The Chief: a Squamish Bike-to-Climb Adventure
- Greg Luesink
- Jul 9, 2023
- 11 min read
Updated: Mar 26
In an effort to combine two long training rides and climb with my friend Max, I loaded up my bike, saddled up, and rode to Squamish to climb the Chief!
A small bit of backstory to this adventure will help set the stage. In 2022, I rode from Chilliwack to Vancouver and back to raise money for charity (Ally Global, working to combat human trafficking), totalling just over 200 miles (333 km), which took me about 20 hours. For 2023, I wanted to up the ante, so my plan was to ride 444 km in 24 hours. To go further, I needed a simpler route, so this would be broken up into 4 x 111 km loops around Chilliwack to eliminate navigational inefficiencies (a huge time waster from my Vancouver ride). How was I going to accomplish this feat? By training my ischial tuberosities... ahem... I mean my sit-bones... er, um, my bum.
Enter my grand idea: bike 200 km to squamish in one day to meet my friend Max, climb the Chief on day 2, and then saddle up and bike back home for another 200 km on day 3. I figured that biking 400 km with a "rest day" in between would be a huge confidence boost for cycling 444 km in 24 hours!
Thus, after securing three consecutive days off from my part time job at Mt Waddington's Outdoors, I loaded up my trusty steed (named Al, cuz he is made from Aluminum). Based on my previous long rides and Vancouver's tricky navigation, I figured I could make it to Squamish in about half a day... 12 hours that is.
What did I pack?
I realize that it might be of interest to know what I packed for a trip like this. Since Max would provide all of the shared climbing gear, my only responsibility was to bring my harness, shoes, helmet, and belay device. In addition, I packed a change of clothes to climb in, a sleeping bag, and a hammock. I also packed some snacks for the biking and climbing, but intended on purchasing breakfast, lunch, and dinner to avoid packing a stove. Most of my gear fit on my bike, but I packed my BD Distance 15 backpack with some extra water and food as well as clothes. The pack would also carry food and water while climbing the Chief! I am pretty proud with how light I was able to make my bike, considering my set-up was over 100 lbs when I did my last bikepacking trip in 2022! With all my gear packed, I was excited to get the trip underway. I just had one stop to make: my grandparent's house for some porridge.
Part 1 - Bike to Squamish
On Wed, July 5, I left my grandparents house in Chilliwack after breakfast and started pedaling towards Abbotsford around 8 am.
It's worth mentioning that I actually thought the route would only be 160 km, as per Google Maps. While the Maps route took the highway, I figured that taking some side-roads wouldn't add too many kilometres, and I didn't want to bother with meticulously mapping out my path... I shouldn't have been surprised, but those side roads added nearly 40 kilometres, making the day total to be 198 km with 1980m of elevation gain. So, ignorantly and blissfully, I set off on what I thought would be a relatively "chill 100-mile ride" to Squamish.
At the height of summer, it was ruthlessly hot, so I made sure to sip my IV drip of tailwind drink mix to avoid dehydration. Abbotsford came and went relatively quickly, and soon I turned onto Fraser Highway, a much mellower (but still reasonably direct) path compared to Highway 1. My tactic for highway riding is to put both headphones in to drown out the sound of cars wizzing by. Perhaps naive, but I figure that if a car is going to hit me, there's not much I can do, so I might as well enjoy some tunes and podcasts. That's not to say I don't keep my peripheral vision open... I certainly don't want to become road kill.
Pretty soon, I was past Langley, Cloverdale, and even past Delta. I crossed the Alex Fraser Bridge, which had caused me so much trouble in 2022, and found myself surrounded by towering skyscrapers.
I took a slightly different route than in 2022, with intentions of biking through Stanley Park. It was around this time that I desperately needed something to eat and also cool off, so I stopped at a small Dairy Queen for a burger and a Blizzard... heavenly! Soon after, I'd passed some funky lawn sculptures, Science World, and some more art about rings (a convenient photo to send to Jas, whom I was merely a month away from proposing to).
Under the green foliage, I moseyed through the middle of Stanley park and onto the Lion's Gate Bridge. What a magnificent structure! I promptly joined the droves of cyclists and pedestrians crossing to North Van. On the other side of the bridge was Marine Drive, which proved to be the absolute highlight of the day. A winding, scenic road around the perimeter of North Van, with spectacular houses and beachfront views, harbours, and just the right mixture of hills. Every so often a car would pass, but otherwise it was quiet: a much needed reprieve from the hustle and bustle of Vancouver proper. Now, I was about 160 km into riding already, and I knew there was 40 km of highway to get to Squamish.
