Mountain Lifestyle: The Ascent of The Cheif

It seemed far to late in the day to be setting out on such a big undertaking (The Chief - the biggest rock feature in Squamish), but having had some reassurance from Daragh as our local guide, we made a very casual 10:30am start. After scrambling up the Broadway Terrace, Clare and I climbed ‘Boomsticks’ (5.7) as our first pitch of the day, while Daragh and Katrina climbed a harder line further around the cliff. Our pitch was a unique feature, following a huge sloping flake. We climbed it quickly but nervously, as I couldn’t help looking up at the huge amount of rock still above us. Following the path above, we were relieved to get reunited with the others at the next pitch.

Climbing as a team, we’d not realised that Daragh had linked the next few pitches together, so Clare ended up leading a harder section than she’d bargained for, before we got to the ‘Butt Light’ turn off. A direct finish went straight up some steep corners to the summit, but we opted for the 5.9 way around the corner.

The exposure was fabulous as we came out above the trees and the side wall of the Chief dropped away below us.

Between some pitches, we were all hanging out on a ledge about half a metre wide above the void. Knowing that we were only a few more pitches from the summit helped to ease the nerves and we felt a lot more relaxed even though there was still some hard climbing to come.

The views should have been amazing, but the whole valley (and State by the sound of it) was getting smoked out by the forest fires. You couldn’t smell the smoke, but there was a thick haze everywhere.

As we were sat on one ledge, waiting to climb, a baby chipmunk came from somewhere and ran right past us and off around the corner! I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to catch him sniffing at my feet - only darting away along the ledge!

The notorious ‘chimmney pitch’ turned out to be much easier than it looked and actually quite good fun to climb. We had to hang out rucksacks from our harnesses so that we could fit inside and climb, while they dangled below us.

Above the chimney, were several pitches of easier climbing and below us a view began to open up.

And then we were on top!

It was good to be on flat ground and out of my harness. We took time to see what views we could and sort out the gear feeling particularly pleased with ourselves. It now around 5pm and all we had left to do was make the hour walk back down the hikers trail around the side of the Chief, to sea level.

The evening sun was glowing on the trees in the forest on the way down, giving a beautiful, soft light. I was sweating hard as we made our way quickly down past the giant redwoods.

Near the end of the trail, we detoured to dip our heads and toes in a plunge pool. I was glistening with sweat and felt instantly better afterwards!

We all had a buzz about us as we hit the flat ground and soon after, reached the car. Just to top things off, Daragh and Katrina took us to the nearby Mexican diner, ‘Mags 99’ where we sat in a booth and ate delicious burritos to celebrate the ascent, while looking up at the Chief. For dessert, we ate ice creams in downtown Squamish and strolled the high street before getting home and collapsing straight into bed. A big route and a big day!