Squamish: Climbing Brings In $25 Million a Year

In Canada, Squamish is showing that climbing can power the economy of a city—or even an entire region. A first-of-its-kind study conducted over seven months has now put a number on that impact for the first time: in 2025, climbers injected 25.4 million Canadian dollars into the local economy. It is a striking figure, one that shows the sport’s economic weight without brushing aside the question of how that growth should be managed.

(cc) Chewool Kim / Unsplash

Between the granite walls of the Stawamus Chief and the thousands of boulders scattered through the rainforest, Squamish has spent the last 50 years building its reputation as a world-class climbing destination. What no one had measured until now was just how much the sport shapes a significant part of the local economy. On March 23, 2026, the Squamish Access Society (SAS), the local climbers’ association, released the first socio-economic impact study ever conducted in Canada on a climbing area. “Squamish isn't just Canada's best climbing. It's world class, and now we have the data to prove it,” the group said on its own channels.

The study is built on a substantial research setup: 566 surveys, 128 days of field counts at nine major sites between April 2024 and September 2025, interviews with local experts, and econometric modeling carried out by a firm that specializes in measuring the economic impact of outdoor recreation in British Columbia.

For a Few Million More

The numbers confirm that climbing is now a pillar of the local economy. In 2025, climbers directly generated 25.4 million Canadian dollars in Squamish’s local economy. The total impact across British Columbia reached 42.3 million dollars. That gap comes from indirect and induced effects: business for suppliers and subcontractors, but also spending by workers in the sector at other businesses across the region. The study counted 462,000 climber-days—a standard unit that counts each individual day of climbing activity, so two people climbing for one day equals two climber-days—a 40-fold increase since 1986. That level of use supports 148 direct jobs in Squamish, 214 province-wide, and generates 7.1 million dollars in tax revenue.

“People who are rock climbing, they have careers, they have money. We are becoming more affluent than we were 20 years ago”

Ashley Green, manager of a historic climbing shop in Squamish

The spending breakdown points to two complementary economies. Visiting climbers—who account for 80% of all climber-days—spend 21.1 million dollars on lodging, food, transportation, and gear. “Climbers are also a particularly valuable segment. They tend to stay longer, travel outside of peak periods and are highly engaged with the landscape,” Lesley Weeks, CEO of Tourism Squamish, told the CBC. Local residents add another 4.3 million dollars a year through spending on technical gear, apparel, and gym memberships.

Ashley Green, operations manager at Climb On Equipment—a longtime shop that has been in Squamish since the mid-1990s—has seen that social shift up close. “People who are rock climbing, they have careers, they have money. We are becoming more affluent than we were 20 years ago,” she told the CBC. Her business employs 22 full-time staffers and 10 to 15 seasonal workers. In July, the peak of a season that runs from May through September, sales are six times higher than they are in January.

Samuel Fagan, a local guide with Squamish Rock Guides—a company founded in 1991—sees the same trend. “Climbing has really gained in popularity in the last couple of years … and people are incorporating it into their vacations,” he told the CBC. He has been guiding for 10 years and leads up to four days a week in the field during peak season. “I think this economic study really shows that climbing is a booming industry in this town,”

The data confirms climbing’s central place in the local tourism economy. According to Tourism Squamish, the town’s overall tourism sector generated 408 million dollars in visitor spending in 2024 and supported 3,640 jobs. Climbing therefore accounts for 6.2% of total tourism spending, while playing an outsized role in shaping the area’s economic and social identity.

Climbing to Live Here

Because beyond the money, the study highlights a rare form of migration by choice tied directly to climbing. Eighty-one percent of resident climbers—estimated at 1,567 people—said climbing was “an important factor” in their decision to move to Squamish. Eighty-eight percent said it is a major reason they stay. According to the study, three out of five residents moved to Squamish specifically for climbing. Another 10% became climbers only after they had already moved there.

Peter Larose, lead researcher at Larose Research & Strategy, which led the study, stepped back to frame the bigger picture: “Squamish attracts mobile, educated workers who choose where to live based on outdoor quality of life rather than proximity to a fixed employer.” The respondent profile points the same way: 35% of resident climbers are over 40, and 30% climb more than 70 days a year. Climbing does not just shape leisure time here. It organizes daily life, social networks, and housing decisions.

Self-reported health and wellness benefits came in at remarkable levels: 99% of residents said climbing improves their mental health, with 91% saying they “strongly agree.” Another 99% said it improves their physical health, and 99% said it strengthens their connection to nature. That near-total consensus suggests climbing functions as a shared value system, not just a recreational activity.

The Limits of Growth

That economic and social success also has a downside. The study identifies three major tensions: parking, crowding, and informal camping. Field counts showed usage spikes at three of the most popular sites, with as many as 160 vehicles parked at the same time. Forty percent of residents said they are dissatisfied with crowding. The study found no correlation with either climbing style or difficulty level, which suggests the saturation is broad rather than limited to one segment of the sport.

“Overcrowding is definitely a problem. But charging residents for parking to access their nature creates an economic barrier that excludes marginalized populations.”

A resident of Squamish

Informal camping is one of the most divisive issues. Thirty-four percent of visitors camp informally or sleep along the roadside. Residents overwhelmingly call for “regulation and compliance” rather than an outright ban. Open-ended responses show a clear split: some want the practice cracked down on, while others want it legalized and managed.

The study also tested a paid-parking scenario—3 Canadian dollars an hour or 10 dollars for the day. The result: 80% of residents said they would climb “much less” or “less” in areas with paid parking. That strong opposition lays bare a basic tension between managing crowding and keeping access equitable. One resident comment summed up the deadlock: “Overcrowding is definitely a problem. But charging residents for parking to access their nature creates an economic barrier that excludes marginalized populations.”

Beyond those three major issues, the study lays out a list of urgent priorities: managing climbing infrastructure and recognizing climbers’ specific needs, including trails, access, and hardware; dealing with trash and human waste; providing safety and environmental education for beginners, including around noise, groups leaving ropes fixed on routes, and off-leash dogs; regulating van camping; developing and maintaining new routes; protecting wildlife; and improving environmental awareness through coordination between agencies and users.

“Reports specific to activity like this quantify the importance of the sector to our economy now and into the future.”

Armand Hurford, Mayor of Squamish

In response to those concerns, British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment and Parks noted that outdoor activities such as climbing contribute 4.8 billion dollars directly to the provincial economy and account for 1.5% of real GDP.

Squamish mayor Armand Hurford praised the report shortly after it was released: “Reports specific to activity like this quantify the importance of the sector to our economy now and into the future.” The Squamish study sets a precedent. It is the first analysis this comprehensive ever conducted in Canada on the socio-economic impact of a climbing destination. The numbers make one thing clear: climbing is no longer a niche subculture. It has become a major territorial driver, one that draws people in, generates millions, and creates hundreds of jobs. But that success now raises a question that cannot be avoided: how much can a climbing destination grow before it starts wearing itself out?

The data from Squamish resonates far beyond British Columbia. In Margalef, a Catalan village of 100 residents that hosts 89,000 visits a year, paid access barriers installed in October 2025 triggered boycott calls and repeated acts of vandalism, according to climbing media outlets. Everywhere, the same equation keeps coming back: climbing helps keep these places alive, but who is supposed to pay for preserving them?