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The best granite climbing area in North America (Hint: it's in Canada)
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I genuinely think squamish is my favorite place to rock climb, and probably one of the most well rounded climbing areas I can think of. But the noise when climbing the chief was completely SHOCKING to me when I arrived. You're climbing above a highway that's utilized by tractor trailers shifting gears just as much as folks blasting music flying by with their windows down. Noise is just noise and it's whatever, but it is much more intrusive than the slowly moving parking lot that is the valley. |
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Aren’t you the tesla guy? |
ryan climbs wrote: Dude Ryan, did you start climbing all the time?? |
Mark Vigil wrote: The Bow Valley is all limestone with some quartzite. The latter can be really solid, but neither come close to proper granite. There are other granite spots in BC but they’re more of an adventure destination. I lived in the Canadian Rockies most of my life, if you’re into pure rock climbing, Squamish is hands down the best in Canada. Canmore has a better concentration of hard sport routes, but the approaches are generally longer and the weather is less predictable. A long Squamish approach is half an hour and many will complain. However, if you walk that far, you’re likely to avoid the crowds. There are an almost endless supply of small crags with great routes. The crowds are getting pretty bonkers at the usual places and will only get worse with time. That said, as soon as you start climbing into the 11’s on multis (Grand Wall excepted), the number of suitors dies off drastically. I’ve only climbed at Index as far as American destinations go, and it was not quite what I’d call user friendly in comparison. The climbing is excellent and the bar for entry certainly eliminates the Gumby factor by orders of magnitude. |
Mark Vigil wrote: If we zoom out to larger regions, it has to the the Sierra Nevada. No other granite area in North America, and arguably the world, can match its combination of rock quality, terrain, stable weather, accessibility, and just all around good climbing. Yosemite is of course the most famous and crowded zone within the range, but that's just a tiny portion of what's there. There's lifetimes of high quality, uncrowded developed granite climbing, both roadside and backcountry, alpine and lower elevation. Not to mention FA potential. To go bigger and better than the Sierra you have to start looking at places like Baffin, Patagonia, the Karakorum... But these areas are of course vastly more difficult in terms of access, logistics, weather. Just a different category from an accessible "home range" like the Sierra. Within North America, you could maybe make an argument for the Bugs or the Winds. Which are amazing alpine granite. But they don't have the variety the Sierra offers with the alpine/backcountry rock and also super accessible roadside rock. They also don't match the Sierra in quantity, or stability of weather. For amount of variety, quantity, quality, accessibility in one super concentrated area, Squamish probably beats any single small zone of the Sierra. Now we're back to the OP, comparing Squamish and Yosemite. But for broader regions, the Sierra beats BC/PNW. Again, based on quality, accessibility, weather... |
ryan climbs wrote: Grand scheme of things, yes. But zooming in again and returning to OP question, here's one way to frame it. A climber is planning a 2 week trip next year to a granite area. They can go to Squamish in late August or Yosemite in October. Which would be the better choice for the climbing vacation? It really depends on who they are and what they are looking for. OP makes some great points though, that for many - possibly most - climbers, Squamish is actually the better option and would suit their interests better. |
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Has anyone bought up the cost of living? Apologies if this has been bought up. When I wanted to retire in Squamish or Pemberton the price of a single family house was over million CAD which in USD is still as*load. Whistler was way outta the question. Has the market gotten better? Is it easier to live in the Sea to Sky? |
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One must mention Horne Lake and Skaha Bluffs when discussing the greater squamish/BC climbing. Although skaha is a bit far at about a 6h drive, it can be claimable any month of the year, and is best in fall and spring. Horne Lake is about 4h commute from squamish including the ferry ride but boasts world class limestone tufa climbing in an unbelievable setting, and is climbable between march-nov/dec and is completely rain protected. With the addition of these areas being based in squamish/Vancouver the climbing season is realistically March to November with peak season being the summer. Conveniently that leaves you 4ish months to enjoy crispy American desert weather. |
Bill Kirby wrote: No and no. |
Khoi wrote: If that’s the case then all this Squamish is the best place for the average climber is moot. |
