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Squamish BetaSquamish is a climber's dream. Massive walls, vast boulder fields, and diverse crags make Squamish Canada's premier climbing area. Located halfway between Vancouver and Whistler, along the beautiful Sea To Sky highway, the small town of Squamish has become one of North America's top road-trip destinations. The variety, quality, and easy access to the rock makes Squamish special. From downtown you can walk in twenty minutes to thousands of climbs of every style, making Squamish what may be the world's top urban climbing centre. Aside from climbing, the mountains, rivers, lakes, and ocean offer many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. How to Get to Squamish From Vancouver airport: if you are renting a car simply drive out of the airport and follow signs for Highway 99 North. If you are using public transit, it is possible to get to the Greyhound (Pacific Central Station) by city bus and skytrain or by shuttle bus. Downtown Squamish has two major grocery stores: Save On Foods and Nester's Market. There is also a health food store by Nester's. In the summer don't miss the small farmers market every Saturday. There are also many good restaurants and coffee shops. A few not to miss are The Sunflower Bakery, Corina Gelata, Chef Big D's, Yiannis Greek, and the Red Heather. As far as pubs and bars go there are a few choices. Check out the Brew Pub for a social night out. The more adventurous would want to check out the Ocean Port or the Chieftan Hotel. If you really need to party hard, head to Vancouver for the night to experience the full gambit. Rope: A 60-meter rope is standard and will get you down most routes. A 70-meter rope comes in handy to link pitches together. For multipitch it's a good idea to have an extra rope for descending. Rack: The standard rack consists of a set of nuts from small RP's to 1 1/2 inch, a set of cams from thin fingers to fist, around six extendable draws, and 6 quickdraws. This will get you up most routes, however there are many routes that require you to double up on certain sized cams. Unlike other crack climbing areas, such as Indian Creek, the cracks of Squamish are not perfectly parallel, reducing the need for many same-sized pieces. Shoes: For the cracks, you'll want comfy shoes that allow your toes to sit flat. For the slabs, either smearing shoes or razorblade edging shoes, depending on your style. For the boulders good front pointing and heel hooking is essential. Crash pads: one crash pad will keep you off the ground and safe on the lowballs, however, many of the landings are uneven or on talus, requiring extra pads. If you can, bring a couple of pads or boulder with a few friends. There are loads of activities for your rest days. You can go swimming at one of the many local lakes, mountain bike on some of the best trail systems in the world, kayak or raft one of the miles of rivers, windsurf or kiteboard on Howe Sound, hike up the backside trail of the Chief, hot tub at the Brennan Park Leisure Centre, use the internet at the public library or the Hot Spot, slackline at the park, clean new boulder problems in the North Walls.... Several options exist for showering. Brennan Park Leisure Centre has free showers by the baseball diamonds, a little nasty some times, but free. The better option is pay them $3.25 for clean showers, the pool, and hot tubs. Club Flex will let you shower for $3. Camping Hostel/Motel/Hotel Longer Term |