Rock/Ice Climbing advise for late Sep/Oct in BC

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elli_dberg

 
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Rock/Ice Climbing advise for late Sep/Oct in BC

by elli_dberg » Tue Sep 02, 2014 9:57 pm

Hi all,

we are planning a 3.5 weeks trip in BC starting from Vancouver on Sept.18th. It is not a lot of time but we'd love to climb and see as much as possible. I've been searching the internet for good climbing spots and weather conditions, so already have a rough, vage idea of what is expecting us.

One of the climbing areas we really wanted to visit are the Bugaboos and the spots around Lake Louse. However, all the reports and articles I found are about conditions in summer - from June till beginning of Sept. Now, we are a bit concerned that it might be already too cold and maybe rainy/snowy when we arrive there, which will be end Sept/Oct. So now, I am thinking if we should rather take our ice climbing equipment. And here comes my question, does anybody has an experience with rock/ice climbing at that time of the year in the Rockies or generally BC? We are coming from Europe so won't be able to take all our gear with us (new regulations allow only 23kg :( ). Can any reccomand any cliimbing areas suitable for this time period? Is it better to go to the Rockies or maybe Squamish?

And maybe one more thing. Renting a camper in Canada is sooo expensive. So we decided to rent a small car to get around. Do you think it is possible and reasonable to camp at this time of the year? I read in some other posts that also bears are active, so we are not sure if camping with a tent is a good idea at all. Sorry if I am writing any nonsence. It's all information I've gathered from the internet - it will be our first time in Canada.

Thanks for any help, advise, comments and/or information,
Elisabeth

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ExcitableBoy

 
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Re: Rock/Ice Climbing advise for late Sep/Oct in BC

by ExcitableBoy » Thu Sep 04, 2014 12:27 pm

Squamish is amazing and there is very good alpine ice and rock routes in the B.C. Cascades near Vancouver. This is a very wet area, however, and end of September is often when the weather becomes unstable. If it remains dry you should find plenty to do but that is a crap shoot. Sport climbing at Skaha can have drier weather if it is too wet around Vancouver. Camping should be fine, I've never worried about bears or had problems, just be smart and follow the recommendations.

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Tonka

 
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Re: Rock/Ice Climbing advise for late Sep/Oct in BC

by Tonka » Fri Sep 05, 2014 12:09 am

ExcitableBoy wrote:Squamish is amazing and there is very good alpine ice and rock routes in the B.C. Cascades near Vancouver. This is a very wet area, however, and end of September is often when the weather becomes unstable. If it remains dry you should find plenty to do but that is a crap shoot. Sport climbing at Skaha can have drier weather if it is too wet around Vancouver. Camping should be fine, I've never worried about bears or had problems, just be smart and follow the recommendations.


I saw Alex Honnold a couple weeks ago in Minneapolis on TNF speaker series and he commented that Squamish is the new Yosemite Valley for dirt-baggers. In a good way and he was spending 30 days there. Never been.

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elli_dberg

 
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Re: Rock/Ice Climbing advise for late Sep/Oct in BC

by elli_dberg » Fri Sep 05, 2014 1:07 pm

Hi and thank you for the quick responses. I reckon we'll head to Squamish and hope weather will keep us dry. Thanks for the advise with Skaha, it's on top of our back up plan. It's a pity but we decided not to go to the Bugaboos or maybe just for a single day hike. Next time we should try to visit BC in summer.

Thank you.

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Jesus Malverde

 
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Re: Rock/Ice Climbing advise for late Sep/Oct in BC

by Jesus Malverde » Fri Sep 05, 2014 5:46 pm

Tonka,
Speaking of Squamish, you see this?:
Honnold Free Solos Squamish's University Wall
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web14x/news ... l-squamish


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