As I merged onto the "Sea to SkyWay," I texted Max my eta ~2 hours to get to Squamish. With that, I started to chip away at the remaining 40 ish kilometres of rolling highway. Just as I was overheating, I chanced upon a drainage spigot on the shoulder of the road: literal water coming out of a rock! God had answered my unspoken prayer; and I didn't even need to hit the rock like Moses!
After some grueling climbs and exhilarating descents, I topped the last hill before bombing down to Squamish. At the top lay Murrin park, which I'd been to before with my friend Mike. I took a look at my filthy, dust-caked legs and decided to make a pit-stop for a lake dip to clean off after a long day. That was one of the most refreshing lake jumps of my life! I hopped back on my bike and began the final descent into Squamish. In the lighting of the setting sun, the Chief was lit up orange as I whooped and hollered at the spectacle whilst hitting 60kph. Max was waiting at Sunny Chibas Fried Chicken Mexican Cantina for me at 8pm. What a Legend! After we caught up on life, then made a plan to reconvene in the morning for breakfast at Zephyr's before the climb. With that, Max went to sleep in his van on some FSR, and I rode to find a quiet spot to set up my hammock. I settled on a pull-off with two other dirt-bag climbers living in vans, so I felt relieved that I wouldn't be alone. Truth be told... I'm terrified of bears, so the company was welcome... necessary actually.
Day 2 - Climbing the Chief via Calculus Direct / Memorial Crack / Butt Lite 5.9
I woke up to my watch alarm buzzing on my wrist, packed up my gear, and set off to Zephyr's in Squamish city centre to meet Max. Unfortunately, this eclectic cafe went out of business. Max relayed that it was quite devastating to many in the community! I waited at my table for my breakfast sandwich with my alligator token, signifying who's order it was. While we waited, Max pulled out the climbing guide so we could survey our route. The plan was to climb Calculus Crack, the mega classic 5.8 route up the Apron, and link it into Butt Lite up high on the headwall.
After breakfast, I went to stash my bike (I'd made arrangements with one of my professors, who lives in Squamish - thanks Cynthia!!) With my mind at ease about the safety of my bike, Max and I drove to the parking lot in his van. As we racked up with our gear, I trotted over to the outhouse for a morning deposit. On the way back, I spotted Will Stanhope, Squamish climbing legend. Too embarrassed on my first pass, I forced myself to go back and ask for a selfie, to which Will obliged. Evidence of famous-encounter secured, I trotted back to Max.
Pitch 1
Max and I hiked the short approach to the base of Calculus Crack... only to find a line-up of 5 parties of climbers. No good, not worth the wait. We hiked up to another option, also finding a line-up of about 5 climbing parties! With that, we trudged back down the trail to discover "Calculus Direct" had no wait! Max promptly racked up while I flaked the rope, and he quested up the first pitch. He told me that his intention was to link pitches together, but I didn't realize that he was going to climb until there was no more rope: 70m later I was yelling up at him to stop!
Max linked a mega first pitch, so I had a lot of climbing ahead of me. The first few moves to get into the corner system were a little tricky but I got into the crack without error (the party behind me started climbing up immediately and the leader took a big fall on the bolted move, not a good way to start mentally!). What followed was a variable system of cracks and ledges, mostly low-angle, but with a few steeper sections to negotiate. After some time, I reached Max, perched at a tree-belay.
Pitch 2 & 3
It was my turn to lead next, so I handed my pack to Max and grabbed some extra cams. The next section was a very chill 5.6 hand-crack with ample gear placements and even some trees to sling. At the very end was a slabby traverse move to access the next pitch. Max followed smoothly behind me, and arrived at the belay station to lead the next pitch, a tricky looking 5.8 finger and hand crack. Methodically, Max jammed, finger-locked, smeared, and edged his way up the pitch. Max once again linked two pitches together, and pretty soon I was climbing up behind. Relishing in the pureness of the crack, I grinned as I solved the puzzle of movement up the splitter crack. A highlight pitch for sure.
Pitch 4
Once again, it was my turn to lead, and Max had graciously given me all of the easy pitches. Up next was a very low angle 5.6(? maybe even easier) slab up to a scramble section. At this point, my feet were screaming at me to get out my climbing shoes, so I can't recall if this pitch was any good. Just that my feet hurt!
