Central Wall Amphitheater Rock Climbing

The Central Amphitheater has some of the longest and certainly the steepest routes along the cliff.  This area is where the old Quarry used to blast rocks away from the wall to use in many of the old buildings along Main Street. Its unknown whether this quarrying made the potential routes better or worse, but what it left behind are some wildly overhanging and exposed lines of mostly solid rock.  However, as with any old abandoned quarry, loose blocks and a floor littered with debris is standard issue. Most areas of broken rock along a route where gear might be suspect is typically protected by a bolt.  So you may see bolts next to cracks here, but they weren't just placed arbitrarily.  A general respect for standard ethics does still apply.  This area also has the largest number of nesting swallows, of which who's dirt clod houses can sometimes be quite annoying while clawing your way up the wall.  Fortunately, most of the nest sites are concentrated on a section of the wall which has little to no traffic.  So the nests are usually not a problem.  The birds are actively nesting from late February to about August, so don't disturb them between this period. But they'll let you know if they're home.