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The Route: Squamish’s Hanging Garden 5.10c

In 2012, this old 1960’s three-pitch route was scrubbed clean by Kris Wild and has since become somewhat of a Squamish must-climb.

On the Squamish climbing forum in 2012, Wild wrote, “On Sunday March 25, I completed the unearthing of Hanging Gardens. It’s another one of those old forgotten jungle gyms of trees from the early 60’s… All anchors are fixed and lines are down… I added a completely new first pitch to straighten it out and avoid a 30-metre traverse full of large trees.”

The 5.10 cruxes are short and bolt protected, which makes it a great transition route into harder 5.10s. Found at the Papoose, Hanging Gardens is on the far left side of the cliff, left of Pamplemousse. It’s the first clean route you reach when hiking in from the road.

Big Mike’s Ascent

Pitch one is a 30-metre 5.10b that follows a diagonal finger cracks left across the wall until you can step to a higher ledge system, then exit right on thin face moves past a bolt. Belay on the right end of the large ledge below the corner.

Pitch two is a 28-metre 5.10c that climbs up the nice left-facing corner until you step left passed a bolt into another shallow corner. Belay at the base of a V-groove.

The final pitch is a 30-metre 5.10b up the groove, which is followed by an awkward corner protected by a single bolt at the beginning.

For more routes at the Papoose, visit Quickdraw Publishing

Here’s a photo of Conrad Haegert climbing Hanging Gardens in 2015 by Jordan Tieszen:

A photo posted by Jordan Tieszen (@jtiezy) on

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