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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

Crag & Route Beta

 Page 2 of 3. Messages 1 to 20 | 21 to 40 | 41 to 47
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Author
Canada
One Day Hero
18-May-2010
3:00:51 PM
On 18/05/2010 AaronLowndes wrote:
>MASSIVE 700M VERTICAL WALL OF SOLID GRANITE

Look, I love Squamish, but lets try to stick with reality.

What's really there is a 300m wall of mostly less than vertical granite with only 5 routes up it!! Also, lots of other walls with tiers which maybe add up to 500m in total, but separated by 'jungleering' pitches. Also, lots of 1-3 pitch trad crack and face routes from slabby to very steep (this is what most people climb, most of the time). Amazing single pitch sport wall with 30ish routes, Pet Wall, on slightly overhanging, highly featured amazingness.

The rock at squami is top notch, best granite I've ever touched. (which means better than: Cham, Val di Mello, Yosemite, Frecinet, and miles better than A.C.T. and victorian stuff)

What's with the dude bullshitting about the Bugaboos?...there's a myth going around that it's "Squamish granite in an alpine setting".....utter crap! It's like booroomba granite but the cracks are more weathered out and there's a lot more loose stuff lying around.......which is what you would expect in an alpine area, unless you've been bullshitted. Super unreal place to climb but rock quality is 'alpine great' not 'crag great'!
One Day Hero
18-May-2010
3:10:27 PM
On 18/05/2010 AaronLowndes wrote:
>Opportunity to develop your own routes? Heaps, but you will find that
>after 10 years your route will be overgrown again after no-one climbed
>it for so long because there is so much established/easier to access climbs
>to play on.

Why would you travel from Oz to Squami, ignore the lifetime of unreal established routes, and seek to put up your own?

wallwombat
18-May-2010
3:17:17 PM
The bouldering looks bloody good there.
One Day Hero
18-May-2010
3:26:24 PM
Yeah, unreal.....but.....there's 100's of 5 star crack routes up to 10 pitches just behind the boulders. I found it pretty hard to give a shit about pebble wrestling with all the proper climbing on offer.......much like bouldering at Taipan, you'd have to put blinkers on first!

wallwombat
18-May-2010
3:37:17 PM
On 18/05/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>Yeah, unreal.....but.....there's 100's of 5 star crack routes up to 10
>pitches just behind the boulders. I found it pretty hard to give a shit
>about pebble wrestling with all the proper climbing on offer.......much
>like bouldering at Taipan, you'd have to put blinkers on first!

I like multipitch crack routes too but since being bitten by a rabid granite bloc under a full moon, I cant help getting these strange bouldery urges.

I don't have that problem with Tiapan since there is fcuk all there that I can haul my fat arse up.
james
20-May-2010
12:00:05 AM
On 18/05/2010 Paz wrote:
>On 18/05/2010 james wrote:
>Skiing, again endless opportunities, the Rockies typically
>>has a thinner snowpack but this year stability was good (better than
>many
>>areas of BC which is unusual).
>
>stability was good in the rockies this year cause the snow was so fukcing
>sh*t....louise, and sunshine are super lame unless you're looking to parade
>around in your baggy getup sitting on top of a jump deliberating for 10
>minutes about whether to go....the stability would have been shit there
>had it not been for the 3 month dry spell with no snow creating new layers
>resulting in no avy danger.....therefore no powder....

I meant stability was good in the backcountry (wasn't refering to the ski hills). I had 4 non-powder touring days from last October until 3 days ago ranging from boot-top to waist deep - you just have to know where to go...
gdawg
20-May-2010
10:35:20 AM
ODH you had to bring us down to earth.

Bouldering in squampton will do more for your routes ability than anything else. I recommend adding several blocks of "pure bloc" into the itinerary (i recommended the same to ODH but, hey, would he listen? no).

My two cents: Buy a van and deck it out. I mean really deck it out (propane heater, bed, storage, space to sit in/cook/entertain. The beauty of the US/Canada Climbing scene is that you can travel. Squamish is awesome for two months (July and August) then it is ok (rain at least once a week in September) and then it is shit (months of almost solid rain until late spring). But just as squamish is crapping out Smith Rock, Yosamite and Indian Creek are cranking up (and there is no snow anywhere yet). Unlike Australia they really have seasons and the best thing you can do is find your niche for each season.

Skiing in Canada is awesome (i remommend heading to Canmore) but it is also sweet to make a sneaky trip down to j-tree in the middle of winter when the snow is crap (which can happen up until mid Jan). Also, make sure you get snow tyres for winter and use antifreeze in all car fluids (IMPORTANT!).


Flexibility is key: get a (roomy) van and kit-it-out.

ajfclark
20-May-2010
10:43:04 AM
On 20/05/2010 gdawg wrote:
>Flexibility is key: get a van and kit-it-out.

Sonnie Trotter agrees.
DSPIES
20-May-2010
11:21:27 AM
Just booked one way tickets to Buenos Aires on july 27!!!
so step one is done.

we hope to kick about sth america for 3ish months and then head north.
i didnt get the job i was waiting on here in melbs so time is on our side.

unfortunately $'s aren't, so while a van would be nice, realistically we will prob set up shop somewhere with a decent work/snow combination (around october), then move on once it starts getting warmer and we can focus more on the climbing.

thanks for all the tips above folks. everyone has given me a new window of procrastination. We are going through them trying to pull info off the net about the different places, but we will probably only end up making a last minute decision so we don't lock ourselves into anything.

thanks again.



james
20-May-2010
11:41:13 AM
On 18/05/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>On 18/05/2010 AaronLowndes wrote:
>>MASSIVE 700M VERTICAL WALL OF SOLID GRANITE
>
>Look, I love Squamish, but lets try to stick with reality.
>
>What's really there is a 300m wall of mostly less than vertical granite
>with only 5 routes up it!! Also, lots of other walls with tiers which maybe
>add up to 500m in total, but separated by 'jungleering' pitches. Also,
>lots of 1-3 pitch trad crack and face routes from slabby to very steep
>(this is what most people climb, most of the time). Amazing single pitch
>sport wall with 30ish routes, Pet Wall, on slightly overhanging, highly
>featured amazingness.
>
>The rock at squami is top notch, best granite I've ever touched. (which
>means better than: Cham, Val di Mello, Yosemite, Frecinet, and miles better
>than A.C.T. and victorian stuff)
>
>What's with the dude bullshitting about the Bugaboos?...there's a myth
>going around that it's "Squamish granite in an alpine setting".....utter
>crap! It's like booroomba granite but the cracks are more weathered out
>and there's a lot more loose stuff lying around.......which is what you
>would expect in an alpine area, unless you've been bullshitted. Super unreal
>place to climb but rock quality is 'alpine great' not 'crag great'!


the man speaks the truth!

also someone else mentioned cheekymus or whatever its called. AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE. seriously its utter crap.
One Day Hero
20-May-2010
11:50:41 AM
On 20/05/2010 gdawg wrote:
>Bouldering in squampton will do more for your routes ability than anything
>else. I recommend adding several blocks of "pure bloc" into the itinerary
>(i recommended the same to ODH but, hey, would he listen? no).
>
Ya reckon? Man, I didn't see too many boulders which simulated 30m laybacks, nor too many routes which required heelhooking on contrived arete/lips (that's what half the bouldering is, btw!) I reckon my 'blocks' of 60 trad pitches in 4 days then 48 hours of drinking and partying did heaps more for my route climbing skills than pebble faffing would have :)

Hey, I've got a canberra posse heading north to climb for july.......if we drop in on alice, are you gonna show us a good time?

gdawg
20-May-2010
11:57:20 AM
>On 20/05/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>Hey, I've got a canberra posse heading north to climb for july.......if we drop in on >alice, are you gonna to show us a good time?

