Squamish, about an hour north of Vancouver, is one of Canada's great climbing destinations, with almost 3,000 routes and boulder problems on roadside granite, from the 700-metre walls of the Stawamus Chief to the top-rope crags of the Smoke Bluffs. When it rains, Ground Up has roped walls and bouldering, and further up the Sea to Sky Highway Whistler Core is a climbing gym in Whistler Village.
Photo: James Abbott (CC BY 2.0)
Squamish's climbing is on granite, much of it a short walk from the road. The Stawamus Chief, one of the largest granite monoliths in the world, has the most routes, including long multi-pitch classics, followed by the Smoke Bluffs, Murrin Park and Shannon Falls. North of town, the Sea to Sky corridor towards Whistler adds hundreds of sport routes at crags such as Cheakamus Canyon and Area 44, on smoother, more compact granite with routes up to 5.14c, and some of them stay climbable in the rain.
For beginners, the Smoke Bluffs have plenty of easy top-rope climbs, and Murrin Park has friendly crags such as Sugarloaf and Bog Wall, with a lake to swim in afterwards.
Most of the bouldering is in the forest at the base of the Chief, reached from the Smoke Bluffs, Grand Wall or Apron parking, on coarse, grippy granite. The prime season runs from early April to October, and the cool days of October are often best for hard problems. Downtown, a free sculpted concrete boulder in Pavilion Park on Cleveland Avenue has been open to everyone since 2015.
In Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, climbing closures for nesting peregrine falcons are generally in force from 15 March to 31 July, so check the posted route closures. Commercial guiding and instruction in the park are prohibited unless authorised, so book a licensed guide. The Squamish Access Society, founded in 1985, builds trails, upgrades bolts and negotiates access with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation and land managers; membership costs $10 a year.
The District of Squamish prohibits camping within its boundaries, including sleeping in a vehicle. Climbers stay at the Stawamus Chief campground, from $10 a person with no reservations, at Mamquam River north of town, or at the free Chek Canyon recreation site, about 20 minutes north, which has no running water.
Squamish Select by Marc Bourdon (Quickdraw Publications, fifth edition 2026) covers more than 3,000 routes, and Squamish Rockclimbs by Kevin McLane and Andrew Boyd (High Col Press, 2018) is a fuller guide with a long history section. Squamish Sport Climbs covers the sport crags as far as Whistler, and Squamish Bouldering (Quickdraw) the boulders.
Ground Up Climbing Centre in north Squamish opened in December 2015, with 40-foot top-rope and lead walls, a 100-foot bouldering wall, a Kilter Board, a Treadwall, a café, a gear shop and a kids' wall called the Mini Chief; its day pass cost $30, including tax, in October 2026. Downtown, the Grand Wall Bouldering Cooperative has been member-run since 2008, with round-the-clock access for members and buddy passes for their guests. In Whistler Village, Whistler Core has top rope with auto-belays, bouldering and a Tension Board 2, and runs guided outdoor climbing, including trips to Squamish, from May to October.
The Arc'teryx Climb Academy comes to Squamish every August, with clinics led by professional climbers and free public events in Pavilion Park, and Ground Up holds bouldering competitions through the year. Squamish is about 70 km from Vancouver, an hour to an hour and a half up Highway 99: see climbing in Vancouver for the city's gyms.
Sport Climbing BC's season runs from Pop & Lock in Kelowna in October to the open provincials at the Richmond Olympic Oval in December, with speed events at The Boulders near Victoria and bouldering across Metro Vancouver.
Joe Rushton