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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Straight Outta Squamton
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 5, 2005 - 11:37pm PT
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Here's the second round of pics from Squamish, including my memorable late
afternoon/sunset trip to the 1st and 2nd summits. Here's part I for reference:
http://supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=93999&f=70&b=0
This series totals approx. 1.3MB, which will download in a couple minutes on dial-up.
{In case yer wondering, although "Squampton" has been in use for some time,
I came up with the "Straight Outta" part, so put a cork in it, eh?
In other words, just because someone might be a lawyer in RL doesn't
mean they necessarily get to play one on the internet, ya dig?!}
Here's a bit of bouldering in the forest:
(I guess I should post at least 1 or 2 climbing shots, huh?)
A closer view of Shannon Falls:
Here's a view of the lower parking lot seen when approaching from the South:
Mt Garibaldi always had interesting cloud formations around it!
Here it looks like billowing smoke or steam...
One day I walked the train tracks into town, and ate several million blackberries along the way!
How cool is this?
(in case you're wondering, it says: "Squamish, heart of the sea")
Here's the view looking down the main drag from near the Howe Sound Brewery at dusk.
Mt. Garibaldi makes its presence known wherever you go...
Here's a view looking west from below the campground on a cloudy day:
Another view of the Chief obscured by clouds...
One day I went for a hike to the Chief summit, and came across this sign:
No, it was knott a walk in the park!
Here's a typical section of the summit trail...granite steps, ladder, and wooden steps...
Here's a cool ladder on the slabs near the summit...
and some handy chain on another section...
Once I reached the summit in a heroic, hectic, 40 minute push, I was blown away by the view!
In the background is the second summit...
A closer view of the second summit...
Here's Mamquam Mountain area to the East...
Edit: (thanks to Dru for identifying what I was calling "the snowy range")
Here's a view from the second summit to the third...
I went right to the edge to get this shot. It was a sheer drop––and a long way down!
Back on the second summit, the light started getting really nice...
A few moments later, a climber appeared, topping out on the classic The Ultimate Everything:
He belays as the sun sets...
Here's a zoomed in shot of some cool peaks to the southeast:
After the sun set, there was a nice view of Garibaldi on the left with the snowy range on the right...
Here's a zoomed in view of Mamquam Mountain in the warm light...
Here's looking west over Howe Sound...
Same view––closer to the edge and looking down...
Same view––wider angle...
Looking a bit southwest...
Since it was getting dark, I ran down the crazy trail in 20 minutes flat.
I hope you enjoyed my presentation! These pics don't really do the place justice ,
but hopefully you get the idea of how !@#$%^& spectacular Squamish is!!!
Update: I recently added a photo/video report on the amazing rope-swing at nearby Brohm Lake:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=97895#msg97895
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Watusi
Social climber
Joshua Tree, CA
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Really great shots!
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Shack
Social climber
So. Cal.
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Knott bad! in fact really nice pics!
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Fluoride
Trad climber
on a rock or mountain out west
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Great shots. Looks like you had better weather than I had earlier this summer.
I recognize that downtown shot....did ya happen to be standing next the Howe Sound Brewery hehe!!
Correction to say Tuesday half price pizza....guess my mind was on drinks instead :).
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Mill Valley
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 6, 2005 - 12:18am PT
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Uhh, negative.
Tuesday is half-price pizza, which is really, really good!
Definitely try the lime/pesto chicken.
On Friday you can get pitchers for $9.95––normally $14.95.
One night four of us drank five of them,
and I did knott feel good the next day...
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maculated
Trad climber
San Luis Obispo, CA
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Dammit, now I have another place on the ticklist. Thanks a LOT.
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YetAnotherDave
Trad climber
Vancouver, BC
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>> Except for the crime part, that looks like a great destination.
Since squamish is my local area, I feel the need to pipe up here - crime is no worse than any other small town in BC (which translates to a pretty darn low crime-rate unless you count pot possesion ;)
I'm knott sure where the stat about theft came from, but it doesn't match my experience in more than a dozen years of climbing around squish. Great TR and photos, tho.
