It’s kind of like digging for treasure, John Harvey admits as he excavates mud away from a granite rock face with a heavy pick.
Two months ago, the climbing enthusiast decided to change an unused portion of cliff in the Smoke Bluff Park into 10 new routes. With the guidance of legendary route maker ‘Hevy Duty’ (a.k. Alan Stevenson) and backing of the District of Squamish’s Smoke Bluff Park Committee, Harvey has labored away to unearth climbs rated in difficulty between 5.7 and 5.10a – the majority perfect for people entering the sport.
“There was three feet of dirt there,” he says, pointing to a dark stain that sticks to the bottom of the wall like a shadow. “It’s hard work.”
Below him, standing on a wide lip of rock, Jesse Bauer carefully scrubs a crack with a wire brush. Harvey works part-time for the Sea to Sky Community Services Society’s Life Skills program, a course structured for people with development disabilities. Bauer is one of his students and excitedly aids with Harvey’s projects, often getting paid for his efforts.
“Jesse helps me all the time. Isn’t that right?” Harvey asks Bauer, who is basking in the fall sun.
Bauer smiles, before proudly pointing out the routes he’s cleaned on the face known as Crag X.
“He’s done 1,000 projects in 100 places,” Harvey says.
It’s not just thousands of dollars worth of hours and sweat that have been poured into Squamish’s climbing routes, it’s heart and soul, Harvey says. That’s what it is all about – a love of the area.
“I feel a great deal of ownership for the park,” he says, noting the trails, wooden staircases and picnic table that he and Bauer have worked on over the years.
Having poured 300 hours into his latest project, Harvey anticipates it will be complete within a couple of months. Seated just metres up from the park’s parking lot, he hopes the rockface will become one of the more popular climbing areas within the green space.
“It’s an introduction to traditional crack climbing,” Harvey says, noting he’s been eyeing the project for many years.
On Saturday (Nov. 22) the Squamish Access Society is hosting the Golden Scrub Brush Awards. The inaugural event aims to acknowledge the people behind the routes and maintenance of the climbing areas.
Their dirty passion saves the municipality thousands of dollars while also drawing tourists to town, Harvey says. Harvey has been developing climbing routes for 20 years, but there are always more areas to unearth.
“This is an exciting project,” he says, while patting the rock. “I think it is going to be super popular.”
The Golden Scrub Brush Awards take place at the Cliffside Pub. The event starts at 7 p.m.
