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We arrived in Squamish at the tail end of their long winter and dragged out spring to enjoy a week of 90+ degree weather! We immediately settled in and got down to business...there's more climbing to be done than we could possibly touch in a lifetime.
For those who don't know about this climbing paradise, take a look at the western coast of British Columbia, find Vancouver then go North about 25 miles to the little town of Squamish at the tip of Howe Sound. There you will find a formation called the Stawamus Chief, 2000 feet of granite walls rising straight out of the water. Not to mention all the other 'smaller' formations in the area that would be world class in their own right: the Slaney (formerly Squaw), the Papoose, the Malamute....400-1000 feet high and riddled with amazing rock to climb. If you're interested in checking out the area try this site: www.squamishclimbing.com
So far we've climbed about as much as my muscles can handle (Mike could climb 24 hours a day).
We've done some incredible routes, including a day of 18 pitches and over 2000 feet of climbing to the top of the Second Peak. There's so much daylight here that you can literally climb until almost 10 at night (and we have done so accidentally on a couple of occasions!) . We've met a lot of nice people here, including a whole crew of folks from the UK. It's interesting, when we were here 2 years ago there were a lot more Americans from all over the place. Now we see a few license plates from the Northwest, California and Colorado, but by and large everyone else is either Canadian or has traveled from Europe. The cooking area at night is a hodge podge of languages; we've heard German,French, Dutch, Swiss, Flemish, Hebrew, Portuguese.....it's a pretty cool mix! Not a lot else is different from our last trip here, the campground is a little bigger and there's now a water tap at the cooking area, oh joy! :) Simple pleasures!
Last week there was big drama: a guy tried to BASE jump off the top of the Chief on a very windy day. He ended up getting blown back into the cliff with his parachute and (very luckily) got stuck on a small ledge a couple hundred feet from the top. A huge rescue effort was pulled together that took about 6 hours and lots of helicopter time. He was eventually pulled up and flown away, with only a broken ankle. Incredible! So that's the big news for now!
We'll stay here a bit longer, not really sure exactly when we'll be able to drag ourselves away or where we'll be next, so stay tuned!
Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the summer!
We left NH on Tuesday, June 22nd. We spent a day or so in Western NY visiting Grandma Veazey and other family, then moved on to Madison, WI for a visit with Jamie and Ellen. Sandstone climbing with complimentary fingerprint erasing, farmer's market with more fresh veggies, breads and other goodies than could possibly be consumed....good times were had by all! It was hard to drag ourselves away, but amazing climbing and adventures beckoned!
We continued on our way west, stopping to play at a roadside sandstone formation called Castle Rock, and eventually washing up in the far west of Minnesota at Blue Mounds State Park. Mike checked out the climbing (and I use the term lightly), I watched the buffalo roam (well, really, they were just grazing), we rested up for a night then moved on out in the morning. Stopped in the Black Hills of South Dakota for a day and a half; tried to find the climbing in Victoria Canyon but only succeeded in stream-whacking for a couple miles (that's bushwhacking, but in a stream). At least it was cool! I don't think we've had a day yet that was below 90. We also visited the Needles in General Custer State Park, we put on a show for the tourists at one formation, then explored a little bit farther afield in a nice shady spot. Amazing spot, unlimited climbing! No time to linger, though, because we were bound for Devil's Tower.
Arrived at the tower Wed late in the afternoon, just in time for a severe thunderstorm. Luckily the predicted hail did not arrive, I don't know if the car could have handled another hail beating! Colin drove up from Boulder to join us for a couple of days, and we huddled in the car for the evening while the rain poured down. Luckily the next morning was beautiful, so we went looking for some climbing in the shade. We were sort of successful.....it's not easy when you're on a thousand foot high volcanic cone in the middle of a plain. More hot weather brought more thunderstorms, we had just rapped down and were considering what else to climb when we heard the first rolls of thunder. Packing up and hiking out quickly were suddenly a priority!
The next morning the three of us got up early to do the Durrance Route to the summit. We were hiking in by 6:15, but there were still two parties ahead of us by the time we got there. It's a popular route, and the weather was supposed to be very hot again so I guess we all had the same idea. Luckily it was a windy day, so the heat wasn't quite as bad as it could have been, but rapping down in 95 degrees and full sun was, shall we say, a bit uncomfortable? Still, it was amazing to be on the summit of such a unique formation and have a chance to play on some very cool rock! We stuck around one more day to try a few more routes, including El Matador which is one of the classics of the tower. Imagine climbing up the inside of a 6 foot wide hallway for 150 feet and you'll get some idea of what it was like. Extremely intense! The sun finally chased us off the wall, and we jumped in the car to continue West. We stopped one night in the middle of Montana, and one night just north of Seattle, and today crossed the border into Canada! We just arrived in Squamish this afternoon and are looking forward to settling in for some serious playtime on incredible granite! Tally so far: 2 weeks, 14 states, 5 climbing areas, 3,200 miles.
