The After Party is a New Riverside Crag in Squamish

Squamish has a great new sport crag for 5.11-and-under climbing – The After Party. Located on the Cheekye River north of Squamish, The After Party is a south- and southeast-facing wall that gets a ton of sun. It makes for an excellent winter, spring, and fall crag for sunny climbing. The right side of the wall tilts east and gets shade in the afternoon. Most pitches are nearly 20 metres in length and climb directly above the rushing river.

Development for the crag was led by father and son duo Luc and Sean Martin, both Squamish locals. The After Party’s climbs are vertical or slightly overhanging, offering great exposure over the Cheekye directly below, and the belay setup has a multi-pitch feel. The Martin’s have cleverly installed permadraws in key locations on each route to prevent your rope from falling in the river while cleaning. The bolts, anchors, and permadraws for the the wall were self-funded. Crag highlights include Shillito Steel 5.11a, Emotional Damage 5.10d, and Thing of Beauty 5.10b, one of the better low-10 sport climbs in town.

The approach to The After Party is short. From the parking lot on Squamish Valley Road just off the Sea-to-Sky Highway, walk north through the forest using mountain bike trails to reach the Cheekye river. The trails can be a little confusing to follow, but just keep heading north parallel to the highway. Once at the river, use a cable bridge to cross the water and reach the crag.

The rock at The After Party is very fractured due to its mix of granite and basalt stone. This leads to a lot of hold variety, from big jugs and underclings to crisp edges and tiny crimps. Upon first glance, the wall looks like it could be a little loose. I climbed almost all routes at the crag and I was pleasantly surprised by how well prepped it was. I experienced little to no loose rock and the routes climbed beautifully. That being said, conditions can change quickly at new crags, so a helmet and thoughtful belayer positioning are always good ideas.

It’s also important to note that when the river is high, it can get pretty loud. It can be very difficult for belayer and climber to hear each other when the climber is high up on the wall. Be sure to have your non-verbal communication skills ready if you visit the crag.

Directly to the right of The After Party is another new crag, After Work. It offers fun climbing from 5.6 to 5.10d. The wall is broken up by a few massive basalt dykes, which look super cool but also scream “choss”. However, developers Klemen Mali and Anthony Lupio did a fantastic job prepping the routes and clearing loose rock. Still, a helmet is undoubtedly a wise choice while visiting After Work.

The topo for The After Party and After Work can be found on Quickdraw Publications and Sea to Sky Climbing. To learn more about the development of The After Party, I spoke with one of its lead developers, Sean Martin. The 18-year-old Squamish local is a sport, trad, and alpine climber. He just received his IRATA Level 1 and is pursuing rope-access work. In February and March this year, he went to Patagonia with his father Luc for some alpine climbing adventures. He sent his first 5.13b at age 17.

Interview with Sean Martin

When and how was The After Party crag first discovered?

We found The After Party around September 2021. My dad (Luc Martin) and I were looking around in Squamish for a crag to develop. We wanted a project to keep us occupied in the transition between the climbing and skiing seasons when you can’t do either. The first thing we did was make the cable bridge and built a climbers trail to the top of the wall.

When did you first start developing the crag? How long was the development process?

We started developing the crag right around October 2021 and it took us over a full year to clean and send. We spent two days cleaning the top of all the climbs. This was important to safely provide access to each climb during the development and prevent loose rocks or debris from falling should any climbers decide to top out and walk off the climb. After that, for each climb, we spent on average one day scaling, one day cleaning, and one day to bolt and send. We spent the fall cleaning and the spring bolting.

Who was involved in the development?

The After Party was primarily developed by Luc and I. We also had help from my younger brother Kyle. The three of us did all the cleaning. There were a lot of loose rocks especially on the right wall where it’s mainly basalt formation. Toby Foord-Kelcey bolted a route and one of my dad’s friends, Benjamin Stiller, bolted a route.

[My dad] installed all the galvanized rebars to get around the crag. The “U-cap” shape rebars were given for free by a local company named Shillito Steel. We named one of the climbs Shillito Steel after them to say thank you for their contribution.

What are your favourite climbs at the crag?

My top three favorites are Flying Brit 5.11b, Pass The Baton 5.11c, and Emotional Damage 5.10d.

How did you get into scrubbing/new route-ing? Have you established other climbs/crags in Squamish?

Toby Foord-Kelcey introduced me to route developing. We developed two climbs at Echo Beach: I Schooled The Old Man [5.11b] and Picûrede Mouche ça Bite [5.9].