Save the planet, climb local

[motomagik]

That's why I need to move to Squamish, so I can climb locally.

[gertlush]

That's what I did

[DirtyHarry]

For Seattlites (and a few PDX'rs included) everything from Hood, to Lillooet and Point of the Arches to Bozman are considered "local".

 

Practice Rock is where its at though.

[pink]

When I moved to the Valley 6 years ago I pretty much kept on climbing a lot at Squamish and Lillooet. I didn't have any climbing partners out here so I was mostly climbing with Vancouver folks anyway and there was hardly any climbing known out in these parts except for Slesse.

 

Now 6 years later I still climb in Lillooet and Squamish but only when the Valley isn't in for whatever reason. Undoubtedly the climbing in Squamish is better than the valley... I made a list while thinking about a guidebook and there are something like 300 "crag" routes between Surrey and Hope, which is like as many as just the Smoke Bluffs. But the more we crag out here the more there are and there are lots of FAs

 

There are more boulders in Hope than in all of Squamish. But only about 1% of the developed boulders.

 

For a couple weeks (maybe two, maybe three) a year there's more ice in Hope than in Lillooet. And probably half of it is still unclimbed. But really, considering stuff like Box Canyon, you can climb local ice even if it's raining in Hope.

 

Alpine wise the mountains around here are pretty good. Every time I cross one thing off my alpine to do list it seems like three more get added.

 

So the point of this is not to brag about how rad my local area is but just to say how good climbing local can be. Travel less and climb at home more everybody. Lets hear it for/from all the other "local climbers" on cc.com

[Chad_A]

When I moved to the Valley 6 years ago I pretty much kept on climbing a lot at Squamish and Lillooet. I didn't have any climbing partners out here so I was mostly climbing with Vancouver folks anyway and there was hardly any climbing known out in these parts except for Slesse.

 

Now 6 years later I still climb in Lillooet and Squamish but only when the Valley isn't in for whatever reason. Undoubtedly the climbing in Squamish is better than the valley... I made a list while thinking about a guidebook and there are something like 300 "crag" routes between Surrey and Hope, which is like as many as just the Smoke Bluffs. But the more we crag out here the more there are and there are lots of FAs

 

There are more boulders in Hope than in all of Squamish. But only about 1% of the developed boulders.

 

For a couple weeks (maybe two, maybe three) a year there's more ice in Hope than in Lillooet. And probably half of it is still unclimbed. But really, considering stuff like Box Canyon, you can climb local ice even if it's raining in Hope.

 

Alpine wise the mountains around here are pretty good. Every time I cross one thing off my alpine to do list it seems like three more get added.

 

So the point of this is not to brag about how rad my local area is but just to say how good climbing local can be. Travel less and climb at home more everybody. Lets hear it for/from all the other "local climbers" on cc.com

 

Nice thread. Try to climb as locally as I can, but that would be mainly Beacon, Hood and Smith. Not that it's a terrible list...just not as good as some people's here on the board

 

I will state, though, for someone looking to get into alpine (snow/ice), of all levels, Hood has a little of everything. I'm pretty sure that there's stuff on it that some of the experienced local hardmen haven't managed to get off their tick list, yet.

[tlinn]

I just wanted to revive this thread to talk about how cool the valley is. I used to go scramble up the Needle, Mt. Hope, or Wells Peak after school! Looking back on my time growing up there I really took it for granted. Now, I'm living in Toronto studying chiropractic and I will likely come back to Hope and work there when I'm done. It has a lot to offer and isn't too far from the city if you need to go out for some urban fun. Being in Toronto right now I am missing Hope (and Vancouver) like crazy. I am planning on working evenings as a chiropractor so I will have tonnes of time to work on new FA's, ski up the Coquihalla/Manning, or climb ice.

 

In college at UBC I still continued to climb a lot in and around Hope. Most of the time with my dad or friends from school. As Squamish becomes more crowded I am more motivated to climb in the valley. FA's are way more exciting and rewarding to climb. There is so much unclimbed rock if you are willing to put some time in with a brush/ice axe.

 

Speaking of the rock climbing in Hope, when I was home over the xmas break I went by Cheyenne Sports. They only have one copy of the Nicolum Creek/Knob topo so if you do go by there maybe someone can make some more copies for next summer? They seem to be quite popular! I am learning web design right now so I may try and make a Fraser Valley rock climbing website with all of the bouldering and cragging. It would be a great site to have because there is not currently a guidebook. Although, I know Drew has flirted with the idea.

 

Hope is cool and I can hardly wait to move back in 3.5 years!