the nostalgia project: Grand Wall, Canada (2005)

The route

The west faces of the Chief and the Malamute from Nexen Beach on a crisp winter afternoon.
The Grand Wall ascends the sunny face in the centre. The Split Pillar pitch is clearly visible.

For climbers who know it well, the Stawamus Chief has interesting rock faces on almost all its aspects. But for tourists driving the Sea-to-Sky highway to Whistler, who have turned in to the pullout under the Chief, it is the towering west face that captures their interest - and, if climbers are visible on it, brings out cameras and binoculars. The Grand Wall is the route central to that face and the best-known climb in Squamish.

The route's history began with the highway, as until the road reached Squamish in the late 1950s, the Chief was relatively inaccessible, on the wrong side of the Mamquam river from the port area that until then was the town's only connection with the rest of BC. Though Fred Beckey and others had climbed a few lesser lines previously, it was Jim Baldwin and Ed Cooper, scouting for Yosemite-like "big wall" projects from Vancouver, who committed to the big prize: the Grand Wall. Their 40-day ascent, almost entirely aided, drew thousands of spectators to Squamish. The local Howe Sound Brewpub honours them with a beer:

© Howe Sound Brewing

Over the years the aid on the original line was reduced to a couple of short bolt ladders at 5.11a A0. This is the route that most people now climb, either starting up Apron Strings to make a ten pitch route or via a scramble up Flake Ledges to reduce the pitch count to eight or nine. Three successive pitches in the middle of the route form the main difficulty: the soaring crack on the right side of the Split Pillar (sandbag 5.10b), the devious Sword (5.11a A0) and Perry's Layback (5.11a). (One day an earthquake, or perhaps just an abrupt freeze-thaw, will cause the already near-detached Split Pillar to fall off the wall, probably taking all these pitches with it.)

From the 1980s, Peter Croft and then Scott Cosgrove worked on variations to the right of the Sword to ultimately create the wholly Free Grand. This is rarely climbed, perhaps because the 5.13b crux pitch is a thin slab best suited to mid-winter conditions when the rest of the route is often wet or icey.

The context

In 2004, two events occurred that were pivotal in shaping the life that I lead now. One was official confirmation that I (and Leo) had dual British-Canadian citizenship. Though my father was born in Alberta, he never considered himself Canadian nor held a Canadian passport. Furthermore I was born in Britain. However, in the early 2000s, encouraged by research by my shrewd nephew Ollie and by a conversation with an emigration consultant, I took an interest in the topic. Weirdly, Canadian citizenship law is so poorly-worded that calls to the country's citizenship helpline yielded three different answers: "you are definitely Canadian"; "you are definitely not Canadian"; "we are not sure".

Fortunately the staff at Canada's London embassy were more helpful and recommended that I researched my paternal grandfather's status (for arcane reasons, which I do not understand, it was crucial that he had been born in Britain) then submit an application for citizenship. I did this in 2003 but the response took another year.

The other pivotal event was being offered an investment management job with a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. Though not previously a career option that I had considered, a friend, David, had joined the fund a few years earlier and spoke enthusiastically of the work and the lifestyle. I accepted the offer. As I knew that my time in Abu Dhabi would be finite (most outsiders can only obtain fixed-term work visas for the UAE), and I was weary of life in the UK, it also struck me that I could plan around moving to Canada afterwards.

An obvious first step was to buy a property in Canada. At that time we did not own a house in the UK, and - surprisingly though it may seem now - western Canada seemed comparatively affordable. In early January 2005, I flew alone to Calgary, hired a 4WD and drove across the Rockies and on through BC over five days, looking at towns that seemed like good locations for a climber: Canmore, Golden, Penticton, Nelson, Pemberton and Squamish. Squamish should have been bleak at that time of year but I arrived in what I now know to be improbably good winter conditions: cold, bluebird skies and just after heavy snowfall. The town looked beautiful. I viewed a few properties and tentatively picked one. The transaction completed four months later.

