СÀ¶ÊÓƵ

The past two weeks saw some exciting developments in climbing for the little town of Squamish. 

A sculpted, manmade boulder appeared downtown in the park behind the farmers’ market area, the Golden Scrub Brush Awards were held last Saturday at Chances Casino, and the new climbing gym creeps closer, closer, ever closer to the Dec. 12 opening day. 

First to the sculpted boulder. I went and had a play on the boulder today with my daughter and noticed, immediately, that there were people about eyeing this thing up. Every family that walked past lost their young ones temporarily, like bath toys spiralling in a tub’s drain, as they passed within the boulder’s pull. It’s a striking shape, unlike what you’d find in the forests here, but eye-catching because of its prow feature, or south arete, if you like. Climbers had already been busy there, as evidenced by the chalk and tick marks smeared on the frosty holds.

While playing there with my little girl and a friend and his three kids, it became obvious that this boulder helps make the park an even more fun, interesting and creative space. As we left, a young couple, probably in their late teens, rolled up with climbing shoes and pad and began exploring the boulder’s features and surfaces. Here’s an idea: Maybe the district’s website could include a page to show off all the problems done on the boulder and advertise an annual fundraising challenge during Squamish Days of who can traverse around the most times.

Next to the Golden Scrub Brush Awards. This year, for the second celebration of the work of new route developers, the event seemed to have doubled in size, although the venue squeezed us together more than last year. The Match Pub’s food and beer selection was a step up from The Cliffside, and the raffle pool of gear donated by sponsors was as deep as Browning Lake is rumoured to be. Why do they hold the event? Cleaning and developing new routes on cliffs, walls or boulders is climbing’s twin to mountain biking’s trail building. 

The best developers are revered as artists with a unique vision which most people lack and a sense of duty and hard work that would cripple most. Imagine hours of landscaping in the cold rain, hanging in a harness 30 metres off the ground on a vertical granite wall, your tools all clipped to you and glockenspieling about while your legs and feet go numb because of the harness. The payoff? Climbing something no one has ever climbed before and then giving it to the climbing public to have adventures on themselves. 

In this you can see advocacy for the climbing user group on Crown land and in СÀ¶ÊÓƵ Parks but also stewardship of those lands by a really responsible user group. I can almost smell the barbecue at Ground Up Climbing Centre as it hosts the third annual event in their new space? 

Ground Up Climbing Centre is in the grips of setting its routes, boulder problems and working on the interior of the space in anticipation of the Dec. 12 opening date. Much like being a barista and going from a minimum-wage job to fame and a well paying career, routesetters in modern climbing gyms now make a far better wage, often have certifications to back their work and enhance the experience of the paying climber exponentially. They give their customers drive and motivation in the form of boulder problems and routes. 

Their customers, in turn, take this drive and knowledge and improve their climbing inside or use it to enhance their outdoor climbing. 

It’s a subtle, creative job that is going on right now at Ground Up Climbing Centre. The experience you get indoors will never be the same as outdoors, but the fun, creative, physical problem solving on the walls of the new climbing centre will no doubt earn some routesetters Golden Wrench Awards. 

Stay tuned – and stay on the edge of your toes.