Fun Climbs Around The World

Looking down from the Malamute onto Howe Sound

My friend and climbing partner Andy Cairns, who lives in  North Vancouver not far from Squamish,  has been taking me  to some of his favorite routes.

ON the day after we hiked and ran 34 km (about 20 miles)  near Diamondhead, he asked where I’d like to climb.

“Something with a short approach!” I replied.

My legs were sore after the long downhill run, so Andy and I went to the Malamute. I’d never climbed on this cliff, which is across the highway from the Chief. One rappels to the routes from the top of the cliff, so it helps to go with a native guide that knows the climbs.

We climbed the lovely crack above. The Malamute, like the Papoose, consists of nubbly granite like an orange peel , but rougher, with amazing friction.

After this one climb, we headed back to the base of the  Chief  because of the high winds. All the wind surfers and kiteboarders were out on the sound, which should have warned us that winds might be extreme, but we decided to check it out.  The climbs are great, with a short approach across the new bridge (from the parking lot across the top of the highway).

I’ll go back there on a calmer day!

Looking down on Squamish Chief and the Howe sound

On our hike (jog)  back down from Elfin Lakes and the Gargoyles,  we jogged mostly through dense forest surrounding both sides of the old logging road.

It was 11 km from the parking lot to Elfin Lakes and another  6 km to past the Gargoyles.

One opening in the trees allowed Andy to take this photo, looking down on Squamish Chief and the Howe Sound.

Elfin Lake, an  11 km hike from the trailhead

June and I had been admiring Diamondhead,  the mountain which greeted my every morning.

“Before I leave Canada, I’d like to hike up there,” I suggested.

I got to have my wish when Andy arrived  to climb. It was June’s last day at Squamish.

“Andy, want to hike up Diamondhead with us?”

Andy did.  We drove bought a  map, drove 4 km north to the Mamquam Road, and then a further 16 km up a logging road to the trailhead. At 1:30 pm, we started hiking to Elfin Lakes. After an hour to hike the first 5km, the trail forked into a bike trail and a foot trail. A brief lunch, lots of photos, and another 1.5 hours of hiking, and then we reached Elfin Lakes and the shelter.

Now, at 4:00, we wanted to see the fabled “Gargoyles” and thought we should turn around by 5:00 - that gave us an hour to cover the next 5  - 6 km.

Mamquam icefield

We  headed uphill - and up — and up — and encountered a geologist, collecting rock samples for her master thesis. We continued up a steep hill to view the Gargoyles - bizarre rock formations of loose cobbles with holes through them. Finally, at 5:30, past all of our deadlines, we reached the summit.

“Want to run back?” I suggested to Andy.

We started running down the steep trail, walking when it got too steep or rubbly.  We’d come in about 17 km, and needed  to jog and walk back 17 km in the next three hours.

After a brief stop for lunch at the Elfin Lake shelter, we ran  more.

“Do you mind running downhill?” I asked Andy (who, at 61 years of age, may not have bargained for running back down the trail.)

“Oh no.” he replied. “I like it. I’ve not tried running on hikes, but it’s  exhilarating.”

Well. That settled, we ran  more and reached the trailhead by 8:30, just as it got dark.

We’d hiked 34 km, with a 1:30 pm start, and not even broken out our headlamps. What a great day!

We had a few days of much cooler temperatures, and one day with sprinkles, but not steady rain.

We hesitated to climb long routes with  clouds  threatening to rain on us, so we headed to the Smoke Bluffs, with its plethora of one-pitch climbs.

Andy lead Power Windows ( and I fell off following it!) - a very thin face climb.

Power windows starts with a thin crack, protected by small wires near the end. When the crack ends, traverse right on very small edges. Andy has fingers of Steel, and held on to the crimps I fell off that move, but then managed the remaining traverse right on small edges for the feet.
The leaves are turning, and I’m climbing with a fleece hat and two layers of long underwear - we’re experienced a few days of colder temperatures.

June leading St. Vitus Dance

The crack gets wider the further up we climbed!

Luckily we brought wide cams this time!

A few years ago, one of my first climbs on the Apron, Tristan and I set out to climb Calculus Crack.  We had not looked at the routes carefully from the parking lot, and after a pitch decided we must be on the wrong route since the cracks were uniformly wide.  We later  learned That we’d climbed St. Vitus Dance (without big gear).

This time, June and I brought several large cam number three and bigger, which made the climb much less frightening.

After the first two “approach”  pitches, St. Vitus Dance comprises three more pitches of crack climbing, all rated 5.9. The first heads up a crack that continually widens, and also gets steeper, until we encountered off-width sections (but they were short).

On the second pitch, I climbed up a hand crack to a traverse to a second crack to the right.

This traverse proved easier than expected, since I could almost reach  from one hand jam to another.  After the traverse, the hand-size crack  eventually morphed into an off-width and then an almost chimney, but all with good gear.

