PRINT: Rock Climb Cerberus, Squamish

Cerberus

5.11d, Trad, 600 ft (182 m), 6 pitches, Grade III,

Avg: 3.9 from 36 votes
FA: Dean Hart, Randy Atkinson 1989
International > N America > Canada > British Columbia > Squamish > Stawamus Chief > Tantalus Wall

Access Issue: Camping Details

The popularity of Squamish within the #vanlife community has increased to the point that there is great concern about the group’s collective environmental impact. “Wild” or “Freedom” camping has become unmanageable environmentally because of the high numbers of campers. This is a serious issue that causes conflict between locals, home owners, and climbers!

VAN CAMPING / WILD CAMPING

Within District Boundaries

The  District of Squamish PROHIBITS camping within the municipal boundary. This includes sleeping in a vehicle anywhere within District boundaries. A bylaw gives the District the power to issue tickets for contraventions.

Camping on urban / residential streets is prohibited under pre-existing bylaws.

The “hot spots” that have been of most concern are below.

· The whole of the Mamquam Forest Service Road under the North Walls of the Chief between the junction with the 99 and junction with the Stawamus/Indian Arm Forest Service Road (as a salmon run and sensitive riparian area, camping close to the Stawamus River is especially inappropriate)

· The Powerhouse Springs Road including the parking area for the Fern Hill cliff

· The dirt road to the kitesurfing “Spit.”

Outside of District Boundaries

If you explore forest roads in crown land outside the municipal boundaries, it may be possible to find discreet roadside sites suitable for tents or van camping. However, the provincial authorities do have some restrictions ;

· Stays are limited to 14 days.

· Campers should follow Leave No Trace principles. HUMAN WASTE is a major issue.

· Strictly observe any current fire bans.

DESIGNATED CAMPGROUNDS

Please see the District of Squamish website for a comprehensive list of designated campgrounds.

Recommended affordable camping:

- At the Chief: Stawamus Chief Provincial Park Campground BC parks site, spots start at $10.00 CAD/person. No reservations.
- 7 minutes north: Mamquam River Campground A non-profit site, spots start at $15.00cad/night for a drive-in site. Reservations recommended, not required.
- 20 minutes north: Chek Canyon Recreation Site A public site; no fees, no reservations and world class sport-climbing. No running water. The road is steep and rough but 4x4 not required

Description

Follow Tantalus Wall or Milk Run for 3 pitches to the halfway ledge, or rap in to the upper pitches. Move up right 15M and gain a superb dike trending right across the wall(9 Bolts, 10D). The next pitch, turning through the roof is long and sustained, following the dike the whole way(14 bolts, 11D). Climb a hollow flake (SKETCH!!!) to a belay(11D). A tricky start on the second to last pitch scares some away(11D). Save a #2 and #3 Camalot for the last pitch.

Location

At the start of the Yosemite Pinnacle, or milk run. Walk down.

Protection

Bolts and Gear. Always be prepared for rain and to bail.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

In the middle of the crux<br>
*photo by A. Cairns

In the middle of the crux photo by A. Cairns

Cerberus - first couple pitches

Dave High on P3

Dave Starting P3 on his onsight.

Crux pitch photo by A. Cairns

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Scott W
Flagstaff, AZ

5.11d

Simply awesome, so much fun. No PG sections on it I thought, aside from maybe the hollow flakes that go at 5.8 or so. I did a 3 points off lurch move at the crux, though my shorter friends, that are better at slab than I am, were able to tech it out statically. May 24, 2011

Ross Morgan
Taos, NM

Fantastic route. Did this route yesterday (January 26th) during a dry spell with great conditions. An excellent alternate start is described HERE. squamishclimbingsource.com/… Jan 27, 2014

Clay Thomas
Boston, Mass.

The description of the pitches given here isn't quite accurate. Here's the original variation:

P1: start on the tantalus ledge, climb up choss to a brief corner then climb an awesome dike to a semi-hanging belay. 11a
P2: climb tricky discontinuous dikes straight up to a brief roof encounter. Climb a dike until it intersects flakes. Follow the flakes, passing a hard balancy thin crux, to a nice belay. 11d
P3: climb another awesome dike featuring a crux towards the start. When the dike peters out wander around to the top. 11d, felt soft.

