This is a brush….

New routes are great, but there are some old ones that are great too. However, Squamish has a way of interfering sometimes. Unfortunately for rock climbing, the west coast environment has its drawbacks. Moss and lichen thrive here. Once it starts to grow on a route, people stop climbing it and it’s game over. Some would argue that the route grew over because it wasn’t good and therefore people didn’t climb it. While that may be the case for some routes, it’s not for others. Many factors come in to play on wether organics will start to form: the time of year the route was established, how hard it is, the type of stone, steepness and If it’s in a guide book or not. What’s the point of this post? Buy a wire brush and go rescrub a line or two. You can pick up the brush in the picture at Triton in Squamish for a few bucks. Establish a fixed line on your overgrown route of choice and start scrubbing. Look through past guidebooks for “overgrown” or “dirty” descriptions, sometimes there’s even comments like “great route that has overgrown” etc. Your contribution will be appreciated just as much as a newly established route. What are you waiting for?