Alpine Ambassadors Trip - Squamish

Vehicles & Camping

Please complete this Camping form with your name, phone number, and camping information. If you are able to carpool, we encourage you to. It’s not clear to us what the vehicle capacity of the campsite is, so minimizing vehicles where possible is a good idea. We will bring a large, screened tent that can fit two picnic tables and almost everyone inside of it. If you plan to bring a 2-burner stove (or even a standing 2-burner) that you’re willing to share, please note that on the spreadsheet. We’ll have a great group camp, and there’s no sense in having 21 2-burner stoves. Basically anything you’re willing to bring to share, please note that on the spreadsheet.

It's critical that we know how many cars we have coming because we have to pay the campground in advance per vehicle.

COVID

We recommend that you bring a few COVID tests with you, so that if you start to feel sick, you can test, and isolate if you test positive. Carpooling to crags will likely be necessary, and we encourage everyone to respect each others’ comfort level; if someone would like carpool passengers to wear masks, please respect that request and wear a mask while in that carpool.

Border Crossing

There are currently no pre-border testing requirements to get into Canada, but you may be selected for random testing when you enter. You also must follow all of the protocols listed on this website. An important note is that they are very strict about having your ArriveCAN complete before you get to the border - don’t wait until you’re in line to do it!

You also do not need a negative COVID test to re-enter the US, but it’s a good idea to check this website before traveling to see if there are any changes.

Communications

Please make sure you have international data set up on your phone. It’s going to be logistically important that everyone can get in touch with everyone else while in Squamish.

What to Bring

• Camping supplies & food
  • Note that you cannot bring produce across the border - plan to buy that in Canada
  • There are active bears in Squamish, so plan to have a way to secure your food while you’re away from camp and at night
• Climbing rope (60m or 70m)
• Personal climbing equipment including harness, helmet, sport and trad rack.
• Headlamp & First Aid Kit
• Clothes for all types of weather
• Bug Spray

Tipping Guides

Colin of Squamish Rock Guides really works to hook us up with some of his best guides, and we always have a few who return from previous years, so they understand our program and provide great mentorship. Typically everyone pools funds and signs thank-you cards to hand to the guides on the final day. This is also a great way to maintain a good relationship with SRG and inspire those individual guides to prioritize working with us in future years! Everyone tips a different amount so it’s up to you to decide what’s meaningful, but a general guideline is $20/person per guide per day (CAD or USD - your choice J)

What to Expect

We’ll have a schedule that mixes up groups and guides/volunteers each day. There are 6 climbing days, and most days have a meet-up time between 7-8:30am. The schedule is a plan, but expect that plan to be fluid based on weather and everyone’s preferences. You will almost certainly do more cragging than multipitch climbing because you can learn more and improve your skills more quickly in a cragging environment. That said, towards the end of the week, it’s not uncommon for two ambassadors to decide to take a day to go after a long objective together. We currently have Wednesday scheduled as a rest day… but again that will be weather-dependent.

Make sure you’re training as much as you can between now and then to get the most out of the week!

In general, please don’t make additional plans for your time in Squamish during these days. Community is a key part of Alpine Ambassadors, and we ask that you be present with this community during your time up there.

Arrival

Please arrive at Klahanie Campground NO LATER THAN 5pm on Saturday, July 9. You are welcome to arrive as early as 1pm that day. We have the “Celebration” group site, and the reservation is under Andy Bassett, The Mountaineers. The campground is right on Highway 99 across from Shannon Falls. The address is 36583 Darrell Bay Road, Squamish, BC V8B 0A6

Welcome Meeting

We will meet as a group with our guides at 7pm at the group site. This is a required meeting - it’s also where you’ll sign your Squamish Rock Guides waiver.