Squamish, Canada Summary

The sea views and coastal drama end 11km beyond Britannia Beach at SQUAMISH, not a pretty place, whose houses spread out over a flat plain amidst warehouses, logging waste and old machinery. However, if you want to climb, windsurf or mountain bike, there’s nowhere better in Canada to do so. At a glance, all the town has by way of fame is the vast granite rock literally overshadowing it, “The Stawamus Chief”, which looms into view to the east just beyond Shannon Falls and is claimed to be the world’s “second-biggest freestanding granite outcropping” (after Gibraltar, apparently). Over the last few years, the rock has caused the town’s stock to rise considerably, for it now rates as one of Canada’s top – if not the top – spot for rock climbing, and the area recently earned provincial-park status. If all you want to do is watch this activity from below, the pull-off beyond the falls is a good spot. Around 200,000 climbers from around the world come here annually, swarming over more than 400 routes over the 625-metre monolith: the University Wall and its culmination, the Dance Platform, is rated Canada’s toughest climb. Other simpler but highly rated climbs include Banana Peel, Sugarloaf and Cat Crack, as well as other more varied routes on the adjacent Smoke Bluffs and outcrops in Murrin Provincial Park.