Are you taking a visit to Squamish quickly and at the moment looking for a guidebook? Right here’s a fast overview on the strengths and weaknesses of the 4 books and one app at the moment accessible for buy. Whether or not you’re bouldering, sport climbing, trad climbing, or multi-pitching, there’s a high-quality Squamish guidebook for you that’ll assist you benefit from your journey.
Squamish Bouldering by Marc Bourdon (2022)
If you happen to’re coming to Squamish for bouldering and need a bodily guidebook, your alternative is easy: decide up a replica of Squamish Bouldering by Marc Bourdon. The guidebook is the go-to print useful resource for bouldering in and round Squamish. Now in its 4th version, this traditional guidebook was extensively up to date and re-released in 2022.
In case you have an previous third version model, it’s positively value upgrading to the brand new 4th version, because it features a ton of recent issues, significantly within the North Partitions. On the market in each bodily and digital types, the information covers 3,590 issues – a mind-blowing quantity.
KAYA Digital Squamish Bouldering Guidebook
In June 2023, KAYA launched a digital Squamish bouldering guidebook. Written by Squamish’s unique bouldering guidebook writer, Peter Michaux, and long-term Squamish developer and KAYA co-founder, Marc Bourguignon, the information covers almost 4,000 boulder issues in and round Squamish.
Within the new KAYA information, each Squamish boulder is GPS-tagged and each path to succeed in the boulders is meticulously mapped in GPS as nicely. Much like Google Maps, you observe your little blue dot alongside the paths within the KAYA map to reach at your required vacation spot. Every boulder has its personal icon which you can faucet to take a look at its topo, learn downside descriptions, view neighborhood ascent historical past, and watch user-uploaded beta movies. You may file your sends within the app and take a look at abstract statistics of your climbs over time.
The free model of KAYA will get you entry to most of the app’s options however a Professional subscription (paid month-to-month or yearly) is extremely really useful. With Professional, you get entry all guidebooks on the platform – together with Squamish. These guidebooks embrace detailed climb descriptions, topos, and verified GPS knowledge of the boulders, trails, and parking. You even have the power to retailer all this info in offline mode to be used in areas with poor knowledge connection. The KAYA Squamish information incorporates a number of areas not included in Squamish Bouldering, together with the favored Portal space close to Porteau Cove.
For anybody who boulders in Squamish and plans on travelling to one in all KAYA’s many different digital guidebook locations within the U.S. or Canada, getting a Professional subscription is a no brainer. I personally love my combo of Squamish Bouldering and the KAYA app. Researching and discovering boulders in Squamish has by no means been really easy.
If you happen to’re coming to Squamish for roped climbing, you’ve a number of guidebook choices. There are three books at the moment on the market protecting roped climbing in Squamish: Squamish Choose, Squamish Rockclimbs, and Squamish Sport Climbing.
Squamish Choose by Marc Bourdon (2020)
You’d be hard-pressed to discover a extra user-friendly guide anyplace on the planet than Squamish Choose. Now on its 4th version, this 2020 guide is Squamish’s most up-to-date roped climbing information. Whereas the guide is technically a “choose” and doesn’t cowl each beforehand established route on the town, it simply covers the wants of the overwhelming majority of climbers.
Murrin Park, the Smoke Bluffs, and all of Squamish’s sport crags (as of 2020) have full complete protection within the guide. The multi-pitching partitions in and across the Chief are nonetheless extensively coated – the classics are all there – however the guide does omit among the extra obscure strains and crags.
I’d advocate Squamish Choose to primarily each climber seeking to climb routes in Squamish. The world maps, parking and method directions, crag topos, and route descriptions are of the very best high quality. The information is offered as each a bodily guide and a digital PDF. If you happen to already personal the previous third version from 2012, you actually ought to improve because the 4th version covers plenty of new route growth.
Squamish Rockclimbs by Kevin McLane and Andrew Boyd (2018)
Squamish Rockclimbs is the primary installment of a two-part collection by Excessive Col Press. The guide covers Squamish climbing from Murrin Park within the south to the Smoke Bluffs and Crumpit Woods within the north. Squamish’s main northern sport climbing areas (Paradise Valley, Space 44/Pillary, Chek, Rogues’ Gallery) should not coated within the information.
The guide is the one one at the moment accessible that has intensive protection of Mount Habrich and Sky Pilot areas, together with crags across the Sea-to-Sky Gondola and the epic Fluffy Kitten wall. It additionally contains beautiful sea cliff climbing close to city. You’ll discover extra strains, link-ups, and variations in and across the Stawamaus Chief than you’ll in different guidebooks.
The topo photographs all through the guide are extraordinarily high-resolution, making it simple to decipher your line. Route descriptions are typically temporary or non-existent, a mode that some climbers might take pleasure in. In the midst of the information, you get a captivating part almost 100 pages in size of previous photographs, traditional tales, and the historical past of climbing in Squamish. This guide shouldn’t be missed by these dwelling close by, visiting typically, or staying for an prolonged journey.
Squamish Sport Climbs by Nic Vissers and Kevin McLane (2019)
Squamish Sport Climbs is the second quantity to Squamish Rockclimbs described above. Because the title suggests, the guide covers sport climbing in and round Squamish, from Murrin Park within the south all the best way to Whistler within the north. As a result of Squamish Rockclimbs options intensive protection of Murrin Park, the Chief, and the Smoke Bluffs, this quantity doesn’t totally describe the game climbs in these areas, which suggests you want each books for a complete information of Squamish sport climbing.
This sport climbing information incorporates info on a number of crags not coated in another guidebook at the moment on the market. These embrace partitions in “The Gorge” close to the well-known Star Chek 5.9, Hunger Crag (a peaceable wall of trad and blended strains on the Sea to Sky Path), and a bunch of crags in close by Whistler. This guide is the lightest and least costly of those included on this listing. Like its first quantity, the route descriptions in Squamish Sport Climbs are typically temporary or non-existent, however the topos are very top quality and straightforward to observe.
In case you are on a good funds, need a skinny, gentle guidebook, and plan to climb primarily at sport crags north of Squamish, then Squamish Sport Climbs is an efficient choice for you.
