B.C.’s Ministry of Environment and Parks says no one was injured when rocks fell from the Stawamus Chief mountain on Monday.

A livestream webcam captured rocks falling from the Zodiac Wall of the mountain at 9 a.m. PT on Monday, with a dust cloud trailing behind it.

Jessie McAuley lives in Squamish’s Valleycliffe neighbourhood, which is situated close to the Chief, and heard the rumble.

“I jumped up and looked out the window immediately knowing it was most likely a rockfall coming from the North Walls of the Chief,” McAuley said.

He’s not the only one. Many people shared photographs on social media of the dust cloud as rocks tumbled down the cliffside.

The location of the rockfall is the same area where a large rockfall event took place in 2015 and 2021.

Back in February this year, a boulder fell from the same area.

“We are not aware of any injuries from this morning’s rockfall,” said a ministry spokesperson on Monday.

Large amount of material

Squamish-based geoscientist Pierre Friele flew over the area of the rockfall shortly after it occurred on Monday morning.

“It’s in the existing 2015 rockfall scar, I’d say halfway up on the left, there’s an overhanging flank with a big chunk that released,” Friele said.

The boulder that gave way is a fairly substantial block, he explains.

“It could be 10 to 15 metres tall and five metres wide and five metres thick,” Friele said. “So 500 or 1,000 cubic metres of material that’s fallen down.”

Rockfalls have become a common occurrence at the Stawamus Chief in the last decade.

Friele said 2021 — when temperatures reached 40 C in the Squamish area amid a heat dome — was when he noticed a change.

“Since then, we’ve had a very noticeable increase in the frequency,” Friele said.

Monday’s rockfall could be due to a change in temperatures, with Friele saying wet weather can result in water permeating into the cracks of the rock.

“These joints are starting to degrade, and rock is peeling off with greater frequency than it used to,” Friele said.

Where the rockfall appears to have stopped is a generally stable area, according to the geoscientist.

Ministry staff said there are no B.C. Parks maintained trails or infrastructure where the rockfall occurred.

“Rockfalls inherently exist throughout the Stawamus Chief park and can occur at any time,” said a spokesperson. “Visitors are advised to use extreme caution.”

B.C. Parks closed the Stawamus Chief main trail back on Dec. 27, after a large section of the trail was covered in debris — including rocks and fallen, broken trees.

The rockfall on Monday is the fourth time there’s been rocks falling at the park — with one incident in February at the same location and two rockfalls on the main trail.

There are no closures at the park due to the rockfall as of Monday evening.