Squamish Access Society legend and climbing trail-builder Brian Moorhead retires

If you’ve climbed in Squamish, you need to give this man his flowers.

Brian Moorhead, a master trail builder, longtime climber and access advocate, has retired from serving on the Squamish Access Society’s board. 

Moorhead is the longest-serving director at the society’s board, having been there since it was formed in 2004. That’s 22 years of service.

This past February, he chose to not run in the latest board election, but he still remains involved with the group as a non-voting associate.

The 85-year-old is perhaps best known for the extensive amount of work he’s done creating and maintaining climber’s access trails that have ultimately been enjoyed by outdoor recreationists of all stripes. 

What does this mean for a climber on a tangible scale?

Ever climbed at Murrin Park? The climber’s loop trail was the result of his oversight and vision. 

Enjoyed the Smoke Bluff upper loop trail? That was him. 

Have you used a urine diverting toilet in Squamish? Thank Moorhead. He spearheaded the initiative to make the first one happen. Now it’s a common feature in the area.

These are just some of many examples of the kind of work he’s done.

Moorhead can still remember the moment he got the idea to devote his time to this craft.

It was shortly after he and his wife immigrated from Ireland to Canada in the 1960s. Both were hiking around Mount Seymour in Vancouver’s North Shore, and they came upon a retiree doing some hard manual labour.

“He was there by himself, building trails,” Moorhead told Gripped. “And I stopped and talked to him. He told me he did this as a volunteer. He was retired, and that stuck with me over the years.” 

Many years later, in 2002, Moorhead retired from his job as an engineering technologist at the University of British Columbia. He then moved up to Squamish, where he’d been going up to climb since the 1960s. It had been quite a while, but the memory of the trail builder was still there.

“When I retired and had more time, I started to think about this guy,” said Moorhead. “And after two years of retirement, I was getting a little bit bored, so I decided to get involved in this volunteer work through Kevin McLane, [another longtime local climber and access advocate,] and the rest is kind of history.”

Moorhead’s resume of service in helping climbers (and all outdoor recreationists) access the outdoors is too long to list. But there are some highlights, including a 15-year term as chair of the Smoke Bluffs Park Advisory Committee and nabbing the British Columbia Parks volunteer of the year in 2017.

Moorhead was also the brain behind a highly successful trail building formula that has become known as the 10-3 program, which enlists the aid of 10 volunteers for three-hour shifts. It’s a sweet-spot method that’s produced many of the local trails that climbers and all outdoor recreationalists enjoy. 

On top of all that, the octogenarian is still climbing twice a week and going for hikes, which is how Gripped caught up with him on March 9. 

With a hiking pole in hand, he strolled through the Furry Creek trail network, which, like many of the trails in the Squamish area, he was responsible for spearheading. 

Every few steps, he’d point out a trail feature that he and other volunteers helped turn from idea to reality. 

Even the signs he placed in the area were done with intention. The way he sees it, signage that evokes the feeling of an official BC Park encourages people to pick up after themselves and respect the area.

Furry Creek was one of his latest projects, but his favourite still remains the Murrin Park climber’s loop trail. 

“[It’s become] one of the most popular day hikes in Squamish,” said Moorhead. “When I first saw the numbers from BC Parks two years ago, on a new trail counter, I phoned up parks and said, your counters are wrong. You know, this is nonsense. You can’t have that many people in July, but it turns out they had, the numbers were enormous. And so I was really, really quite gratified to see that.”

The Murrin Loop Trail is a 1.8-km path just south of Squamish off Highway 99. It offers scenic views of Howe Sound and access to several top-tier rock climbing spots. 

It’s been open since 2014 and gets busy early. The parking lot is often totally full by 9 a.m.

Looking to the future, Moorhead said that, contrary to some opinions, there are still routes and trails in Squamish waiting to be discovered and developed.

“Some people feel that Squamish is done. It’s climbed out. But I can’t really agree with that,” he said. 

“I suspect route development will continue, and Squamish will continue to be an international destination.” 

Personally, he said, he’d like to see more access to alpine climbs. One thing he’d like to see would be an actual pedestrian bridge across the Squamish River to connect climbers with trails leading up to the Tantalus mountain range. Currently, the ways across are either via booking a helicopter flight or making a shaky tyrolean cable traverse. 

“It’s controversial, but my personal feeling is that opening up the alpine for future generations is really important,” he said. 

He recalled the ease at which he was previously able to access some alpine environments, such as climbs around the Mount Slesse area, near the US-Canada border. 

With a grin, he recalled that a Volkswagen Beetle was often enough to carry him through the logging access roads and towards his objectives at the time. Many of those roads have since been decommissioned as the logging industry has died down. 

Finally, Moorhead had a few words for future generations.

“Don’t take it for granted. Get involved politically. One day you’ll find one agency or another will suddenly shut you out,” he said.  

“Volunteers do huge amounts in the [Squamish area] and the public has to be made aware of that. A small group of people can’t be expected to maintain an internationally famous destination for multiple activities, whether it be rock climbing or [other things]…People have to get engaged to help build, maintain and to encourage government to put more money into these amenities.”

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