PRINT: Rock Climb Arrowroot, Squamish

Arrowroot

5.10b, Trad, 115 ft (35 m),

Avg: 3.6 from 317 votes
FA: P. Croft, R. Suddaby, T. Knight
International > N America > Canada > British Columbia > Squamish > Stawamus Chief > Grand Wall Base Area

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

This is a great climb among the great climbs along the base of the Chief. This ones starts easier than some, but it turns into a classic fingers and tight hands crack. At the little roof the crack becomes a lot more consistent and tougher, but the locks are great, considerably better than Seasoned in the Sun.

Location

This climb is at the far right side of the Chief Base, just about below the Dihedrals area. The area is fairly distinct for being in a pleasant hollow with only one other route nearby (Rutabega). This climb crosses the one-foot overlap at its apex.

Protection

This climb will take plenty of medium to large stoppers as well as doubles or triples of the finger and tight hand sized cams. The largest piece you could place would be a #1 camalot at the overlap, but there are many alternatives. There is one very old bolt near the top and then a good two bolt anchor with chains.

NOTE: with a 70m rope you can get down, but you have to be careful to take advantage of the base sloping up to the left and rope stretch. With anything shorter, you'll need to use two ropes to get down. Alternatively, the leader can top belay (on a very nice ledge) and the second can bring up the second rope.

If you're SUPER careful, you can rap with a single 60m rope if you land to the left, where the ground slopes upward. Use knots!

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Tesia cruising

Ask Sam if he cares.

Léa on Arrowroot

Arrowroot, 5.10b

Arrowroot: The belay is off to the left of the bush / shrub, 2 bolt anchor.

Arrowroot

Danny on Arrowroot

Great finger locks on Arrowroot. Photo of Jasmin Caton by Matthew Buckle, used with permission.

Looking down at the beautiful wavy fingercrack of Arrowroot

Andy Hall on Arrowroot

Do this to get down with a 60 m. TIE KNOTS!

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

David E

i thought this was harder than seasoned in the sun for sure, maybe it depends on hand size? Nov 16, 2007

Tony B
Around Boulder, CO

5.10b

Fun, but too bad it's not all like the top 1/3rd. Jun 30, 2008

Andy Laakmann
Bend, OR

5.10b

Good, but painful on the feet. Business is #0.5 to #1 camalots. Jul 30, 2009

Jared VG
Whatcom County, WA

A new(er) set of chains 15 feet right of the crack at 15 to 20 meters up the wall allows escape from this climb with a single 60 meter rope in 2 rappels. To do this, belay from the top anchor, and both climbers will have to make 2 raps. A single 60 meter rope will not even come close to reaching the ground. Oct 13, 2009

claytown
Boulder, CO

Absolutely Amazing! Such a great splitter fingers / off fingers line. We did the whole thing with a single 70m rope in one pitch. You just barely get back to the ground but it does make it with a couple of feet to spare. Jul 29, 2011

Mark Roberts
Vancouver, BC

5.10-

Rattly fingers! I was sorry I used my .5 and .4 to protect early on, use bigger gear for that section. The business starts as small as blue metolius and widens to .5 C4. Take doubles in that range, some nuts and singles up to a #2, though I placed a #3 mid-route when I clued in to save some finger-sized gear. Pumpy at the top!

Three rocks dropped while we were in the area, wear a helmet. Sep 9, 2012

Matt Hoffmann
Squamish

5.10a/b

Fun pitch. The only hard part is pretty short (finger crack) but, the pro is super solid. Just go for it. Sep 26, 2012

Ryan Lynne

5.10b

Make sure to watch the rope on this one as it is around 33 meters. We used a 60 meter using a bit of trickery. It is much longer than it appears from the ground.

The crux is definitely just before and after the small roof where the crack thins which makes it hard to get a foot in the crack. It eventually opens up again and the difficulty eases as you approach the chains. Apr 18, 2016

Robert Shortt
San Francisco, CA

5.10b

How the book gives this 3 stars is beyond me. I enjoyed the "punched by Thanos's gauntlet" bottom section as well as the great fingers and mini-roof at the top. Sep 9, 2018

Maxim Blair
Squamish, BC

5.10b

It's really interesting to me how the book calls this climb thin hands. After the initial broken cracks it goes from BD .3 to tight .75 which even by a small person's standards would probably be a bit too thin for a tight hand jam. This ended up being a glorious ringlock marathon at the top for me, absolutely delightful! Sep 11, 2022

Uknown Unknown
Vancouver, BC

Bring 3x, only the last third is good. The whole other part of the route is not good, like really bad. Unstable rock right now. Way longer than it looks from the ground. 2x nuts Oct 7, 2022

Sean Baker
Kincardine, ON

Got the RP first go of the day. I was happy to have triples in .5 and .75! May 8, 2023

Drew Brayshaw
Chilliwack, BC

5.10a

For what it's worth the original FA party named this climb "Arrowroute", which is a pun. Calling it Arrowroot removes the pun. May 8, 2023

tooTALLtim
Vanlife

We got down with a Beal 60 m rope by walking uphill and left just a little bit. Jun 13, 2024