Sah-weet! ...i mean, whassever, no big deal....
(....woohoo!)
gdawg
20-May-2010
1:30:24 PM
>On 20/05/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>Ya reckon? Man, I didn't see too many boulders which simulated 30m laybacks, nor >too many routes which required heelhooking on contrived arete/lips (that's what half >the bouldering is, btw!) I reckon my 'blocks' of 60 trad pitches in 4 days then 48 hours >of drinking and partying did heaps more for my route climbing skills than pebble faffing >would have :)

Bouldering ain't 'simulation' its Advanced Crux Studies. Heaps of hard squamish trad lines have serious crux sections (e.g. Daily Planet, Northern lights, Freeway). Basic crack skills will get you 9/10ths of the way up these routes but you havn't done it if you pull through the crux on gear.

mileage is essential but so is knowing how to stick it when it counts.
word-out.
ajlowndes
20-May-2010
2:09:32 PM
On 20/05/2010 james wrote:
>also someone else mentioned cheekymus or whatever its called. AVOID THIS
>PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE. seriously its utter crap.

??? I seriously disagree - for sport climbing Cheakamus canyon is like nothing else in the area. the rock is much more suited to sport rather than crack like everywhere else. It's a big area with plenty of rock around. Great for an after work session (in summer) and doesn't require dicking around with gear, which always takes longer.

Some fantastic problems include Mr Negative and next to it, Mrs Negative on the Lychen Wall - 5.12a and 5.12d I think. also some further around on the circus wall. Oh and Boiler Room 5.12d on the Forgotten wall is awesome because you can belay out of the passenger seat of your car...
Those were my ticks for the area anyway and I liked them a lot. not the best in squamish, but brilliant for an after work quickie as I said.
One Day Hero
20-May-2010
5:56:28 PM
Yeah, I'm sort of with Aaron on this one.....I quite like the funkyness that steep volcanic crags seem to deliver. The main problem with Check (for visiting climbers) is that you would never drive away from the granite on a dry day, and on a wet day.........crowded, spoogy yuckness!

Super good after work crag for Whistler locals though!
One Day Hero
20-May-2010
6:00:04 PM
On 20/05/2010 gdawg wrote:
>mileage is essential but so is knowing how to stick it when it counts.
>word-out.

I find that knowing how to pull on a quickdraw without your belayer noticing overcomes all sorts of power problems :)

Chuck Norris
20-May-2010
9:55:20 PM
If you are spending a reasonable amount of time in nth america (over 3 mths say) not buying a car for the 'savings' is a bit of a false economy. Whilst if you had the cash kitting out a van would be sweet, you can get a cheap half decent sedan and register it easy enough in canada and the flexibility and savings in travel costs will pay for themselves.

We bought a sedan on vanc island for 800 bucks climbed all over canada and down through rockies, california and into mexico cragging all the way. Finished off with a month or two driving all over mexico (not climbig in mexico). When we flew out we just gave the car to some mexican friends who drove us to the airport.

For the shared cost of the car what did we miss out on? A few more weeks dirtbagging at the same crag bumming lifts to the supermarket and sitting in a tent in the rain. Make your own choice but I know what I'd prefer.
DSPIES
20-May-2010
10:13:51 PM
800 bucks and it got you from A to B and some? sounds impressive and worth the risk to me.
will definitely be there more than 3 months. prob closer to 12.
james
21-May-2010
3:28:43 AM
>Yeah, I'm sort of with Aaron on this one.....I quite like the funkyness
>that steep volcanic crags seem to deliver. The main problem with Check
>(for visiting climbers) is that you would never drive away from the granite
>on a dry day, and on a wet day.........crowded, spoogy yuckness!
>
>Super good after work crag for Whistler locals though!

perhaps so... if your visiting for a short time definitely don't bother though. If its raining in Squamish then go to Skaha.

vehicles in Canada are cheap but insurance (even 3rd party) is expensive. Take copies of your drivers licence extract (ie history of any fines etc) & copies of insurance history to get cheaper insurance (you need BOTH). petrol is ~$1 per litre so a somewhat efficient car is worth looking for - you WILL be driving long distances. driving for 2hours is nothing & doesn't get you very far in western Canada. eg: squish to Skaha 5hrs. squish to Canmore 11hrs.
gdawg
21-May-2010
8:50:25 AM
>On 20/05/2010 One Day Hero wrote:
>I find that knowing how to pull on a quickdraw without your belayer noticing overcomes >all sorts of power problems :)

True, that is something bouldering can't help you with. I stand corrected.

Any chance of a master class? i'm sure i'm not the only monkey who would turn up to that seminar....

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There are 47 messages in this topic.

 

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