It’s Cold in Squamish, so Two Locals “Ice” Climbed the Apron

Canada's west coast has a lot of snow and chilly weather, so climbers are making the most of it

Gripped January 1, 2022

Squamish is one of the most popular spot in North America for rock climbing, but when the temps dip below freezing and slabs of ice form on the granite walls, a few locals dust off their ice tools and head up high.

Such was the case this week when Jean-Marc Savoie and Niall Hamill teamed up for a rare ascent of a snow-covered Apron above town. “Man it was desperate as fuck,” Savoie told Gripped shortly after their ascent.

“We brought a full single rack, three red screws, a spectre, and many assorted pins,” he said. “We mostly followed the line Over the Rainbow.” Over the Rainbow is a popular seven-pitch 5.9+

Savoie said they swapped leads and in terms of anchors: “I think we got one bolted anchor, several trees and one gear anchor.” As for the ground they covered, there was “far more dry tool action than ice climbing… lots of frozen turf hooks.”

A lot of ice and mixed routes have been getting climbed around Squamish this week, including the first ascent of Medusa in the Squamish valley by Tim Emmett and Sam Eastman last week, read more about it here. Check out some photos of The Apron in winter by the climbers and Jon Thorpe down below.