Gripped Magazine
UPDATED: A Volkswagen Beetle is hanging off this rock face in Squamish
UPDATE: April 2, 9:10 a.m. The Squamish Access Society has announced that the surrounding climbing routes and trail have been closed as a result of the prank.
Sadly, this was not an April Fool’s joke.
“The closure covers all routes and trails from Hanging Gardens to Transit of Venus (all pitches). Barricades and signage are in place at the trailhead, and BC Parks rangers will be patrolling the area,” the society announced.
BC Parks is taking quotes rope access companies and is expecting removal to take place on Monday.
UPDATE: March 31, 1:42 p.m. A local route developer has inspected the rigging system and has deemed it unsafe. The public is being advised to stay away from the area.
Ryan Block told Gripped that he went up to inspect the hanging car on March 31. Around 1 p.m. he made a determination about the prankster’s workmanship.
He shared a statement to Gripped, which he publicly posted on the Squamish Rock Climbing Facebook group.
“The engineering work employed to secure this car shell to its sled (thereby keeping it suspended on the wall) appears to be quite shoddy,” he wrote. “I feel this is unsafe for the general public who walk beneath this face on public trails, let alone climb on the west face of the Papoose.”
New 16 mm glue-in eye bolts were installed and the car is suspended by two 6mm steel cables, with 10 mm links, he said. However, the lines aren’t equalized, with one bearing the entire load.
The hollowed-out Bug is mounted on a wooden frame.
“Upon closer inspection of the vehicle, one will note numerous attachment points where open hooks are being used to secure the body to the wood frame with old, degraded nylon webbing,” wrote Block. “Not only does this webbing appear to be structural, but it is in some cases not even fully captured by the open hooks. There appears to be some number of bolts into the frame at the front, but I was unable to get far enough into the body to get a close look at them.”
Finally, Block said it would be best if the pranksters cleaned up after themselves.
“It is my perspective that this is shoddy and dangerous work that puts the public at risk, and I would kindly request that the individuals responsible come remove it from the Papoose as soon as possible,” he wrote.
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Previous story:
The Papoose is best known as the home for a number of smaller multi-pitch climbs in Squamish.
But now it’s also home to what looks like the exterior shell of a red Volkswagen Beetle with a giant ‘E’ stamped on its roof.
A number of photos posted on social media showed the bug hanging from the top of the vertical rock face.
One of the photographers was Patrick Bell, a camera operator by profession. He took pictures of the Bug and posted them online on March 30.
No one knows exactly who hung the vehicle on the Papoose, but the choice of car, colour, and the giant ‘E’ follows the same pattern of University of British Columbia engineering student pranks.
Red is the official colour of that faculty, and there’s been a long history of students finding ways to hang the car in unusual places to kick off the start of engineering week at the school.
UBC students have previously placed a car on the school’s clock tower and even hung a Bug from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
However, not all of the stunts went according to plan. An attempt to hang a bug on the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in Vancouver ended in arrests.
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