PRINT: Rock Climb Avalon Connection, Squamish

Avalon Connection

5.10c, Trad, 180 ft (55 m), 3 pitches,

Avg: 3 from 3 votes
FA: Glenn Payan, Jeff Thomson 1998
International > N America > Canada > British Columbia > Squamish > Valley of Shaddai > Avalon Connection

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

Pitch one, Avalon: 10c. The pitch has a difficult bouldery start protected by a bolt. There is a nice jug in the shallow left facing corner, climb the nice finger sized flake crack up staying mostly to the left. There are anchor bolts on a roomy ledge at the top.
Pitch two, Pyrix: 10a. (this pitch can be linked into the first pitch) It is short and follows a groove up the arete. It packs a punch for 10a.
Pitch three, Closing Number: 10c. To get to the start of the pitch, walk maybe 30 feet back in to the forest from the top of the second pitch There will be a giant wide chimney, scramble up the left side of the chimney ( 10 feet of 5.easy moves) gain a nice open ledge covered in salal bushes. The route starts from the right side of this ledge and hand traverses up in a beautiful and burly crack. A bolt protects the first difficult crux through a roof. Fun!

Location

At the bottom of the gully of death turn left and walk about 100 yards. The route starts in a wavy shallow left facing corner system. There is a shiny bolt maybe 10 feet off the ground protecting the the starting crux boulder sequence. You can see the other two bolts on the first pitch as well.

Protection

Standard rack up to gold camalot. three bolts protect the thin cruxy sections on the first pitch, one bolt protects the initial move on the second pitch, and there are two bolts protecting the difficulties on the last pitch. Two-bolt anchors at the top of each pitch, there may or may not be cords with bail biners/rings to rap off... but you can walk through the fields of salal bushes back to the the top of the gully of death pretty easily.

Warning: the Valley of Shaddai gets very little traffic and so there tends to be some cobwebs and pine needles on most of the routes. Bring a nut tool to scrape out the holds, and/or a little brush.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

P1 variation of Avalon connection

Topping out P1

P1 of Avalon connection

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Mojojo Mojojo

As of today, Pitch 1 isn't in climbing state, we did a variation to the right of P1. It join P1 after 15 meter of crack climbing. The rest of the climb is clean and beautiful. Like Dave said the best access for the valley of Shaddai is to park at seal cove and hike a trail across the road, some flagging and a very nice trail. Lot's of rock there and a beautiful spot, Enjoy Jul 23, 2022

Chris Small

The bottom two pitches of this route (Avalon and Pyrix) were rescrubbed in August 2022 as part of a major new addition to Valley of Shaddai. See following topo for details. static1.squarespace.com/sta… Currently in pristine condition. Sep 23, 2022