In summer 2005 we had a month-long family holiday in Squamish. Sometime before that, my friend Andy in Boulder, already featured here, mentioned that he had some unfinished business in Squamish - he had got injured on University Wall on a previous trip - and would be keen to visit for a week or so. I encouraged him to book flights and he then duly arrived for the second week of our stay, manfully enduring the family chaos into which he had descended. His visit worked out very well for me as I got my first taste of Squamish climbing without the uncertainty of seeking a local partner or risking failure on anything (Andy is one of the strongest trad climbers I know). Naturally Grand Wall was high on my priority list, and, luckily for me as Andy had missed out on it before, high on his. We ended up trying it on his third day.

The ascent

We started the route via Apron Strings. Fortunately Andy led the first pitch as I have since realised it can be quite serious. On lead there is a long layback on which it is strenuous to place gear. Some people opt to run it out - and some then fall most of the length of the pitch when they exit the layback into much more delicate climbing.

Andy leading the runout but easy pitch 1 of Grand Wall (Two pitches of Apron Strings lie below) 

Me leading pitch 2

Stance at the end of pitch 2, where the route steepens

Andy leading pitch 3, traversing over to the start of the Split Pillar

I got the Split Pillar lead. I was very intimidated by this and focused hard on climbing it well. It turned out to be one of those perfect cracks that widens steadily through cam sizes, making protection choice simple (and consuming most of the rack). I milked the rest at the good hand jams in the middle of the pitch then laybacked the top part. Seconding the pitch, Andy demonstrated much better technique, fist-jamming the wider section.

Me starting the Split Pillar crack

... and higher on the pitch

Andy following the Split Pillar

The exposure on Grand Wall is most tangible at the belay ledge above the Split Pillar and on the Sword pitch above. The first part of the Sword, which Andy led, is in a shallow groove system but higher up you step out left on to the flat granite wall with space clean to the ground a couple of hundred metres below. Above there you step back into the crack, execute some slippery laybacking and grab a chain where the bolt ladder starts. This is usually "french-freed" using quickdraws and standing on the bolts. Easy but also very exposed.

Andy on the Sword

Andy encouraged me to lead Perry's Layback. Though it follows a wide crack, it is fully-bolted and effectively a sport pitch. A good thing as you would need to carry up several very large cams to protect it otherwise and I am pretty sure a significant proportion of those cams would get fumbled and dropped by nervous leaders. Just clipping the bolts is hard enough. At the top of the layback you can find a cheeky rest with your upper back and head wedged against a fin of rock. I missed this opportunity and tried a little too hard on the last moves, straining my back. But not so badly that we couldn't complete the route. From where you finish, a very narrow ledge, the "Bellygood," leads right to the descent trail, providing a final dose of massive exposure.

Me on Perry's Layback

Subsequent ascents

My second time up Grand Wall was with Duncan (featured here) in June 2007. We had spent two weeks in Squamish attempting to climb, but were thwarted on most days by unusually bad weather. Somehow skies cleared just sufficiently for a lap up Grand Wall. The route was busy and we ended up waiting for an hour or so in the long-suffering tree below the Split Pillar. However parties above us then all bailed, In fact, a european climber took a very long fall off the Sword pitch then rappelled off. I was not sure if I was ready to lead that pitch but in fact it went fairly well. Risking a slight run-out rather than over-protecting the final layback seemed key.

After this ascent I felt that I was done with the route as I had led all the hard pitches and the necessity of setting aside a day or so to climb the thing was off-putting. But, inevitably, I have climbed it three more times since - and not yet had a bad time. These ascents have always been with visiting British climbers in need of a partner. I have yet to climb it with a Canadian or any other nationality!

Simon Lee and his son Tommy following pitch 2

Eric Hildrew apparently off-route on the Split Pillar

One tip I can share after five ascents is that Climb and Punishment (5.10d) at Penny Lane in the Smoke Bluffs is a good proxy for the hard climbing on Grand Wall. It features powerful right-facing laybacking plus a couple of fairly thin moves similar to the first crux of the Sword pitch. If your prospective partner can manage this route, they can probably climb anything on the Grand.