Poop bags are now available at rock climbing sites in Squamish and nope, they're not for your pets

There's no delicate way to describe a new program launched for rock climbers in B.C.'s Squamish area, meant to reduce human waste being deposited in the forest.

About 64 kilometres north of Vancouver — around the halfway point to Whistler — organizers are providing bags for climbers to poop into, seal up, and pack out of the wilderness to dispose of appropriately.

The Waste Alleviating Gel (WAG) bag program has been set up by the Squamish Access Society (SAS) in partnership with B.C. Parks, and sponsored by businesses in the climbing industry.

"There's been an explosion in the usage of our backcountry areas in southwest B.C. and the Sea-to-Sky corridor, and rock climbing is very much a part of that," said Ben Webster, SAS chair.

"Increasingly we are finding that there are issues with human waste, particularly in our more remote crags."

Webster said it's usually dogs who find the waste in the forest around the base of popular cliffs frequented by climbers, but sometimes it's found by people — and in very rare, but "absolutely awful" occasions, a climber will reach a small ledge part of the way up a cliff to find someone has relieved themselves there.

Two stores that sell climbing equipment in Squamish, Valhalla Pure and Climb On, have contributed to the program as sponsors, and B.C. Parks has funded the WAG bag stations within its parks.

Katy Holm, one of the owners of Climb On, was careful not to blame the rock climbing community for the general issue with human waste in the Squamish area, saying much of it is associated with people camping or living in their vehicles, and the broader recreational popularity of the region.

"I don't think it is acutely an issue at crags," said Holm, though the program is limited to distributing the bags at crags, or cliffs with climbing routes. 

Holm said using the bags is common practice at many rock climbing destinations in the U.S., especially places in deserts.

"Climbers are most certainly familiar with this," she said. "Those that have travelled won't see it as something new, but I'm sure others will have challenges adopting."

She said the bags aren't anything like the flimsy little bags people use to pick up their pets' poop.

"It's totally robust. You don't have a fear that it's going to explode or anything. You can roll it up, there's no smell. It doesn't feel dirty at all," said Holm.

Webster agreed that for some people in the climbing community in B.C., it will be a paradigm shift to start pooping into bags and hauling it out of the forest.