Dipper Creek from Bryan Smith on Vimeo.
Dipper Creek
Local kayakers discover an instant classic, five years in the making.
By Feet Banks
There isn’t as much untamed wilderness left these days, particularly in a zone like the Sea to Sky Corridor where committed adventurers are constantly exploring and pushing into the wild in search of the next big thing.
But four Squamish kayakers recently discovered and paddled what might be one of the most difficult and terrifying river runs ever, Dipper Creek.
“It is a Class V+, near the limit of what is paddle-able,” says Bryan Smith, a local adventure filmmaker who first noticed the creek while aerial scouting the upper Squamish River in 2005. “Flying over, we saw these two big waterfalls that really hooked us. For paddlers, waterfalls are like what big couloirs are in the ski world, they get us fired up.”
But the Coast Mountain landscape looks a lot different once you get back on the ground. “We had to keep the creek a secret for two years while we tried to figure out how to get in there and if it was even possible,” Bryan says. Along with friends/paddlers Todd Gillman, Shane Robinson, and Chris Tretwold, Bryan returned to Dipper Creek seven times over the next three years, bushwhacking, camping and scouting in order to determine how to access the creek, and if it was even possible to run.
“At first, every time we went up there we would cliff out on the river right. Dipper is a 600-foot gorge and that right wall is completely vertical,” Bryan explains. “Then some logging activity opened up a road on river left and we got the access we needed to really get a look at it.”
What they found was, “one of the most terrifying creek runs ever. Period.” Bryan says, “It’s a four or five kilometre stretch with fifteen waterfalls up to 70 or 80 feet. The creek is fifteen feet at the widest point and narrows down to just four feet of steep whitewater, and because of the huge gorge walls there are sections that are incredibly committing– when you’re in, there is no backing out. We knew it was the next big thing but it was a bit bigger than we wanted to chew on. We leapfrogged down it, whoever was feeling good would paddle a section, but at one point we actually got scared and wigged out.”
The crew packed up, got in the car and started driving home. “I’m 35 this year,” Bryan says, “and I was thinking maybe we have to leave this for the next generation.”
But on the retreat Chris Tretwold had a change of heart. “Chris said, ‘turn around. I can rap down that one part and if that is what we are scared of I can get us around it.’ We went back up, got through what we later called Vertigo Gorge, and it was amazing, we finished the run,” Bryan recalls.
In the tight-knit whitewater community, Dipper Creek has become an instant classic, luring the most serious athletes in the sport to Squamish each fall to take a shot at the Sea to Sky’s long-hidden gem.
“The thing about a run like this,” Bryan explains, “is that once you get in the water and take the first stroke you are so acutely focused in the moment, that you get this overwhelming sense of calmness. All other thoughts disappear. There is no room for hesitation or fear, or you will fail. You’re just thinking, I’ve got five strokes to the lip of that waterfall, right stroke, left stroke, ride that lip.”
Dipper Creek is easy to get to and usually runs low enough late in September or early October to attempt it. But paddler beware, it’s no joke up there.
“I have never been back,” Bryan admits. “It’s a classic discovery¬– to find new stuff is not easy, and we’re proud to leave this mark on our sport. But I’m not sure I’m really ever interested in doing it again.”