But sorry, this was far from the first place I've heard someone coming 'straight outta squampton' to the trademark doesn't wash :)
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Straight Outta Squamton
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 6, 2005 - 01:52pm PT
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Dave –– You heard someone say Straight Outta Squampton before I said it here?
Damn. Perhaps that phrase got coined for a reason? Before I begin with my observations,
I think you're incredibly lucky to live so close to Yosemite North™!
(I know, I know, you probably heard that one too, eh?)
It's knott my intention to cast a negative light on the place, however there's a HUGE
theft problem there, and people should be aware of the risks involved in leaving vehicles unattended.
I was there for only a short time, from Aug 1 to Aug 19.
Remember, these are only the things I happened to hear about. How many more incidents were there?
The person in the campsite next to me told of how he was sleeping in his van
in town, and he put some extra things outside to make room, including a couple folding
chairs. When he awoke the next day, the chairs were gone. Incredibly, the tweaker(s)
missed the bag of climbing gear nearby! He said that Squamish had a big meth
problem. I found this really hard to believe. On one of my many walks to town,
I found a great thrift store, and I spoke with the owner who had been there for 17 years.
She said that yes there was a lot of theft in Squamish; she said she thought it was
people coming up from Surrey, east of Vancouver, which is a knott-so-nice place.
As a local, you probably know the really nice girl who works at Climb On climbing shop,
and also works as a waitress at Howe Sound Brewery, and also teaches Yoga.
Next time you see her, ask her about her bike. She was working at the brewery
one night, and had her bike locked with a small cable lock
on the very busy front porch of the brewery. Someone very brazenly cut the lock
and stole her bike! No bull. This happened around Aug. 11th.
During the last week I was there, two vans were broken into in the Murrin Park parking lot in mid-day.
As you know, this lot is extremely busy even mid-week, and there are constantly people around.
Knott the kind of spot you would think theft would occur. One of the vans
had $5000.00 worth of stuff stolen, including a full aid rack, laptop, ect.
Apparently vans are a big target up there. I would strongly suggest removing any climbing stickers
from them––or from your car for that matter; it's like a neon sign begging for a break-in.
It would be better to make your van look like an old-folks van, knott a climber-van!
During the Petzl RocTrip recently, a well-known competition climber had her
van broken into and all her stuff cleaned out.
Two years ago, the same thing happened to another well-known climber.
She was standing there crying when a couple teenagers came up and
said that they might be able to get her stuff back for a small fee.
Well, they did, and the police were called, and they had all the info, knew where they lived,
and yet they didn't want to pursue it. Again, no bull. I mean, WTF else do they have to do?
I started looking around a bit and paying more attention to the people around,
looking for shady characters. I started to notice tweaker types flitting around on
bicycles like the unseemly cockroaches you see in San Francisco. You know the type;
very thin and raggedy looking. I counted at least 4 or 5 of them.
The other thing I noticed was that there were a bunch of Feral Teenagers™
(bet you haven't heard that one)
hanging around on the porch of the brewery on several nights. They seemed super hyper, even crazed.
Perhaps methed out? Why hang out there of all places?
It might be true that statistically, the Squamish crime rate is low, or no worse than
other places. The thing is, you would never expect it, and I suppose people
might assume that they wouldn't get their cars broken into in broad-daylight in busy areas.
I was honestly stunned when I heard some of these stories; it just doesn't fit with
the amazing beauty of the place, not to mention all of the really cool Canadians I met,
and there were cars in the lot from BC, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Toronto, ect.
So it seems the relatively small tweaker contingency has a big impact!
I just want people to be aware of this unfortunate truth, so they don't have an otherwise great trip ruined...
Update: I recently added a photo/video report on the amazing rope-swing at nearby Brohm Lake:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=97895#msg97895
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James
Gym climber
City by the Bay
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I was there for a few months last year and didn't have anything stolen. I guess you need to have sh#t worth stealing huh?
