of Vancouver, along 99 on the way to Whistler. We found our way across the border at Lynden and then found our way into lots of traffic trying to make our way through Vancouver. I never expected stop and go traffic on highway 1 around 10 PM, but I got to know the neighboring cars well. We finally made it up to Squamish just before midnight and pulled into the parking lot of our home for the weekend, Stawamus Chief Provincial Park. We grabbed our headlamps and started walking around looking for a campsite so we could go to bed. Unfortunately all of the pads were taken. There were a few pads with a single tent so a few people decided to share the pad and hoped the occupants wouldn't get too angry. The park is organized with raised pads that allow 2 tents with 2 people each to camp. Instead of dealing with all of that we elected to sleep in the car, which I fit fairly well in.

Saturday we woke up by 6 AM so the guys could meet with the rest of class for breakfast. Since my 'tent' (i.e. the car) would be leaving, I tagged along for some breakfast at White Spot. Once the plans were made and breakfast was finished, I was sent back to the park with a car and instructions. We would be meeting up with everyone in class at 6 PM in the Smoke Bluffs parking lot. I went back to the park and met up with Sara, Ben, and Chris to head back to White Spot so they could grab some breakfast as well - I elected to just get some water for round 2. Afterwards we headed less than a half mile away to Smoke Bluffs, our objective of the day was Neat and Cool. Chris and I are both relatively new climbers and that had some easier top rope routes for us to do. Smoke Bluffs had signs everywhere which was really nice for navigating to the rock. We found a trail up to the top of Neat and Cool, decided on a route, geared up, and set up the rope. Our first climb of the day was Sally Five Fingers, a 5-8 crack. We took turns rappelling down and climbing up since only 3 of us had ATCs (belay devices). It was my first real crack climb and I enjoyed it. Next we moved to the left one route and climbed Stumps, a 5-7 crack. This crack was a little easier and I felt like I 'flew' up it. After all getting a chance to climb stumps we moved to the right a bit to a 5-6 crack called Cat Crack. The crack was huge - I was able to wedge my whole forearm in it at one point. By this point in the day, after I had 3 cracks under my belt, I began to realize how fun they were to climb. Really, I was just amazed at what you could shove into the crack and how easy that made it to climb.

We rappelled/down climbed to another area for some climbing that afternoon. First Sara moved the rope over to a 10a finger crack called Flying Circus. Chris and I both sat this one out as it was well above our level, but Ben and Sara got up it just fine. Sara even helped rescue a tangled rope that had gotten caught up in a flake. Matt and some of the guys in the BRC class had found their way over to us so we waited to get at the Corner Crack for our next climb. I was taking a little break in the sun and had several people tell me I was going to burn - I guess I didn't realize just how white my legs are! No worries though, I used sunscreen and did not get burned. After the BRC guys had gone up the corner crack it was our turn. It is rated as a 5-7+, and I definitely believe in the plus. I wasn't exactly sure how to start so I ended up shimmying up between a couple of the rocks, using my back and legs, and finally got up to the main part of the crack. It took me a while but I eventually made it up to the top, thanks in part to Sara's tape gloves too. After we finished climbing the corner crack it was pretty late and we were tired so we called it a day. We ran into town to get ice for the beer and then waited in the parking lot for the class to filter back in. We enjoyed a beer or so in the parking lot while they debriefed, and then headed into town for dinner. We went to the Howe Sound Brew Pub and I enjoyed a delicious dinner accompanied by an equally delicious beer - probably the first one I have ever really enjoyed. I believe it was a King Heffy Imperial Hefeweizen with a banana after taste - delicious! After dinner we went back to set up camp - thanks to Sara, Ben, and Chris we had pads to sleep on Saturday night. After a coughing fit and serious consideration about going to sleep in the car so I could sit upright, I apparently was exhausted enough to fall asleep despite my illness. I had been doing well during the day but I started getting worse that night.

Sunday we woke up about 6 AM and went into town to grab some breakfast, that day at the A&W. First I was amazed because they served their coffee in real coffee mugs, and second because what seemed to be a patron came around to offer 'mud' (aka coffee) refills! Our goal on Sunday was to climb up to First Peak of Stawamus Chief, the mountain we were camping at the base of. The First Peak summit area was also known as Raven's Castle which had some relatively easy climbs for Chris and I, mixed with some sport routes for Sara and Ben to lead. I really was doing a lot worse on Sunday so I just loaded up with Kleenex and cough drops and we hit the trail. After snaking our way past the campsites there is a boulder area that warned people against continuing on the trail. Once passed that though, the trail was super well maintained with stairs most of the way. I led since I was going slow - even slower than my normal slow pace. I finally figured out if I just continuously sucked on a cough drop, my throat was much happier with me. We stopped at a big boulder, partially because my nose needing tending too, but it turned out we had some fun with the big random rock too. We even had our first chipmunk friend come find us. We continued on along the trail, passing the fork up First Peak. The guys told us to take the climbers route at the back of the peak up a fun rebar ladder so for some reason, we listened. Just as the trail starts up second peak we saw the climbers route and started getting our first glimpses of theview. Once at the top of the makeshift ladder on the side of the mountain, we discovered hand rail chains. A very interesting trail indeed, but it was kind of fun. The rock was pretty slabby so even though I didn't really use the chain, it provided a nice sense of confidence for me. We could see the summit but we weren't sure how to get up there. After some exploration we found a path around the backside, and before reaching the summit, ascended another rebar ladder.

We finally made it to the summit and decided to take a break to grab some food, enjoy the amazing views, and figure out the routes. We saw several pairs of bolts so Sara set about figuring out which ones we wanted to use. Meanwhile, we had several chipmunks come try to make friends with us. Those guys were super brave and would run up and onto people laying on the rock. I have to admit they are very cute but also very intimidating when they are that friendly - I was a little worried about one biting me for whatever reason. After giving Chris a lesson on how to belay, we set off for some climbing. We were sort of a spectacle up on the summit. I'm sure casual hikers were not expecting to see people geared up for rock climbing, so needless to say I think all of use were photographed quite a few times while we climbed that day. We rappelled down to one ledge and I actually used the dulfersitz to get to the next set of bolts so that Chris could use my ATC. I didn't expect to use that but at least I was putting my class skills to use. The part of the Raven's Castle we were on was a big slabby area, pretty easy to walk up so it was a little bit of a joke. However, we all got to practice and learned some new skills. Chris got to belay for the first time and I got to lead belay for the first time as Sara climbed. Our hike up took a while so we didn't end up doing much climbing. As we were finishing up, I had taken Sara's ATC device off to give back to her, but got distracted by the rope before I could do so and forgot I had laid it in my lap. I stood up and down the mountain it went - one of the number one things they tell us in class not to do :-( Needless to say I was not too happy with myself and felt awful for dropping Sara's gear down the mountain. We saw it split into two - we think the carabiner and the ATC separated, and roll into some bushes. After laughing a lot, the crew enjoyed a brew at the summit before packing up and heading back down.

We went down the actual First Peak trail and it was quite interesting. There were several more chain handrails and a couple of ladders, all complicated with the large number of people on the trail too. We did have a productive hike back down, naming ourselves team Be-Lay Off, for obvious reasons since I dropped the belay device down the mountain, haha. And Be-Lay in honor of our Canadian friends from the day before, I don't think I'll ever say it the same again. Finally we made it back and were glad to be starting on our way home. We piled into the car and drove back to Smoke Bluffs to meet up with everyone again. After a short debrief we started back to Seattle. I had a terrific car ride of not being able to use my nose, but the guys were really nice and stopped at Wendy's for me - all I really wanted was a Frosty and they were very obliging. Overall I had a great weekend and I loved getting to climb again. I haven't been doing so well with that this summer despite the fact that it's my goal. Hopefully I'll find some more time to start climbing, and hopefully I can stay away from those wicked summer colds. Squamish is an awesome place though and I'd definitely like to go back in the future for more climbing, maybe when I can do stuff above a 5-8!