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Squamish / Bishop Recommendations (Read 3883 times)

205Chris

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Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 23, 2017, 05:21:43 pm
I'm lucky enough to be heading Stateside next week with the other half for a couple of months, in and around the west coast.

Planing to spend 3 weeks or so in Squamish before heading south to Bishop via Yosemite.

Any good problem recommendations for these areas up to around V10 / 7C+?

Not been to that part of the world before so would also be good to hear of any other things to do / see / be wary of.


SA Chris

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#1 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 23, 2017, 06:00:41 pm

205Chris

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#2 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 23, 2017, 06:24:58 pm
I'm lucky enough to be heading Stateside next week with the other half for a couple of months, in and around the west coast.

I will resist the temptation to write some snark about Squamish not being in the US, but do make sure you have researched the visa/ border crossing situation properly. Recently some Brit climbers attempting to roadtrip into the US from Canada have been turned back - I am not 100% sure why. Also, very recently, Canada introduced mandatory pre-flight eTAs, even for Brits. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp

Re bouldering recommendations in Squamish, Andy R should hopefully be along soon to advise. Are you bringing a rope, or is it a bouldering-only trip?

Thanks. Although geography and english were never my strongest subjects at school I was meaning stateside as in that general direction :). We're actually flying in and out of Seattle so don't believe we need ETAs for Canada as we'll be arriving on land. We have got our ESTAs in place for US travel. I am hoping that working from the US side will make life easier?!? I'm also aware that any time in Canada still counts on our 90 day limit.

Bouldering only I'm afraid (probably makes me a heathen).

Cheers @ SA Chris for that, I'd somehow missed it despite using the search function  :wall:

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#3 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 24, 2017, 05:40:22 am
If you're headed south from Squamish, you should hit up the five star boulder in Goldbar, the river boulders in Index, and Leavenworth.  I think the bouldering there is as good as Squamish, just not as consolidated into one area. It's more spread into mini areas in couple canyons.

I thought the granite in Tahoe was some of the best I've climbed on and well worth a stop on the way south.  Donner pass is home to some stellar lines.  It s not a destination because it is also a bunch of spread out mini areas. 

Depending on when you hit Yosemite, be careful of Tioga pass closing due to snow. 

What I thought were the best in Squamish
Backseat v9/10
Mantra v8
Viper v5
The Rookie Low v9/10ish (guide says v9, but its prob 3 grades harder than the stand :) )
Be on Four v7 if you can get enough pads...
Resurrection v9
The Reckoning v10
ATD v7
Worm World Cave v9 and Worm World Cave Low v10
This Monkey's Gone to Heaven v6/7
Tatonka v9

Bishop (I'm biased against the tablelands, so I'll let someone else recommend stuff there)
High Plains Drifter v8
Pope's Prow v5
Seven Spanish Angels v6
Checkboard v8
Solitaire v8
Finders Fee v9
Drone Militia v6
Saigon v6 ( the direct is also quite good)
Fall guy v9 (overshadowed by Haroun, but it's an amazing line and one of the best of the grade around)



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#4 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 24, 2017, 08:06:47 am
From my limited experience of Squamish I can confirm that Viper is very good, and Backseat looked very doable. There's also some very good looking stuff at the north walls bit some proud lines.

Stuff in Leavenworth looks really good:
https://www.theprojectmagazine.com/photoessays/2017/5/23/thisisleavenworth

Johnny Brown

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#5 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 24, 2017, 11:22:38 am
I've been to Squamish thrice. I thought the bouldering was ok but not a patch on the trad. So take a rope and rack. The forest is big, not like your British thicket, and it can be incredibly humid. It's pretty complex so befriend a local as a tour guide otherwise you'll miss a lot.

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#6 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 24, 2017, 11:35:18 am
I'm biased against the tablelands, so I'll let someone else recommend stuff there

Yep, it's not as good, but worth a fallback as a bad weather option. Seek out Newspaper Rock, some amazing petroglyphs.

Druidstones has some good stuff too, bit of a (beautiful)walk, but a nice spot. Just follow the stars, but Arch Drude is a great V5, one of the nicest probs in Bishop.

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#7 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 24, 2017, 03:53:28 pm
I am not sure what Canada will require when you cross from the US (I have Canadian citizenship so it isn't an issue for me), but, yes, eTAs are only for flying AFAIK. If you know any Brits who have done a similar roadtrip recently, it might be worth asking them if there were any border issues they encountered.

I'm not sure 2013 counts as recent but border control spent a fair while searching our van (Colorado plate) and interviewed Natalie and I separately. I think they're quite stringent on liquor? Is this part of a larger road trip Chris? If so, Natalie's letter from her Employer offering her a job on return was very useful both when entering and re-entering the US (although we'd failed to register that leaving the US after 90 days and not leaving the continent wasn't sufficient as we'd flown into the US). People without such a letter have a tougher time.

Personally Squamish was one of the highlights of my trip, I just liked the place (everything felt so relaxed compared to Yosemite, where we'd been before). It was far too hot to consider bouldering (for me at least) but if you can muster a rack there are great days to be had doing 'big' easy stuff.

The coffee shop (Zephyr) is nice; King Heffy is a fantastic drink when you make it to the Howe Sound pub, which you will.

205Chris

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#8 Re: Squamish / Bishop Recommendations
August 25, 2017, 04:53:57 pm
Thanks all.

PaulB - yes it's part of a year out but we both have job offers to return to. Hadn't thought to take our employment letters so good call on that.  We've limited our time over there to 84 days to fit ESTA requirements. Ended up finding a good deal on a hire car so we've gone with that over buying so fingers crossed it goes smoothly.

 

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