Squamish 1

And so a new trip begins...

...in Squamish. We have so far avoided any major epics (probably because Lindy's here), which I'm sure most people would consider a good thing. For the unfortunate reader of this blog however, no epics means no stories. As a result this will be a bit light on drama - in return for a few snaps. Until something goes horribly wrong or I get in over my head, when normal procedure will resume (by which I mean having a torrid epic and blaming it all on Dan's ungrounded confidence in my ability.)

Squamish seemed to be a slightly strange blend. On the one hand, the town is surounded by rock. Crags sit all around it. The other side of this however, is that the crags are surrounded by the town. Which also means buildings and roads all around. Surprisingly we became well accustoned to this accustomed to this after a few weeks, so even the noise of the highway and the docks of the logging industry fades into the general background mileau. This is with the exception of the slow bellow of the trains' horn (every 15 seconds, throughout the duration of its slow passage through town, at any time of the day and night), which is somewhat more difficult to become accustomed to. This proximity to civilisation, whilst making for a considerably less wilderness-like experience, brings with it a lot of convenience: supermarkets, friends, a friendly climbing community and 1 dollar samosas.

Climbing wise, the Stawamus Cheif's Grand Wall is the area showpiece. The crux pitches are graded 5.11a (about E3) so Lindy made me lead them. In return, I made her carry the bag (I definitely got the better deal). 

Lindy on the Split Pillar pitch of the Grand Wall

Lindy's big lead of the route was the Split Pillar, a 40m jamming corner which she climbed steadily and confidently. This same level of composure and fluidity was slightly lacking later in the trip when Lindy lead the classic Exasperator. Finding herself psyched out by the crux, only by verbalising her inner dialogue could she muster the gumption to keep going. All I heard from the base of the route was Lindy mumbling to herself; it later transpired that her words were "come on you stupid cow - just get on with it". I suspect that this would not have worked so well had I offered her the same advice.

Lindy seconding Perry's layback. With rucksack, obvs.

My favourite memory of the Grand Wall is the escape across Bellygood Ledge, entirely because of Lindy's shriek when she saw how narrow the ledge gets. Her initial words went along the lines of "Reeve... I'm not doing it". Faced with the stark choice between completing the crawl or staying there for the night... well her choice was obvious, as below

Lindy feigning having fun

and finally

Me on the Scimitar (11b)

Longing for the chains

Having mocked Lindy enough for one post, here's a picture of me in uncomfortable extremis (read: struggling embarrasingly on an E3) to make up for it. As you can see, I found this desperate, but all the same my efforts were put to shame by Lauren, who tried so hard that her shouting even drowned out the noise of the train.

Lauren, not trying hard enough