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This page contains a listing of my personal favorite climbs. A few of the harder climbs I may have only seconded, but felt the were enjoyable enough to be included on this list.
| The Grand Wall (Story) (pictures) | 5.11a 11-12 pitches | Grand Wall |
| A fantastic excursion up beautiful cracks at the center of the imposing Grand Wall. Great varied and sustained climbing, incredible exposure and good belay ledges combine to make this one of the best climbs I have ever done. A long, tiring climb! | ||
| Exasperator (picture) | 5.10c 2 pitches | Grand Wall Base |
| An absolutely beautiful crack. Incredible finger jams, great pro, a fantastic situation at the base of the grand wall and perfect belay stances make this one of the best climbs at Squamish. The climb gets more strenuous the higher you get. | ||
| Cruel Shoes | 5.10d 6 pitches | Grand Wall Base |
| Some of the best face climbing Squamish has to offer. Cruel Shoes weaves a cunning line to the base of the Split Pillar. An excellent start to the Grand Wall. | ||
| Flying Circus | 5.10a | Smoke Bluffs |
| An excellent, and very popular, fingercrack. Sustained climbing, bomber finger jams and excellent protection make this a fantastic climb. | ||
| Crescent Crack (picture) | 5.10d | Lower Malamute |
| Good hand and foot jamming leads up the ramp to an outstanding overhanging finish, which gets harder with each move as arm strength fades away. | ||
| Clean Crack | 5.11b | Lower Malamute |
| This beautiful diagonal finger crack splits the smooth northern wall of the Lower Malamute from bottom to top. Hard climbing past thin finger locks low down leads to a balancy finish in the slightly wider upper crack. Wonderful varied climbing, with great protection throughout. | ||
| Milk Run | 5.10c 2 pitches | Tantalus Wall |
| A perfect vertical dihedral split by a perfect finger crack. Strenuous, sustained and solid for the grade. Difficult to reach. And well worth it! | ||
| Freeway Light | 5.11 7 pitches | Western Dihedrals |
| The entrance to the world of long hard freeclimbs in Squamish, Freeway Light is the first 2/3 of the complete Freeway route, ending at the roof above the Truck Stop ledge. The lower part of the route is characterized by excellent climbing, mostly sustained and strenuous in the 5.10+ range with more technical cruxes in the mid 11s. | ||
| Merci Street (picture) | 5.10b 2pitches | South Gully |
| This route, rarely climbed because it is usually a waterfall, is one of the true gems of Squamish when dry. The first pitch offers good value up cracks and corners, but it is the second pitch that is the real business. Relentless and long, thin fingers followed by incredible hand jamming and strenuous laybacking. | ||
| Rock On | 5.10a 5 pitches | South Gully |
| Fantastic climbing up a series of steep corners out of the South Gully leads to the top of the Apron. Great jamming and laybacking, sustained climbing, and perfect belay ledges make this an outstanding climb. Unfortunately the crux is often wet. Save this one for a dry spell. | ||
| The Sherrif's Badge (trip report) | A3+ | The Sherrif's Badge |
| Well, I've only done the first 4 pitches, but even that was enough to realize this is an incredible climb, certainly among the best aid lines at Squamish. The fourth pitch in particular is outstanding, super thin heading and nailing. | ||
Northwest British Columbia
| Houdini | 5.10c 4 pitches | Copper Mountain |
| An excellent mix of slab and crack climbing. Good protection on the lower two pitches and some exciting runouts above. In June and July this climb stay warm and sunny until past 10pm. | ||
| Fat Boy and the Buttless Wonder | 5.11a 2 pitches | Copper Mountain |
| This climbs starts with easy friction but keeps getting steeper and steeper. A little runout in the first pitch, but well protected through the higher cruxes. Fat Boy is the Copper Mountain testpiece. | ||
| The Black Dyke (topo) | 5.10b | Onion Lake |
| This striking line follows the basalt dyke up the vertical east wall near the parking lot. A perfect mix of slopers and jugs lead to jams and laybacks as the dyke narrows. | ||
Central BC
| Et Tu Brutus (picture) | 5.9 2 pitches | Skaha |
| A fine excursion up the central wall of the fortress, with an excellent, exposed finish. | ||
| Doctor Crow (picture) | 5.10 | Skaha |
| On the south end of the impressive Doctor’s Wall. Open handed laybacks through the initial bulge lead to a face crack. Follow this to a small ledge, then face moves lead to the upper crack. A good mix of face climbing and finger jamming, with just enough protection. A great climb! | ||
| Gang Bang | 5.10 | Skaha |
| Outstanding stemming and crack climbing up the central dihedral of the Great White Wall | ||
| Purpendiculous (with direct start) | 5.10+ 2 pitches | Skaha |
| Fantastic varied climbing, my personal favourite climb at Skaha. The direct start (Ridiculous, 5.10+) is best. | ||
Canadian Rockies
| Wicked Gravity | 5.11a | Back of the Lake |
| Excellent face climbing on a slightly overhanging wall, perfectly situated above the trees and the picturesque lake. Moderate climbing leads to a small roof, and fantastic, sustained climbing to a ledge. A pumpy climb, though there are a couple good rests for the more inventive. | ||
| Scared Peaches | 5.12a | Back of the Lake |
| Although I've only follwed this route once, it is one of the finest single pitch lines I have ever climbed. This crack weaves it’s way up the consistently overhanging Air Voyage Wall, the most impressive wall at Lake Louise. The climb involves a variety of crack climbing technique, from finger to fist jams, laybacks, deadpoints, the whole works. An outstanding route! | ||
Other Areas
| Outer Space (picture) | 5.9 | Leavenworth |
| A fantastic route up the Snow Creek Wall in Leavenworth. The real draw of this climb is the steep final headwall, littered with chickenheads and split by a single beautiful handcrack for 2 full pitches with a perfect belay ledge at half way. Don’t except to be alone on this route. | ||
| Karate Crack (picture) | 5.10a | Smith Rock |
| A strenuous handcrack on the slightly overhanging upper wall of the Dihedrals area at Smith Rock. Great jamming followed by a pumpy traverse to the anchor. One of my favorite routes at Smith. | ||
| Moons of Pluto | 5.10d | Smith Rock |
| A long pitch of fabulous Smith Rock nubbins climbs the prominent arete at the centre of the Mesa Verde Wall. Enjoyable climbing in a fine, exposed position. | ||
| E-Type Jag | 5.11a | Smith Rock |
| A unique route up a series of huecos followed by huge jugs through successive stepped roofs. Wow! | ||
| Crimson Crysalis (picture) | 5.8+ | Red Rocks |
| I had to slog up the approach twice before I got to the top of this one, but it was well worth it. Fantastic steep climbing on featured rock in an incredible position. Cold if windy!! | ||
| Supercrack (picture) | 5.10 | Indian Creek |
| Although the climbing on this route is perhaps a tad monotonous, the sheer beauty of this incredible splitter hand crack more than makes up for it. Quite possibly the most perfect looking single pitch line I have ever seen, 25 metres of pure, parallel sided dead vertical hand crack splitting a smooth varnished wall. Tape up for this one! | ||
