Will Stanhope perishes after climbing accident in Squamish, Canada

Canadian climber Will Stanhope has died as a result of a climbing accident in Squamish, British Columbia. Aged 39, the certified mountain guide was regarded as one of North America's leading rock climbers.

Planetmountain

April 2026

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Canadian climber Will Stanhope

Tim Emmett

Will Stanhope, the 39-year-old Canadian widely regarded as one of North America's leading rock climbers, has died as a result of a fall at Squamish, British Columbia. According to the outlet Powell River Peak, the certified mountain guide had sustained a severe head injury after a fall on the Stawamus Chief on 13 April, and passed away 10 days later. The devastating news of Stanhope's death was announced by his family on his Instagram account.

Born in 1986, Stanhope spent years refining his skills on the granite walls of Yosemite, the Bugaboos, and the Waddington Range, rapidly earning the respect of his peers through his hard climbs matched with his pure, humble approach. His ascents spanned the spectrum, blending difficulty and boldness few were capable or willing to match.

Important climbs include an early repeat of Cobra Crack in Squamish, Stingray at Joshua Tree, and free solos of Zombie Roof at Squamish and Separate Reality in Yosemite. In 2011 he miraculously survived a groundfall after the flake ripped off The Parthian Shot at Burbage South, UK, but this did little to curb his enthusiasm. It was on big multipitch climbs that he really came into his own. Standout ascents include the first ascent of Todos los Caballos Lindos on Pirita Central in Patagonia's Rio Turbio in 2009 with Paul McSorley and Andrew Querner; the first repeat of The Prophet on El Capitan with Sonnie Trotter in 2011; the first ascent of La Vuelta de los Condores on Cerro Mariposa in Patagonia with Marc-Andre Leclerc, Paul McSorley and Matt Van Biene in 2014; the first free ascent of The Tom Egan Memorial Route on Snowpatch Spire in the Bugaboos with Matt Segal in 2015; an enchainment of the three Hauser Towers in the Bugaboos in a single day in 2017 with Leo Houlding; in 2024 with Tim Emmett, the first free ascent of The Smoke and Mirrors on Mount Combatant, hailed as one of Canada’s longest and most intimidating alpine rock routes.

This brief summary of climbs really does not do justice to Stanhope's influence on the climbing world, and he left an indelible mark not only with what he did, but with how he did it. Fellow climber Nik Berry beautifully summed up what Stanhope represented to the climbing community as follows "To me, being a climber has always meant more than sending hard routes or pulling off a paddle dyno. It’s about carrying an adventurous spirit, about having the vision to read stone and imagine new ways through it. Will Stanhope had that. In him, I saw the same spirit that defined the Monkey generation and the Stone Masters—those larger-than-life characters who shaped climbing into something more than a sport.

Will felt like a living link between those eras and our own. He carried that history forward, not as nostalgia, but as something alive in the way he moved, the way he approached climbing, and the way he showed up in the world. He embodied a depth and authenticity that feels increasingly rare, and being around him was a quiet reminder of where we come from and what climbing can be at its best."