I haven't done the alternate start (the first pitch of Labyrinth) but it looks awesome and definitely better than grunting up the offwidth on Tantalus wall and lugging those big cams around on this delicate sport climb. Aug 8, 2018

Casey Engstrom
Squamish, BC

Not often do you get splitter offwidth, sheer exposure, and heady dike traverses all in the same climb. An amazingly improbable line. Rack: singles to 6, tons of draws. Get on it! Sep 1, 2018

Teddy Kisch
Gold Bar, WA

Did the labyrinth start, which is a great pitch in itself and is a good warm up for the next 3 pitches. More pumpy than the rest of the Cerberus pitches as it is fairly horizontal most of the way, but has a few decent rests. Labyrinth can be done without gear but some may take comfort having 0.5-1” cams as well. Got a bit lost finding the correct gully coming in from the bulletheads side, so double check beforehand.

Used a #2 on the second pitch, as well as a #1 on the last pitch to protect the final traverse to the left then up and back right. Felt that the 2nd pitch was slightly harder than the 3rd, but the 3rd pitch boulder problem itself felt like the single hardest move on the route. Hands down one of the best routes in Squamish! Mar 21, 2019

Tim Bonnell

5.11d

I'd recommend starting this via Catharsis Crack (Labyrinth). Bring a light rack (singles from .3 to #2, no nuts) for that pitch. Felt solid at 10d, maybe even harder in one techy face section.
The 2nd pitch is about 10c and a bit runout in the easier (5.8ish) sections. The 1st 11d pitch is the money pitch...incredible climbing that is all there. Do it on a cool day (obviously). As someone mentioned below, bring a #1 on the last pitch but otherwise both 11d pitches are fully bolted. Apr 1, 2019

Lisa Montgomery
Golden, CO

5.11d PG13

This goes down as one of the best face climbs I’ve ever done. The 11d pitches are wildly techy and the airy position keeps your heart pounding. I will say, it was definitely more runout than I expected, even on 10+/11- terrain. Falls would be clean, but potentially big. If you’re up to it, I can’t recommend this route more highly.

Approach beta for Catharsis Crack: you’ll use several fixed lines as you climb the South South Gully. When you are about 50 feet below the big Bullethead on the right, look on the left side of the gully for fixed lines heading steeply up left. If you get to a bolted sport climb in the middle of the gully, you’ve gone too far.

Rack beta: a single set of cams yellow Alien to #2 was perfect for Catharsis. I used a #2 on the first 11d pitch of Cerberus at the roof. I wished I’d take all my cams on the last pitch. It’s pretty easy climbing, but I passed up probably 4 cam placements because I left them behind. Jun 13, 2019

Luke Stefurak
Chattanooga, TN

Approach:
The climb begins off of the ledge below the popular aid route ‘Wrist Twister’, approach via fixed lines in the South South Gully.

Alternate Start Beta:
P1: Catharsis Crack

‘Catharsis Crack’ From the ledge at the base of Wrist Twister, climb down and left 10ft (fixed line) to reach the start of a prominent dyke. Climb the lovely dyke to reach the left trending flake system, sustained underclinging leads to a surprise crux around half way. Continue up the flake system to a bolted belay, be wary of hollow rock nearing the end of the pitch. 5.10c/d. bolts + gear. Super fun. This pitch is an excellent alternate start to Cerberus.

New Link for Labyrinth: web.archive.org/web/2019052…
Info copied over since Squamishclimbingsource.com is down. Aug 8, 2022

Peter J
Bishop

Excellent technical face climbing. The features you are climbing on are just too cool. Starting on catharsis crack, every pitch would be a sought after single pitch at a crag. Well protected imo (not run out on 10+/11- as some have suggested). Aug 14, 2024

Ben Kleiman
Oregon

It wasn't obvious to me how to split the last pitch in two. It would require a kind of uncomfortable hanging gear belay. Instead it makes a lot more sense to just manage drag and keep going (bring a couple cams). The climbing eases significantly to the top.

Also, those flakes are spooky! Tread lightly!

Awesome climb Sep 3, 2025