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Max
Social climber
squampton
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Yeah, james, i think that would be helpful. Yesterday I lurked in the parking lot all morning, even left my van open when I ran to the loo, and later a bunch of dudes were frantic cause their VWs had been broken into. I was a dissapointment for them because i didn't see anything go down. I feel a little gripped out at the spit sometimes, seems like one of those tweaker, high school kid party places, you know what i'm talking about. Squamish is pretty sick, but dave, you should have tried climbing to the summit, eh?
max
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Fluoride
Trad climber
on a rock or mountain out west
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There's signs everywhere up there about car break-in's. It's totally common knowlege that it's a problem up there. When I go up there I usually go by a friend's house in the highlands and dump all the contents of my rig at their place and just take the basic climbing essentials out with me. The less stuff visible in your car worth stealing, the less likely it'll get broken into.
As far as the campgrounds go, I've heard those are fairly safe. Anyone ever have problems with stuff being taken there? I'm lucky and have been able to crash with friends locally and avoid the camping situation. Knew some people who stayed up in the campgrounds there for awhile without having their stuff taken. Just get it out of the rig and get it somewhere else and you should be okay.
Or like James said, don't have sh*t worth stealing.
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Dru
climber
HELL, BABY, HELL!
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Sep 19, 2005 - 02:23pm PT
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You can tell that guy's not topping out on Angels Crest b/c angels Crest's finishing pitch is a deep chimney. Looks more like the U.E. topout to me.
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Straight Outta Squamton
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 19, 2005 - 02:34pm PT
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You're right. I should have mentioned that they climbed much of Angel's Crest,
but took some variations to the top. It made my one-line caption easier. Busted!!
BTW, do you know what that "snowy range" is to the Northeast as depicted above?
Incidentally, seeing that this thread got bumped, I just added a link to the photo/video
report documenting the rope-swing action at Brohm Lake –– for those who may have missed it.
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Slabby D
Trad climber
B'ham WA
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Sep 19, 2005 - 03:22pm PT
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"As far as the campgrounds go, I've heard those are fairly safe."
Watch your back! Two years ago a pack of Feral Teenagers™ attacked a group of Yanks over 4th of July.
Beat them up!
AND
Burnt their tent to the ground!
As already pointed out the local police and mayor didn't want to do anything about it, but it got on the news, Squampton looked like sh#t so the mayor held a little press conference where he apologized and announced that they would be prosecuting the teens. Not sure if that ever really happened.
With that said, it's still a great place. Most people haven't been ripped off but everyone knows a couple people who have. Be smart. Keep your wallet and credit cards with you while climbing, don't leave sh#t out in the open, better yet leave it at home and watch out for the teenagers!
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Dru
climber
HELL, BABY, HELL!
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Sep 19, 2005 - 03:27pm PT
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They didn't climb ANY of Angels Crest. They are nowhere near Angels Crest. That's the top of thE ultimate everything.
Your "snowy range" is Mamquam Mountain.
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Straight Outta Squamton
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 19, 2005 - 03:47pm PT
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OK -- that's what the guy told me. He said they climbed "the good part" of AC
and then did some variations to the top. I'll go change the caption.
Thanks for identifying the "snowy range"! I just changed that as well.
I knew there had to be a better name for it...
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 20, 2008 - 01:36am PT
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Shannon Falls freezes about every ten years, and provides a nice 2+ or 3 climb, four or five pitches. We do sometimes get nice cold spells.
Real climbers don't use the assorted chains and ladders on the trails to the peaks, at least in dry conditions. So there.
The "peaks to the southeast" (of the Chief) are the Sky Pilot group.
Bump. It's time to start thinking about summer and sun, though they seem a long way off today. It was a cool snowy day here, with fairly cold and clear weather forecast. I suspect the mountains will be dazzling in the morning.
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matisse
climber
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Jan 20, 2008 - 04:04am PT
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you bumped this just to make me home sick didn't you...
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MisterE
Social climber
My Inner Nut
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Jan 20, 2008 - 09:14am PT
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Didja poach Lower Malamute? No trip is complete without illegal climbing at the best crag in Squampton!
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jan 20, 2008 - 02:27pm PT
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Hey, These pics are Knott bad at all. Thanks
Zander
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