Scramble #1
In the trees, we unroped and rambled up to Memorial Ledge for a snack and water break, enjoying the sweeping views of Squamish halfway up on the cliff-face.
Pitch 5 - Memorial Crack
Max was once again on the sharp end, and cruised up exposed, parallel cracks into a corner system, dubbed "Memorial Crack". Once again, it was an excellent pitch, with techy stemming and jamming. It was somewhere around 5.9 - challenging enough to be engaging, but not too hard to be scary and time-consuming.
Simul-climb "pitch"
At the top, we coiled up the rope and scrambled another section, ultimately deciding to simul-climb several moderate pitches, around 5.7 in difficulty. I was on lead, with Max climbing at the same time and about 40 metres of rope between us. I didn't get any photos from those pitches, nothing too crazy! I eventually got to a tree ledge and made an anchor to belay Max up. From here, we readied ourselves for the final push!
The Headwall // 5.9 Crux
Max tied into the lead-end of the rope, and made his way up the burly, polished 5.9 crux. Two bolts protected the hardest moves, and Max cruised through them into a long ledge traverse. It was my turn to follow, and I tried my best to mimic Max's movements. In the middle of the 5.9 crux, I was a bit shocked at how hard I had to try to pull through the moves! Hanging on a glorious jug hold, I snapped a selfie leaning out into space before carrying on.
Max also led the next pitch, which included a tricky chimney section. In the chimney was a stuck cam, which Max spent a good amount of time to dislodge - free gear! Not long after, I was mantleing my way up zig-zagging ledges to Max.
I figured that we still had more pitches to climb, but Max had mischievously decided not to tell me that we were done climbing until I finished the pitch. I chuckled as he grinned his silly grin and packed up the rope. We rambled up to the summit of the 1st Chief, snapped some photos, and started down the trail back to the car.
That evening, we got some A&W burgers and hot apple turnovers (Max returned two of them to the counter... they were not "hot" as advertised). Max had to leave to catch a ferry that evening, so he dropped me off at my bike stash and bid me adieu.
That evening, I rolled over to the same FSR pulloff to set up my hammock. Much to my dismay, the two van-lifers were gone, and I was all by myself. I've never been a sound sleeper in the woods, even with the company of others. But, all alone in the woods, every Chipmunk, bird, and squirrel making a small ruckus was equated to a lumbering bear. My heart rate just wouldn't settle, and after over an hour of sleeplessness, I determined that it'd be better to just bike all the way home than be kept awake by my irrational fear.
Alas, it was a long ride to begin after a long day, so I packed my bike up and decided to check out The Chief Parking Lot. It was still a hustle and bustle at 10 pm, so beard were the last thing on my mind. I chanced upon 4 posts for slacklining that were close enough to hang my hammock from, so I set up there. Amidst the rowdy neighbour's and flashing headlamps, I fell fast asleep.
Day 3 - Home again, home again, jiggity jig
I awoke just after 6 am, refreshed after sleeping incredibly soundly. Turns out a white noise was all I needed! I headed back to Zephyr's for breakfast before going southbound on the Sea to Sky. Thankfully, it was a lot cooler than two days prior, a factor that I was grateful for on the long climbs. All those hills were worth it though - I've rarely biked such fun downhills! A few hours later, I passed a Farm to Table market on Marine Drive. I couldn't resist the thought of a fresh orange, and even splurged on a jug of orange juice. Time was on my side for the return trip, so I decided to ride along the sea-wall of Stanley Park for the first time. I see why it is so popular!
Time crept along as I retraced my pedal strokes through Vancouver, across the Alex Fraser Bridge, and along the Fraser Highway. Pretty soon, I was cruising along Vye road with only 25km to go! Jas had made plans to meet me in Yarrow, so I hustled to arrive on time. I dropped off my gear at home (swapped helmets for some reason), and then Jas and I biked to dip in the river and have dinner at her house! What a great way to end the trip. Technically 208 km on the day...
Closing thoughts
This will forever be one of my favourite adventures. Biking that far alone was surprisingly enjoyable, weaving my way through semi-familiar, semi-unkown paths. I'd learned a thing or two from biking to Vancouver in 2022, and this time felt much more relaxed and peaceful. The contrast of solitude and socializing made this a really special trip. I had so much time to think on my rides, about life and the present. I also relished the time I spent climbing with a friend and just rambling up a mountain.
I also gained a huge boost in my cycling endurance from this trip, just in time for a mega-mission...
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