The Zen Garden Is an Awesome New Squamish Trad Crag
Local route developer Nick McNutt talks about his scrubbing process and his favourite routes and boulders at his new crag
Photo by: Jeremy Allen
Squamish has a brand new trad crag. And it’s a good one, a really, really good one. Brought to life by local route developer (and pro skier) Nick McNutt, The Zen Garden is a new trad climbing area on the walls to the left of Shannon Falls. The pitches are amazing, the approach is short (although a little strenuous), and the location is sublime. It’s undoubtedly one of the best Squamish crags for 5.10 crack climbing.
The Zen Garden contains over two dozen routes, from one to three pitches in length. Grades range from 5.7 to 5.12a, with the majority of routes being in the 5.10 range. The stand-out line is Zen Garden 5.11a, a true splitter ringlock crack – a rare size for Squamish. The crag also houses nearly 30 boulder problems along its base, including a soon-to-be-famous V5 roof crack. McNutt worked with Jack Fieldhouse – a long-time, prolific boulder and route developer in Squamish – to unearth the problems, which range in grade from V0 to V7.
McNutt has done a ton of route and crag development in the Shannon Falls area in recent years. He’s the man behind the popular Shannon Springs Wall, Papoose Backside, Corner Unit, and Interstellar Wall. If you’ve previously visited any of these crags, you’ll already know how talented McNutt is as a Squamish new-router. His routes and sectors are always immaculate.
I visited the Zen Garden last week and was blown away by the quality of the routes at all grades. The views of Shannon Falls from the routes at the southern end of the crag are wild, and I can’t wait to visit next spring when the water is really rushing. I was also stunned at the amount of effort it must have taken to bring the Zen Garden to life. To learn more about the crag and its development, I reached out to McNutt with a few questions.
When did you first discover the Zen Garden?
I first discovered the Zen Garden in the spring of 2021. The steep cliff visible to the left of the waterfall has caught the eye of many local climbers who have wondered what’s up there, and the route to get there at first was a pretty cryptic bushwhack. The splitter off-fingers 5.11a crack was definitely the main draw when I first looked around.
When did you start developing the crag? How long was development process?
I went back the next day and hung a rope on it (Zen Garden crack) and it was naturally clean aside from some lichen and a bit of branch trimming. From there, it was about three seasons of work to clean and climb the roughly 30 pitches and similar number of boulder problems, doing the trail work, and building belay areas in the steeper sections.
I find your new sectors to be meticulously scrubbed. What’s your process like? How did the Zen Garden compare in development time and effort compared to your other sectors?
I’ve learned some good tricks, mostly by trial and error. I’d say that per pitch, this area took a bit less time as it’s steeper than some of the other areas I’ve done in the past which generally requires less effort. It’s also not a wide swath of close-proximity climbs, they are a little more spread out so it’s really just cleaning the areas you’d use while climbing. At first it’s locating anchor positions and doing whatever scaling has to be done, cutting some limbs, and then a few passes of brushing and blowing things off with a battery powered leaf blower. Scraping debris out of the cracks and putting in any protection bolts is the last step before climbing.
What are your favourite routes at the Zen Garden?
The highlights for me are “Soul Shakedown” 5.10b, which is an awesome steep line of athletic, engaging climbing through bulges with great gear throughout and no protection bolts. The splitter hand crack on pitch 3 of “Half Lotus” 5.10d is certainly one of the best cracks up there, mostly sustained at #3 size and with an awesome belay ledge at the top. “Gatekeeper” 5.10b is on the lower wall, which is a really nice long finger crack that is a great way to climb to the crag instead of hiking. And of course the title route “Zen Garden” at 5.11a is pretty special, it’s sustained vertical ringlocks which is pretty unique for the area and getting good reviews.
Who first started discovering and scrubbing the boulders? You? Jack Fieldhouse? Both?
The roof crack problems were obvious to me when I first found the area, but the potential of the bouldering was certainly driven by Jack. He’s got a good eye and a super hard work ethic, and making the problems enjoyable to climb with nice landings is something he’s really motivated to do. We worked together on a good handful, but my motivation was a bit stronger for the roped climbs and so he certainly cleaned up the majority of them. Now that there’s a good quantity of problems there, I’m sure people will bring pads up to sample things.
What are you favourite boulder problems at the crag?
The roof cracks of “Yin” V5 and “Yang” V6 are super unique for the area and crack climbers in town should all take a look at them. “Kensho Corner” at V4 is an awesome technical dihedral problem with a great landing. And “Tethered Peacock” V3 is great compression climbing, it’s a ton of fun.
Why the name ‘Zen Garden’?
I guess the name came from the ambience in the forest. It’s an awesome, tucked-away crag and it’s really nice just hearing the white noise of Shannon Falls the whole time you’re up there. Scrubbing these things alone with that atmosphere turns into a weird form of meditation I guess!
Topo
A free detailed Zen Garden topo covering both routes and boulders can be found on Quickdraw Publications. Hardware for the Zen Garden was provided by the Sea-to-Sky bolt fund. To support more new crags like McNutt’s, consider donating here.
Feature photo by Jeremy Allen
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