I’d actually found the most awkward  move to be on the second “approach” pitch, supposedly 5.8. It may be, but I found the one section harder than anything in the following three pitches. So if you struggle on that pitch, don’t give up on the climb - the erst seems easier to me!

Shouta, from Japan, at the Smoke Bluffs

I arrived in Squamish on  Wednesday evening. Talking to the guy parked next to me, in the parking lot where I was camped my first few nights, I mentioned I was  looking for a climbing partner. Jon told me he was here with a group from Japan, and invited me to come along.  He then proceeded to introduce me to Uchido,

“Uchi doesn’t speak English, and is here to climb Astroman,”  he told me.

“Konichi-wa!” I  said ( it means either hello or good morning).

Uchi and I smiled at one another.

“Do any of your friends speak English?” I wondered. Some did, and we all headed for the Smoke Bluffs, where I variously climbed with Jiu, Jon, or Yotasha (?).

Shouta, Smoke Bluffs

Next, a Ukraine climber invited me to climb, anda climber from Australia, and one from India.

Once I got a campsite, I was next to a group from Korea one one side,  and some Aussies and a German three sites over. I ran into four French, and some Swedes at the base of the climb. The climbers next to me lent their car to two Swiss climbers.

I’ve practiced my German, but not much Spanish yet.

More info:

Stawamus Chief Park 

Squamish climbing homepage

Weather

Jon on a 12a  climb at the Smoke Bluffs

Unknown climber on Cold Comfort

Squamish is dryer and hotter than I’ve ever seen it. I’ve climbed here twice, and both times it’s been wet and cold. Now it’s hot, sunny, and dry every day!

Apparently,  a high pressure  area is over the  south coast of British Columbia.

Saturday’s hottest spot was Squamish, with a temperature of 36.7°C, which set a new record high. The previous record, 31.8°C,  was set in 2008.

Can’t say I mind this weather!

Merry Christmas from Tristan and Sibylle

As you see, my son’s quite a bit taller then me now. We’re  at the top of pitch 4 of Hairpin on the Papoose at Squamish - one of Tristan and my favorite climbing areas.

I’ll try to take a picture of us in snow, or skiing, for New Year’s. We’re both teaching skiing at Keystone this winter - Tristan visits Summit county during his semester break from Reed College.

As I was riding the list at Vail today, the skiers I shared a chair with discussed the partial collapse of a gondola at Whistler Blackcomb. I hadn’t heard the news, and was fascinated to hear the cause of the collapse and learn whether those conditions might apply to us.

The tower on Blackcomb Mountain’s Excalibur Gondola collapsed partially on Tuesday, December 16.

Apparently ice buildup in a gondola tower caused it to partially snap

They said that “because of extremely cold temperatures, ice buildup in the two parts of the tower that are spliced together led to a “rupture, a situation referred to as ‘ice-jacking.’””

The damaged tower was built from two large pieces of metal tubing that were welded and bolted together, but  water to got inside the joint.

When the water froze, it expanded and caused the tower splice to rupture.

As we rode the lift at Vail, we examined the towers and determined that they were made of one piece, not two welded pieces of tubing. What a relief! Now I could continue to enjoy great powder skiing in Vail’s China Bowl without worrying the lift might collapse.

I wonder whether skiers will worry about riding the gondolas at Keystone or Vail after hearing about this incident?

What do you think? Would you be nervous about riding a gondola after hearing about this incident?

Please comment with your reaction about collapsing gondola towers.

Kiteboarding on the Howe Sound with the Chief in the back

“That looks like fun,” Tristan exclaimed, looking at myriad kiteboarders leaping and soaring on the Howe Sound. As we climbed up the Chief, we watched kiteboarders jump high above the water, floating as though free of gravity’s pull. Dozens of bright kites pulled them through the air like so many colorful butterflies kissing the waters of Howe sound.

After several days of climbing above the Sound, we drove down to the Squamish Spit to observe the flying boarders more closely. From beside the water, kiteboarding still looked like a lot of fun, but cold. We were cold out of the water, wrapped in down fluffy jackets against the fierce wind.

Boarders flew across the water, moving faster than I imagined after seeing them from above. While in the air, and over the water, it seemed great. However, most of them crashed into the water at some point, to emerge beside their board, soaked and spluttering. I think if I try kiteboarding, I’ll head south.

More info:

Squamish, north of Vancouver, British Columbia is one of the world‘s best locations for kiteboarding.
Check out the video!

Few spots combine the right conditions of wind, water and land for wind surfing and kite boarding. The Squamish Spit at the mouth of the Squamish River provides many high performance days. Recent renovations to the parking and launch area make it more accessible.

Kiteboarding on the Howe Sound and Shannon Falls

Clouds surround and obscure  Garibaldi