Squamish Moments

On August 28^th, our last climbing day in Squamish, we were chatting with a fellow climber out at Chek and mentioned that we were sad to be leaving Squamish. He responded in disbelief, exclaiming that we are headed for much better destinations, especially as the rains set in for fall and winter. We don’t disagree… but our sadness in leaving Squamish has nothing to do with the exciting places we are going to, it is simply a result of departing from a place we love.

Squamish is our special place. Kim’s first trip to Squamish was back in 2007, Graham’s in 2009. We started annual trips from the island to Squamish in 2010, and we have spent every summer here from 2012 onward. Squamish has everything – technically demanding granite boulders, abundant single and multi-pitch traditional climbing, and lots of really fun sport climbing. We have also both experienced many of our climbing milestones in this place. To name a few for each of us…

Graham: First of every bouldering grade up to V10. First V7, V8, V9 flash. First 12a gear. First 13a gear.

Kim: First of every bouldering grade up to V5, and first V5 flash. First V7. First 12a sport. First 13a sport.

In addition to the physical climbing, we have experienced more moments and have a larger collection of memories in this place than any other climbing area we’ve been. This summer was no exception – what a wonderful summer to have spent with friends.

We spent a ton of time with a few people who are very dear to us. Here are just a few of them...

We were so excited to spend a week of family time in early August as Kevin and Melissa both came up to visit. This was Kevin’s first trip to Squamish, and we’re pretty confident he’s hooked! It was wonderful to spend so much time together and see him push his limits over the course of his stay. 

Kevin cruising one of the bouldering circuits we took him on

Chris, Ruth, Jared and Roscoe came out the week after that with their buddy Zac, who we were thrilled to finally meet. We were SO excited to be reunited with this crew as we’ve missed them so much since we parted ways in late March. They’re just in the process of launching their new company, Kin Climbing, and have started with some rad t-shirts that we are very excited to sport. We can’t wait to see them again next month!

The boys sporting nifty Kin Climbing tanks... #knowyourroutes

So yes, we are sad to leave Squamish, but it is a bittersweet kind of sad. We can hardly contain our excitement about all the places we are headed over the next eight months, but it is always sad to say good-bye to a place you love.

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Graham on his recent send of Zombie Roof (5.13a)

Bow Valley Limestone

We had the pleasure of exploring the limestone sport climbing in Alberta’s Bow Valley for the first two weeks of July this summer. In the company of our good friend Dan, and with Aly’s guidebooks in hand, we hit the road in the van and headed for the Rockies.

We spent most of our time at the Acephale Crag, an awesome climbing spot 15 minutes drive east of Canmore. The hike in is beautiful and close to an hour long with nearly 400m elevation gain, which as it turns out is a fairly moderate approach in the Bow Valley. All the locals we met were in spectacularly good shape up there – it’s no wonder why!

We sampled a number of fun routes, ticked a few classics, and set our sights on some projects that we’re very excited to return to in early September. In particular, Graham can’t wait to get back on “Endless Summer” (5.13d) and Kim is looking forward to “Icebox of Broken Dreams” (5.12d). 

Graham climbing "The Hood" (5.13b)

Dan bearing down in the first crux of "Army Ants" (5.13c)

Kim pulling through the upper moves on "Altius" (5.12c)

Graham unwinding from the rose move on "Whale Back" (5.13c)

On Graham’s 28^th birthday we were joined by Cory and headed out to Planet X in Cougar Canyon. Planet X is a tall and beautiful wall that is also home to numerous classics. Graham and Dan both quickly put down the classic “Shooting Star” (5.12d), and Kim flashed the enjoyable “Meconium” (5.12a).

Hiking to the crag through the wash in the rain

Graham on his send of "Shooting Star" (5.12d)

We spent a couple days in Heart Creek, mostly on the short and stout routes at the Bayon Sector. We also climbed the 6 pitch “Sciatica” (5.10d) as a fun group of three.

Pondering beta on the cruxy start of pitch 3

Happy climbers!

 

We were so stoked on the welcoming kindness of all the local climbers we met, who made our experience that much more enjoyable. After just this little taste of all the sport climbing there is in the valley we can’t wait to return!