SMITH ROCK CLIMBING

Category: Oregon Elev: ~3,000 ftRock Type: Welded Tuff and Basalt
Dates: April/May 2006(x2 trips), September 2015(x1 day), September 2017(x1 day)Partners: Jason Cullum, Trever Edwards, Joleen Prystupa, Erika (2006); John Plotz (2015); Todd Anderson (2017)
Trip Report #s: 19, 22, 211(these trip report numbers correspond to the first few times I climbed at Smith Rock and established this page on my website)

List of Climbs I've Done & 2 Trip Reports & Some Photos

Photo Trip Reports for

April 2006 & May 2006
September 2015

Smith Rock is Oregon's premier rock climbing destination, and one of the best sport-climbing meccas in the country. The main cliffs are made of welded tuff, and the surrounding bands by columnar basalt. 

I've only climbed at Smith Rock a few times: a couple of quick weekend trips early on in my climbing career and twice for a day when passing by. 

On this page, I keep a list of the climbs I've done at Smith Rock. I've also included two short "trip reports": Monkey Face (one of the best-known features at Smith) and Zion (THE multipitch route at Smith). At the end of the page I have random photos from subsequent days of cragging at Smith Rock.

Table of Contents for this page

List of Climbs I've Done at Smith Rock

Smith Rock

2 trip reports

Two short trip reports for longer climbs I've done at Smith Rock. 

Pioneer Route (5.7 A0, 3p, 250')

MONKEY FACE
  • Date: April 16, 2006 (Sun)       Partners: Jason Cullum, Trevor Edwards, Erika
  • Date: May 20, 2006 (Sat)       Partners: Jason Cullum, Trevor Edwards, Joleen Prystupa
Monkey Face formation. The Pioneer Route is the easiest way up – it involves a bit of easy gear climbing to the notch, and then a bolt ladder to the "mouth" on the left side, and then comes out onto the handhold-ridden face from there.

(Two) Trip reports: 

• First time climbing Monkey Face

Date: April 16, 2006; Partners: Jason Cullum, Trevor Edwards, Erika

In April, 3 friends and I packed into a small truck and drove the 8 hours down to Smith Rock in Oregon to escape the rain of BC. We spent 4 days climbing there. I cannot remember all that we climbed, but on our second day there, we climbed Monkey Face, which is a giant tower of rock. We climbed the easiest route up, which begins with a pitch of 5.6 gear, then a pitch of aid climbing (there were about 25 closely-spaced bolts up a sheer wall that we clipped quickdraws into and pulled on since we did not own ascenders and other aid gear), and then the route finishes with a super-airy bolted 5.7 pitch that involves stepping out of a cave to face a 200 foot drop to the ground.

• Second time climbing Monkey Face

Date: May 20, 2006;  Partners: Jason Cullum, Trevor Edwards, Joleen Prystupa

When I returned to Smith Rock in May, we again climbed Monkey Face, and this time I led the second two pitches, since the first time I had led only the first pitch. The weather was a bit warmer for us on the May climb (in April it had snowed while we were climbing!) but we got stuck behind a slow group of 6 that took a couple of hours to aid up the second pitch. But we spent the time exchanging climbing stories, so it wasn't so bad.

Below are some photos from the climb.

Photo descriptions:

  1. Looking down while leading the bolt ladder.
  2. In the cave at the top of the bolt ladder before the final pitch.
  3. The hanging double rope rappel.
If the content appears to be truncated here (or anywhere else on this page), you may need to put your cursor in the region of text above the red line and scroll down to see more!

Zion (5.10b, 4p, 350', trad)

MORNING GLORY WALL
  • Date: September 13, 2015 (Sun)       Partner: John Plotz
Zion pretty much ascends a crack system at the sun-shade line.
This photo (taken a couple of years after climbing Zion) shows the route better than the photo above. Flat lighting due to haze from forest fires.

Brief Trip report: 

This is THE trad multipitch route at Smith. So, naturally, when I met up with my friend John for a day at Smith (I was driving home from Red Rocks), this route was top on my list. To be honest, after climbing it, I feel this route is over-hyped, but then again Smith is known more for its sport climbing than its cracks. It was fun though. (Thanks John for climbing it for a 6th time!). 

Below are some photos from the climb.

Photo descriptions:

  1. John leading off Pitch 1 (~5.7). We took a mostly 5.7 line up juggy buckets. The athletic unprotected first move was the crux of the route for us (seemed a bit harder than 5.7).
  2. Pitch 2 (10b). I led this pitch. This pitch is the crux of the climb and pretty sustained. I found the gear to be a bit tricky since the crack opened up in the back and I was used to granite and sandstone cracks at the time, but this was a good bit of climbing.
  3. John leading off Pitch 3 (5.9).
  4. Pitch 4 (5.9). Juggy flake climbing. This was my favorite pitch on the route. 
  5. Slackliners. These guys impress me. 
  6. Slackliners.
  7. Slackliners.
  8. Slackliners.
If the content appears to be truncated here (or anywhere else on this page), you may need to put your cursor in the region of text above the red line and scroll down to see more!

More photos

Some random photos from other days of cragging at Smith Rock.

Color coded by area:
Dihedrals    Fourth Horseman    Lower Gorge     Monkey Face    Morning Glory Wall    Northeast Face
1. Jason belaying me on 5 Gallon Buckets, Morning Glory Wall.
2. Me on Karate Crack in 2006. One of my first crack climbs. Morning Glory Wall.
3. Karate Crack, Sept 2017. The climbers are on Cinnamon Slab. Morning Glory Wall.
4. Looking up Master Looney, Lower Gorge. Crux at the roof.
5. Looking down while climbing Headless Horseman, Fourth Horseman.  Just follow the chalk!
6. Moonshine Dihedral, The Dihedrals.
7. Moonshine Dihedral, The Dihedrals.
8. Todd starting up Pitch 3 (the best pitch) of Lost in Space, Northeast Face.

previous and next adventures

(April 2006 trip - Monkey Face)
(May 2006 trip - Monkey Face)
(Sept 2015 trip - Zion)