Rich Wheater: Rediscovering Vancouver Rock Climbing, Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, Centennial Theatre, Friday, Nov. 25, 7:30 p.m. For more information on VIMFF’s Fall Series visit vimff.org.
Over the past 20 years, Squamish’s reputation as a rock climbing destination has blossomed, becoming a go-to for enthusiasts throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
But as that community’s profile has grown to attract international attention, photographer Rich Wheater has seen lesser-known climbing areas with a long history on the North Shore fade into the unknown.
“There just happens to be a whole bunch of rock climbing that people can actually do between Deep Cove and Horseshoe Bay and up the Sea to Sky Highway – tucked along the seashore, and up in the trees, small crags and boulder fields – that a lot of people aren’t aware of,” says Wheater.
“Because there hasn’t really been a record of it, a lot of these places … got frequented by a small group of people that developed the climbs, and then they kind of disappear from history, they fall into obscurity, they moss over and nobody knows about them.”
But Wheater is starting to reverse that trend, having spent several years documenting North Shore crags and climbs, and compiling them into a comprehensive guidebook that was released in May.
Now, Wheater will be one of the featured speakers to wrap up this year’s Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival Fall Series, presenting on Friday for the Rock Climbing Show at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre. He’ll be sharing his knowledge of North Shore’s climbing scene – expertise that may be unparalleled, considering how little documentation of the region existed before Wheater made it his mission.
“With a guidebook, it certainly brings this collection of climbing areas back to life again and sort of puts photos and historical context back into peoples’ hands,” Wheater says of his publication titled Vancouver Rock Climbing.
“I’m hoping all the climbing here can be recognized and enjoyed in the future, and actually be a part of the Greater Vancouver climbing lore and (establish) that it’s not just Squamish that people can go climbing. There is stuff to do right in our backyard.”
Wheater has been working as an adventure sport photographer for more than 20 years, but he’s been climbing on the North Shore for even longer. Having grown up in West Vancouver, he first got a grip on the sport in the early 1980s by climbing at Lighthouse Park. His guidebook provides detail on 300 routes, another 600 boulder problems and a few alpine objectives, illustrating various climbing areas with his stunning photographic work, including many action shots in the style that have made him one of the top shooters in North America’s climbing community.
“I had an opportunity there to bring my art to a completely new landscape and show local climbers something that was right under their noses in a nice-looking way by taking pictures at Lighthouse Park,
Whytecliff Park or Lynn Headwaters Park of rock climbs that make people go, ‘Wow, I really want to go and do that,’” says Wheater, who has also authored a guidebook on Vancouver-area trail running.
“As a photographer and a writer, you get to a point in your career where you really want to put something down that’s a little more permanent. I’ve worked a lot with magazines, putting photos in calendars and tourism (features), but a book sits on the shelf forever and it’s a contribution to the history and the lore of climbing, which is quite rich.”
Even though Vancouver Rock Climbing has only been available for a matter of months, Wheater has already seen people taking notice. Not only was it a finalist in the guidebook category at this year’s Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival, but the publication has led to growing numbers of climbers frequenting the North Shore climbing spots it documents.
“In three or four key areas, for sure, there has been a major upswing in visitation,” says Wheater, who feels he has a duty to help manage the impacts of increased exposure to the region’s climbing spots, and also to help legitimize the activity and be a voice for climbers when it comes to land management issues.
“Having penned the guidebook is just the initial step, and now it’s a matter of really working with the community to make sure people understand what they can and can’t do, what kind of etiquette is required to keep these places accessible.”
Joining Wheater as a guest speaker at Friday’s Rock Climbing Show will be Vancouver-based climber Vikki Weldon. The show will include screenings of two short films – Riders on the Storm from director Franz Walter, which follows two climbers attempting the eponymous, 1,300-metre route in Chile; and Simon Bischoff’s Before it Falls, which highlights the Totem Pole climb on the Australian island of Tasmania.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; check vimff.org for full event details and ticket info.
