Brought To You By The Letter "V"

• Posted on May 25, 2009 at 2:27 PM
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Topping out Squamish Days in the Grand Wall Boulders

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“How did all these boulders get here?” I ask.

Standing below the Stawamus Chief’s Grand Wall, it’s the kind of question no one wants to hear, but the kind they think about. Truth is, many of these boulders plummeted here from their former perches directly above. Strange as it sounds, we hope the only falling things today will be us.

Though most spectators watch the climbers soaring high up on the Grand Wall, the forest below holds its own climbing treasures. Hundreds of boulders with hundreds more “boulder problems” are waiting to be climbed and solved.

Defining bouldering is difficult, partly because the sport is still developing. Bouldering’s roots date back to the sixties and seventies, but it wasn’t until the nineties that modern bouldering really took a grip. A boulder problem’s short, often powerful sequence of climbing moves may lead one to describe bouldering as “climbing condensed”. But others define their experience by the purity and freedom bouldering offers. No harness, no rope, just shoes, chalk, crashpad and a spotter. And the more spotters the better, bouldering is inherently social.

We’ve parked at the Apron lot at Highway 99 and Mamquam FSR to avoid some construction and also to explore the new Apron trail that connects with the Grand Wall area. It’s our first climbs of the season and we’re in search of some of the easiest problems in these woods. So, huge rectangular crashpads on our backs, Melinda and I wade into the sea of boulders.

In the Easy Chair area, we find friendly holds on Dyke Surfer, V0. Bouldering grades, by the way, all begin with the letter “V”, a tribute to Texas bouldering pioneer John “Vermin” Sherman. After scrambling around the enormous Cacodemon Boulder, we gingerly ascend Superfly Slab, V0. Before moving on, we inspect The Egg, V11 a problem with holds that are the climbing equivalent of palming a giant basketball. Pushing further into the boulders, we climb Whiter Than Ty, V0 and Overly Critical, V0 in the Lipsmack area. In the shadow of the Octagon boulder, we climb three more problems, working Jack’s Traverse, V3 for the longest time. Moving through the Black Dyke area, we greet a pair of climbers who are on the very popular, Sloppy Poppy, V4. We set up below Squamish Days, V0 and pull on its big holds. We trade our problem with a neighbouring couple that has just finished up on Fried Ant, V0.

Although we’ve only scratched the surface, problems of every grade exist in the Grand Wall boulders.
Development of the area and progression of the sport has made these natural jungle gyms just as much of a climbing destination as the towering Grand Wall itself. These castoff boulders and those that solve them have created a whole new climbing community, brought to you by the letter “V”.