Big Rockfall on The Chief in Squamish
Luckily the rockfall happened at night and nobody was below the North Walls. There's a link to the rockfall below
The Chief has been the scene of a number of rockfalls over the past few years, and while the most recent this week wasn’t the biggest, it was still significant. It fell from somewhere in the North Walls last night and was captured on film.
The Chief Cam website posted a link to watch the rockfall here with the caption reading, “At approximately 12:16 a.m. on Sept. 26, 2024, a significant rockfall occurred on the north face of the Stawamus Chief, and was captured by the webcam.”
It looks like the rockfall comes in contact with the Angel’s Crest trail, but it’s too soon to say. An earthquake occurred on Vancouver Island also last night, but it was after the rockfall on The Chief. While we haven’t seen any official closure, it’s probably a good idea to stay away. On the Squamish climbing Facebook group, longtime route developer Paul Cordy said, “RIP lower Parallel Passages.”
In 2015, a massive rockfall in the North Walls destroyed several routes, read more about it here. In 2021, a piece of rock fell off from above the classic Genus Loci and impacted Merci Me on the Grand Wall. A month later, rockfall destroyed a number of pitches of the Black Dyke route, and toppled dozens of 30-metre-tall trees. Then another massive rockfall took place in the North Walls, and another rockfall also took place on Slhanay. And last year saw a large rockfall happen on Sheriff’s Badge.
Check out the latest buyer's guide:
