“How much does it cost?” the young student asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“Anyone can come here, it doesn’t cost you anything,” I responded.
The conversation went on for some time, with the student not grasping that the small cliffs we were climbing on for our year-end class outing were everyone’s property.
“Wow, that’s cool” was the end to the exchange.
As well as rock guiding in Squamish, I’m an elementary school teacher in the Sea to Sky School District. While teaching I’ve encountered many, many students who didn’t know there was rock climbing in town, didn’t know the name of “that big grey mountain” looming overhead, never mind hiked to the top of it. They were puzzled by how it was free to go up the Stawamus Chief or climb in the Smoke Bluffs and had no idea that their town boasted the best rock climbing in the country, with the possibility of year-round climbing and world-class beginner terrain, all at no cost to the participant. This has got to change.
Currently all Squamish has for a year-round, indoor climbing facility is the Grandwall Bouldering Co-op. It’s small, geared toward advanced- to fanatic-level climbers and would be of little interest to kids and beginners interested in getting into the activity.
Thankfully, an inspired young woman named Lauren Watson is spearheading the town’s first climbing gym, as you may have read in a previous column in the Squamish Chief a few weeks ago. A climbing gym in our town would provide a unique new choice for kids searching for that kinaesthetic fix; for adults hunting for a more varied, independent and goal-oriented physical challenge than weight training; and for all those curious about exploring the vertical world of Squamish’s boulders, cliffs and walls. It would be an entrance point for all those who want to explore climbing before taking the outdoor route. The time may be on the horizon where local youth make their unique mark on the growing Canadian climbing scene as well as on the world stage. A climbing gym is the gateway drug for further unknown adventures in a town like Squamish.
Jeremy Blumel is a Squamish-based rock climber, guide and elementary school teacher. For more details about his climbing and guiding, check out his blog at jerblumel.wordpress.com.
