Index contains possibly Washington's best granite climbing. The routes range from shorter single-pitch routes to long 500'-high walls. Although the main attraction of the area for most is the spectacular crack climbing (fine-grained granite that makes gorgeous cracks that are much less abrasive than J-Tree or Leavenworth), there is also some sport climbing and many aid routes. Although rain can be an issue (it is western Washington), summer conditions are often ideal and some routes can still be done in a light drizzle.
Getting There
Drive east on Highway 2 and turn left onto the road that leads to Index Town. After the bridge, turn left at the stop sign and continue along the small road (past the shooting range). There will be a parking lot on the right. Out of the parking lot, you cross the train tracks. A couple more steps and the Lower Town Wall is right there. Other areas might require longer approaches.
Another Index classic. Godzilla technically has second and third pitches, but these are rarely climbed. Godzilla is the crack/corner system immediately right of City Park (5.13c), a fairly obvious landmark. Either start on the 10a bolt ladder of City Park and step right, or start over to the right and climb the face straight up to the crack system. Continue up the crack system and then traverse left along some ledges up to a bolted belay/rap stat...[more]
Climbing Access at the Lower Town Wall and some adjacent areas is currently imperiled by potential mining/development operations. Negotiations are currently underway between the owner(s) and the appropriate entities (Access Fund, Washington Climbers Coalition). If you enjoy climbing at the Town Walls, please watch for more info. When the chance presents itself, consider DONATING to this worthy cause. In the meantime, please respect any potential closures or restrictions that may or may not affect climbing at the Town Walls.
Everybody should get Darryl Cramer's excellent guide to the area, Sky Valley Rock. But for a temporary guide if you can't find his, try: http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/index/ Not as user friendly, but gives you an idea of the area.
This is probably one of the most underrated climbing areas around; I hope it stays that way. I learned to climb there; I hope the climbing and the town never change.
The FA dates for routes in the 1980s in both the Smoot and Cummins guides are for the most part very inaccurate. For example, the FFA of Clay was after 1984 and Sonic Reducer was climbed well before 1984.
Edit: I took the FA dates out of most of the routes I've added because I have no independent knowledge of when they were climbed. I'll stick to giving first hand info about routes I've done or have had experience with.
Index Town Walls
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