Rock on: Beloved missing climbing rock from Squamish found hundreds of kilometres away in California

A months-long mystery surrounding a beloved climbing rock in Squamish, B.C., has taken an unexpected turn — with the missing stone turning up far from home, in California.

Last fall, climbers in Squamish noticed that a small granite rock known as “Portable” had vanished from the forest near the Superfly boulder. Though modest in size, the rock held outsized meaning for the local climbing community, prized for its balance challenges and unique grip.

“Portable has definitely been around Squamish a lot longer than I've been alive,” said 23-year-old Squamish climber Ethan Salvo. “Us climbers are pretty weird creatures. We approach the woods with a lot of love for nature — maybe a little too far at times — but Portable became loved as a fun, silly challenge.”

When the rock disappeared, Salvo said the reaction was a mix of disbelief and disappointment.

“It’s kind of silly for this small rock that means so much to everyone in the community to just vanish,” he said.

The mystery deepened until this week, when Salvo was on a climbing trip in Bishop, Calif., and spotted a photo circulating on social media. The image showed a rock strikingly similar to Portable — complete with a Canadian drinking toque and goggles — sitting in the California desert.

At first, Salvo was skeptical.

“I honestly thought it might be AI-generated,” he said.

But after reaching out to a friend camped nearby and asking her to investigate, the truth became clear.

“Lo and behold, Portable’s sitting there in his Canadian drinking toque, just chilling, looking at the landscape,” Salvo said.

His friend hauled the roughly 32-kilogram stone back to her campsite. Salvo drove over later that evening to confirm the find.

“The minute I saw the shape, I knew it was it,” he said. “It just looked like home. It felt like home. It weighed like home.”

Salvo said climbers develop a deep familiarity with the rocks they train on, making the identification unmistakable.

“If you put me blindfolded in front of a rock and put my hand on a famous hold, I’d know it right away,” he said.

How Portable ended up more than 1,000 kilometres from Squamish remains unclear. Salvo suspects a visiting climber may have taken it last summer without realizing how significant it was to the community.

Now, Salvo says the rock’s journey is coming to an end.

He plans to bring Portable back to Squamish and return it to its longtime home at the base of the Superfly boulder — where local climbers say it belongs.