Bill Kirby wrote: It's a damn good place to visit on a road trip though, and has a lot to offer to the average traveling climber. "What is the best place to visit on a 1 week to 1 month climbing trip" and "What is the best place to live year round, buy a house, and build a career" are very different questions and will have different answers. OP conflated these somewhat. If you're deciding where to take a 2 week climbing trip next year, Squamish vs Yosemite, how much the houses cost isn't really a meaningful distinction. But it is is you're deciding where to move long term. |
ryan climbs wrote: Oh nice, that’s like an MP promotion! Still looking forward to checking out the suggestions you gave me on arch rock |
ryan climbs wrote: Tahoe has more to offer than Squamish and Yosemite ... Now that is a hot take. For the road tripping climber, I'd thoroughly disagree with that. Squamish and Yosemite are better trip destinations., even if the camping is a hassle. As a place to live long term, yeah I think Tahoe wins. Especially if you're inclusive of the greater Tahoe region which offers various pragmatic places to live/work for the normal folks who want a house and job. There's another interesting debate of Tahoe vs Index/Leavenworth. If Squamish and Yosemite are the granite A team, Tahoe and Index/Leavenworth are the B team. But which is the captain of the B team? Could add in Little Cottonwood, the South Platte, and the Idyllwild area also for the B team showdown. |
ryan climbs wrote: Let's do the OP categories: Tahoe vs Squamish 1. Location/Travel: Winner Tahoe (small margin). Easy highway access and airport accessibility from Reno or Sac. More ways in or out of the area, vs just the Sea to Sky. 2. Location/Living There: Winner Tahoe Greater number of living options/environments to choose from, and more reasonable affordability down the hill on the Nevada side. 3. Camping: Winner Tahoe Tahoe wins by a huge margin. Lots of legal dispersed camping, and semi legal van parking. Never get hassled by rangers. Much easier to show up on a Friday night and easily find somewhere to sleep. 4. Food: Tie IDK. Both are fine and have ample options. I cook my own food anyway. Tie. 5. Getting around: Winner Squamish Squamish is a much more compact area, so it wins this one just based on areas being closer together and often bikeable from town. 6. Rest day activities: Tie Both have ample options for hikes, MTB, and water activities. Edge to Tahoe for having better lakes/beaches. Squamish is better for MTB, but that's not really a rest day. Both are great. 7. Variety of climbing: Winner Squamish Bouldering and 1-4 pitch trad cragging are a tie; both are great in both places. Squamish has much better sport climbing and long multipitch. Squamish also is much more concentrated, vs very spread out nature of Tahoe. Squamish wins overall for excelling across a larger number of climbing disciplines, plus the dense concentration. 8. Multipitch Free climbing: Winner Squamish Clear win to Squamish here, except at the easier grades. Tahoe has an edge on the easy stuff with Lovers Leap and Emigrant Wall. But for everything else Squamish offers a better concentration of tall quality multipitch. Tahoe is just shorter, for the most part. Cal Dome is cool but loses points for being so remote and having a tricky season. 9. Aid climbing: Winner Neither I guess Squamish technically wins this one over Tahoe, but really if you want to aid climb just go to Yosemite. 10. History: Tie / I don't care. Both have their local history, characters, classics, and testpieces. Meh. ------ Conclusion: 3 points to Tahoe, 3 points to Squamish, 4 categories a tie. Overall, Squamish has better climbing but Tahoe is an easier place to exist. I think Squamish wins as a place to visit and Tahoe wins as a place to live. Overall a better result for Tahoe than I expected. Note: Used to visit Squamish a lot, and now Tahoe is my home area. Love them both. Tahoe doing so well in this lineup vs Squamish gives me some pride in the home area. Additional note: On the bouldering I think Tahoe wins on variety and quantity but Squamish wins on density and consistent quality. Personally I enjoy the Tahoe bouldering style more, but both are awesome. |
JCM wrote: I think granite team B captain would be Conway area the climbing is like Squamish’s mean uncle, and lots of bigger routes in the mountains in a relatively short distance. The weather is a bit more funky then Squamish (but is good when Squamish gets in the rainy season) but if you’re climbing sub 5.12 it ain’t a big deal. Plus it’s got pretty accessible winter climbing that I’d like to try too.  |
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Isn’t a house in Tahoe the same price as Squamish? The cost of living too? I only spent a month in BC compared to years in CA but seemed close. |
JCM wrote: I'd agree with this list. Tahoe is pretty spread out which isn't a problem if you live there but has some pretty great climbing. I personally prefer Tahoe over the valley in terms of the actual quality of climbing. |
Deven Lewis wrote: Joshua tree is D tier at best. The land of 10,000 routes, but 10 worth doing. |
Deven Lewis wrote: What winter climbing in Squamish are you referring to? It's usually too wet for most of the winter... Holcomb Valley Pinnacles is missing from this ranking. And I strongly agree with what Connor Dobson says about Joshua Tree! |
Khoi wrote: He was referring to NH there, not Squamish. And in NH "winter climbing" means ice axes, not sunny rock. |
