Development of Octopus’s Garden crag at Little Smoke Bluffs

Twenty-eight years ago today, a spontaneous hike led to the discovery of a new crag at a popular day-climbing area, above Squamish, BC. “Octopus’s Garden” now lies within the boundaries of Smoke Bluffs Park and is popular with climbers looking for moderate crack climbs.

At the end of the 1970s and early ‘80s there was a flurry of climbing activity at the Little Smoke Bluffs. May 16th, 1982 was another busy day when Marty Young, Chris Guest and I arrived at the Squamish short route mecca.

Too busy. After climbing my 1980 route “Fata Morgana” (5.8), Marty and I decided to desert the crowded lower cliffs and hike up toward the second tier area. There was a party on “Pixie’s Corner” (5.8) so we bushwhacked further upward through dense salal and assorted shrubbery to We Knew Not Where.

Eventually, we bumped into a mossy cliff, shaded by thick forest. Three initial lines revealed themselves. In particular, a great detached flake curved rightward. I laybacked to the crest, from where I could see a good finger crack, topped by a sprouting bush. More exploration was in order.

The next day, I returned with another fellow Mountain Equipment Co-op employee, Doug Jeffrey, and dug around in the moss further south. At the end of it all, I questioned in my journal the rationale for so much hard work on a cliff destined to be reclaimed by the forest. Who would “remember it was an octopus’s garden in the shade?”

Dean Hart seconded the first ascent of the original “Octopus’s Garden in the Shade” (5.8) a few days later. Then a frantic month of teaching for BC Federation of Mountain Clubs, a telemark ski decent of Washington’s (3,285 m) Mount Baker (with Glenn Nolan) and other Squamish rock ascents took precedence.

On a very hot June 21st, I returned alone to garden another series of cracks: the off-width “Call Any Vegetable” (after the Mother’s of Invention song) and “Solstice” (both 5.8). A few days later, after the final scrubbing of these routes, I discovered a very interesting line to the right of the namesake route, beginning with what looked like some technical off-width cracks, leading up to a bulge.

Dave Jones, fresh from the American Medical Research Expedition to Everest (AAJ, 1982 Vol. 24 pp. 53-68), offered a hand on my next visit. Perhaps this was child’s play after battling tent-shredding hurricanes on the South Col, but Dave set to work hacking away at a couple of lines either side of Octopus’s Garden in the Shade and Call Any Veg. They would become “Edible Panties” (5.7) and “Root Canal” (5.9)

I finished cleaning my newest route, christening it “Unearthly Delights,” due to the characteristic deep cracks that required serious earth moving.

On the 29th, eager to climb the finished routes and with Jones tied up in meetings, I pressed Chris Guest into belaying duty and, after work, drove out to Squamish to lead Solstice (5.8) and Unearthly Delights (5.9). I was especially pleased with the latter.

A driving rainstorm lashed my van on the drive up the winding Sea to Sky Highway on July 4th and continued unabated through the long-weekend. For some reason, Dave Jones and I groveled in the muck, cleaning cracks, wire-brushing moss-caked granite by day, and shivering in damp sleeping bags by night. Our hands were transformed into pummeled prunes.

The next weekend, on a sunny Sunday, I unveiled the crag. David Harris, Corina Acheson, Kate Allen, Brian denHertog and Ross Nichol among others turned up for for the party. I followed Dave Jones on his routes while everyone swarmed up and down the various cracks and corners.

Over the rest of the summer and fall, much clearing and trail improvements were undertaken, enabling the cliff to dry faster after rain and turning the steep jungle approach into a more pleasant hike.

The Alpine Club of Canada’s Vancouver Section recognized my efforts with a novel award: an ice hammer with a broken pick — perfect for hacking into clogged cracks!

Today, within the environs of Smoke Bluffs Park, (est. 2006) you’ll find wide cedar stairways bridging the gullies and contoured trails leading up to this once guarded getaway. There’s even an octopus’s outhouse!

For climbers looking for a good collection of moderate single-pitch routes, shaded from crowds, this beautiful rock garden might still fit the bill.

Octopus’s Garden | Squamish Climbing.com | Squamish Access Society | FMCBC Bluffs page

Recent images on the Web: Climbers on (L-R) Octopus’s Garden in the Shade & Root Canal | Climbers on (L-R) Edible Panties and Octopus’s Garden in the Shade (large image) | Flickr set, starting w/ climbers on Root Canal & Monkey Quotient

Tagged as: british columbia, marty young, mountain equipment co-op, octopus's garden, rock climbing, smoke bluffs, squamish