The Stawamus Chief, officially Stawamus Chief Mountain (often referred to as simply The Chief, or less commonly Squamish Chief), is a granitic dome located adjacent to the town of Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. It towers over 700 m (2,297 ft) above the waters of nearby Howe Sound. It is one of the largest granite monoliths in the world. The Squamish, the indigenous people from this area, consider the Chief to be a place of spiritual significance. The Squamish language name for the mountain is Siy̓ám̓ Smánit. Siy̓ám̓ is usually translated as "chief", though it is really a social ranking), and their traditions say it is a longhouse transformed to stone by Xáays, as the Transformer Brothers are known in this language. The great cleft in the mountain's cliff-face in Squamish legend is a mark of corrosion left by the skin of Sínulhka, a giant two-headed sea serpent. The mountain gets its name from the Squamish village near its foot, Stawamus (Stʼa7mes), as is also the case with the Stawamus River and Stawamus Lake.
The park
In 1997, the Stawamus Chief Provincial Park was established by the British Columbia Ministry of the Environment. The park is over five square kilometres in area and encompasses not only the Chief but also Slhanay, a slightly smaller granitic dome located a short distance to the north-east. Also featured in the park are a walk-in campground and a number of maintained hiking trails which lead through the forest of the Chief's "backside" to several summit areas. In the spring of 2009, a new pedestrian bridge was opened across the highway. It provides access to the park from a new southbound parking lot in addition to linking the climbing areas of The Chief with those on the granite faces of Malamute Bluffs. This bridge (officially known as Stawamus Chief Pedestrian Overpass) was built as part of the Winter Olympic upgrades of the Sea to Sky Highway.
Geology The Chief is part of a medium-sized pluton of a granitic rock (granodiorite) that was initially formed in the early Cretaceous (approximately 100 million years ago) by the slow cooling and solidification of molten magma deep below the surface of the Earth. Exhumation of the granodiorite body probably occurred mostly by erosion of overlying rocks over tens of millions of years, with glacial erosion processes dominating exhumation over the last 2.5 million years. Once exposed at the surface, the original granodiorite body was shaped by glacial erosion, which is responsible for the tall steep walls that define the Chief, as well as the excavation of Howe Sound, a fjord. Classic hallmarks of glacial erosion are ubiquitous, especially polished, striated surfaces. Polish and striations observable at the very summit of the formation require that, at the peak of glaciation, the entire formation was buried under a substantial thickness of ice. The striking gullies that separate and define the three summits of the Chief are the result of fracturing and mass-wasting of large blocks along a series of vertical, and roughly north–south oriented deep-seated fracture sets (joints). The Chief may be the root of an extinct volcano because no volcanic activity has occurred in the Squamish area from about 86 million years ago to the beginning of Garibaldi Volcanic Belt volcanism about 2-3 million years ago. In the Squamish area, Garibaldi Volcanic Belt volcanism ceased during or shortly after the end of the last ice age.
Topography and features The Chief measures approximately three square kilometres. In summary, there are several summits separated by several deep gullies. Steep cliffs separate the summits from the forest floor in many places, especially the western faces.
Summits There are three main summit areas:
First Peak or the South Summit (610 m (2,001 ft)) Second Peak or the Centre Summit (655 m (2,149 ft)) Third Peak or the North Summit (702 m (2,303 ft)) Each summit features an expanse of fine glacier-polished granodiorite and views in all directions. Third Peak is a bit more remote and isolated and is less popular with tourists. An additional summit area lies to the north of all the summits. This area is called the Zodiac Summit. Although it can be considered a sub-summit of Third Peak, it is perhaps the most isolated area of the Chief. No proper trail leads to the Zodiac Summit; there are only faint tracks here and there among the trees.
Hiking trails All of the three main summits are accessible via the Chief's maintained backside hiking trails. These trails are steep and rugged. In several high places there are short sections of "trail" that are so steep or slippery, that chains and ladders have been bolted to the rock for aid. The main attraction at the chief is the large granitic façade which is accessed by the chief trail or by rock climbing. The several peaks offer a view of the Sea to Sky Highway 99 and the river below. The summits have no railings or safety installations, making it possible to fall off the face of the cliff.
Characteristics
Gullies The three main summits of the Chief are separated by several deep clefts known as the gullies. These chasms are steep and are partially filled with debris, mostly talus and scree. They were apparently excavated primarily by glacier action.
South Gully: the Chief's biggest and most noticeable gully, it separates First Peak from Second Peak. North Gully: a dark and narrow gully near the north end of the Chief, it separates Second Peak from the "Zodiac Summit". North-North Gully: even darker and narrower, this gully separates the "Zodiac Summit" from Third Peak. There is an additional smaller gully near the south end of the Chief called Bullethead Gully which somewhat separates the Bulletheads region from the rest of the Chief. This gully is very bushy and is much less dramatic than the main gullies mentioned above.
The Apron
The Apron is a vast sweep of lower-angle rock which rises like a wedge from the highway to about halfway up the Grand Wall near the Chief's approximate centre. There it meets with a rising ridge of rock known as the Squamish Buttress, and promptly terminates in the great chasm known as the South Gully.
Rock faces The Chief's summits are surrounded by sheer rock wall cliffs. They are typically high, exposed, and surprisingly varied in character. Several of the Chief's more notable rock faces are as follows:
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