The following is an excerpt from The Squamish Chief by Jennifer Thuncher about the rock scaling that took place last weekend.
It is likely every Squamish rock climber’s dream job.
Well known local climber Luke Neufeld spent three days last week about 500 metres above the ground in and around the scar on the north wall of the Stawamus Chief.
Neufeld was the site supervisor and one of the expert climbers from Squamish company Global Rock Works, which was hired by BC Parks to clear any loose rock fragments from the scar created by the April 19 rockfall.
“We’ve basically just been clearing all the debris that kind of caught up – rock sitting on ledges and stuff,” Neufeld told The Squamish Chief over the phone on Friday afternoon, while perched on a ledge for the interview.
“[We’re] prying off a couple bigger flakes that are coming off easier, not too huge or anything. The biggest one is probably about the size of a fridge.”
Neufeld said the workers used static climbing ropes and repelled down, either tying to trees up above or using an anchor bolt. They used pry bars to work precarious rocks free, he said.
That afternoon, the last on the job, there were three climbers doing the scraping, one support worker in Valleycliffe and one on the Forest Service Road below monitoring to ensure no one was entering the area below, according to Neufeld.
For the full article, please visit The Squamish Chief website.
