INDEX Town Wall Climbing
Dates: 2009-2019 (several days)Partners: Lisa Doubet, Sara Vera, Daniel Jeffrey, Tom Sjolseth, David Kiehl, Dan Aylward, Calvin Laatsch, Todd Anderson, Cindy Beavon, Geoff Geroges, Jessica Todd, Will Surbur, Jess K, DR, Aaron Cannistra, Doug Hutchinson, Jon Pobst, Wayne Wallace
List of Climbs I've Done & 6 Trip Reports
Photo Trip Reports for
Davis-Holland+Lovin' Arms (5.10c, 6p)
Hell Bent For Glory (5.10d, 7p)
The Brett Thompson and Scott Fuller Memorial Route (5.10+, 5p)
Tatoosh+Free At Last (5.10d, 4p)
Godzilla+Park Ranger (5.9+, 4p)
And Say (5.11b, 5p)
The Index Town Walls is a collection of granite (technically, granite-granodiorite-tonalite) cliffs above the idyllic town of Index on HWY 2, just over an hour's drive from Seattle. The rock quality is incredible and the climbing is vertical and stout, featuring a combination of knobs, pockets, crimps, jugs, and slopers; seams, finger, hand, and offwidth cracks; stem corners, bomb-bay, wild flakes, and so much more. The climbing is mostly trad, but there are some bolted pitches here and there. The views of Mt. Index across the valley are spectacular. The main drawback to Index is the persnickety Pacific Northwest weather; weather is unreliable for must of the spring and fall, and several of the routes take awhile to dry.
Index has been my local crag since 2009 (around the time I started grad school at University of Washington). I've climbed there more times than I can count, mainly on spring weekends, and occasionally in the summer (if I'm not up higher in the mountains) or in the fall before the chill and rains settle in. Most of my cragging has focused on the same set of Lower Town Wall classics (like Godzilla, Roger's Corner, Princely Ambitions, Thin Fingers, Tatoosh, ...). But there is a lifetime of rock to explore at Index!
On this page, I keep a list of the climbs I've done at Index. I've also included photo trip reports for six of the longer routes: two routes to the top of the Upper Town Wall (Davis-Holland+Lovin' Arms link-up and The Brett Thompson and Scott Fuller Memorial Route), two route to the top of the Lower Town Wall (Tatoosh+Free at Last and Godzilla+Park Ranger), one route to the top of the The Diamond (Hell Bent For Glory), and one route to the top of Lookout Point (And Say). But for all of the other climbs, there are no trip reports or photos; usually, I just post photos on mountianproject pages for the climbs I do at Index.
I created the list on this page in 2018, so I am sure I have missed some routes. Oh well. It's somewhat pointless and obsessive as it is. =)
Table of Contents for this page
List of Climbs I've Done at Index
6 Trip Reports
Six short trip reports for six of the longer climbs I've done at Index.
Davis Holland + Lovin' Arms (5.10c, 6p)
UPPER TOWN WALL- (DH only: Date: May 8, 2010 (Sat) Partners: Daniel Jeffrey, Tom Sjolseth)
- Date: May 15, 2010 (Sat) Partners: Daniel Jeffrey, David Kiehl
- Date: July 14, 2013 (Sun) Partner: Dan Aylward
- Date: April 3, 2016 (Sun) Partner: Todd Anderson
- (DH only: Date: May 20, 2017 (Sat) Partner: Cindy Beavon)
Davis-Holland is a super classic at Index. Combined with Lovin' Arms, this gives you a 6-pitch route to the top of the Upper Town Wall. A must do!
Hell Bent For Glory (5.10d, 7p)
THE DIAMOND- Date: August 17, 2018 (Fri) Partner: Jess K
This is an old route that has recently been retrofitted and cleaned. A sustained 5.10/5.10+ route that goes up clean featured stone to the top of the Diamond. Excellent climbing.
The Brett Thompson and Scott Fuller Memorial Route (5.10+, 5p)
UPPER TOWN WALL- Date: September 18, 2018 (Tue) Partner: DR
This route climbs to the top of the Upper Town Wall via two pitches of crack climbing and three pitches of face climbing. It may be the easiest route up the Upper Town Wall, but the climbing is sustained and airy and the crux pitch is no gimmie. An excellent adventure!
Tatoosh + Free at Last (5.10d, 4p)
LOWER TOWN WALL- Date: September 30, 2018 (Sun) Partner: Aaron Cannistra
- (Upper pitch only: Date: October 7, 2018 (Sun) Partner: Doug Hutchinson)
This version of Free at Last from the new (2017) guidebook is a bit of a rework that combines pitches from the original full Tatoosh, Free at Last, and Voyage of the Majestic Glass-Eyed Tuna for a 4-pitch 5.10 route to the top of the Lower Town Wall. This route features a lot of steep 5.10 climbing: finger-to-fist crack-climbing, wild flakes, strenuous roofs, splitter V-slots, as well as a few devious bolt-protected face cruxes.
I climbed this route with Aaron Cannistra. We both thought it was a pretty awesome climb. One thing that nagged at me after the climb, though, was the odd tension traverse I had to do on my lead at the start of Pitch 4. It felt too convoluted to be correct, despite the fact that it was the way described on mountainrproject. A few days after Aaron and I climbed Free at Last, Nate Redon made a comment on my photo of Pitch 4 that I had posted on mountainrproject, suggesting that next time I try a fingercrack of a bit further to the left. The next weekend, I was back at Index with Doug Hutchinson, who had also gotten suckered into the tension traverse on Pitch 4 when he had climbed Free at Last the year before. We decided to climb Park Ranger, and then descend by rapping Free at Last, giving up the opportunity to revisit Pitch 4. We ended up toproping both the fingercrack Nate recommended (this fingercrack is on Voyage of the Majestic Glass-Eyed Tuna) and the harder Path of Righteousness we had both tensioned into on lead. Doug and I agreed that the VOTMGET start was the way to go, and kept the climbing consistent with the grade of the pitches below. We also toproped Quarry Crack on the final rappel; this pitch provides a nice alternative start to the Free at Last route, especially if Tatoosh is occupied by a party.
Below is a pitch-by-pitch photo trip report of Free at Last, using photos from both my ground-up ascent with Aaron and my "figure out Pitch 4" and Pitch 1 alternative Quarry Crack with Doug the following weekend.
Godzilla + Park Ranger (5.9+, 4p)
LOWER TOWN WALL- Date: October 7, 2018 (Sun) Partner: Doug Hutchinson
Park Ranger follows four pitches of sustained 5.9 climbing to the top of the Lower Town Wall. It was excavated and retro-bolted in 2015, and somewhat less-travelled than other routes on the wall, but nevertheless features excellent climbing with an adventurers flavor. Most parties only climb the first three pitches, but Doug and I climbed the fourth pitch and realized that there was pretty high-quality climbing underneath the vegetation. This route deserves more traffic, especially since it is one of the few "moderate" routes to the top of the Lower Town Wall.
And Say (5.11b, 5p)
LOOKOUT POINT- Date: October 13, 2018 (Sat) Partner: Jess K
This route climbs to the top of Lookout Point in 5 pitches. Pitches 1-3 were established in 2015, and Pitches 4-5 were put up a couple of years later. The highlight of the route is probably the splitter fingercrack on Pitch 2, although there is good climbing on the rest of the route as well. It was one of those perfect 60° sunny fall days at Index, and this was a great way to spend the morning with my friend Jess.