Lower Cheeks  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  2,760. Good page?    Administrators:  Jon Nelson, Peter Franzen, Kristine Hoffman, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Drewsky on Dec 30, 2008 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event  Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 68° | 50° 59° | 50° 57° | 48° 63° | 50° 75° | 54°

The scoop (P2 of the Zipper).

Description 

The Cheeks comprise the large white formation on the right side of the Upper Walls. It is left of the Diamond, and above and left of Duck Wall and Lookout Point.

The Lower Cheeks is the bottom half, and ends on the large ledge splitting the formation called The Beach. As this ledge is huge and easily accessed by a cable, the Lower Cheeks is perhaps the best place for toproping at Index. And like the Upper Cheeks, has routes that stay dry during rainfall.

Routes here include such classics as The Zipper, (.10b) and the spectacular Clay, (.11+), as well as several quality sport climbs such as Friendly Fire (10b), Engines of Archimedes (11d), and all Dogs Go to Heaven (.12c).

Getting There 

Upon reaching the Upper Wall via the trail (about 30 minutes from the Country), you will see a water streak and/or waterfall. Turn right and cross the stream, following a path downwards and eventually back up. You will pass many routes to your left, eventually reaching Clay, which is an obvious left-facing corner. Total: about 40 minutes from the Country.

Toproping 

It is easy to set up topropes on the Lower Cheeks, particularly so on the left side. Here several bolt anchors are set along the Perverse Traverse, which is easy to walk onto. Routes include

Gerberding Route
The Green Room
Heat Seeker
Friendly Fire
Engines of Archimedes

Just before the traverse, one can use the tree in front of the large block to toprope

Black Planet (5.9)
Ted, Ted Nugent (11c)

By traversing onto the Beach, one can rap down to the anchors atop P1 of Clay and TR that route. Also, the nearby Pressure Drop Wall has several classic crack lines that are easily TRed.

Also, if you climb P1 of The Zipper (10b), you can TR with one rope three other routes on the slab.

The Classics

Featured Route For Lower Cheeks

The Zipper 5.10b A2  WA : Index Town Walls : ... : Lower Cheeks

The first pitch is often climbed as it is a fun .10 slab/thin crack.Pitch 2 is the obvious roof that is visible from the road. Pitch 4 starts from the Beach, so is technically on the Upper Cheeks. For pitch 1, climb a steep 5.9 corner with a crack to access the slab. Thin crack and crux slab climbing lead to a bolted, chain anchor below the roof. Continue via aid or descend. One 70-m rope is more than enough to rap off or toprope....[more]   Browse More Classics in WA