PRINT: Rock Climb Godzilla, Index

Godzilla

5.9, Trad, 105 ft (32 m),

Avg: 3.8 from 807 votes
FA: Don Harder, Donn Heller
Washington > Central-W Casca… > Skykomish Valley > Index > Lower Town Wall > Dwarf Tossing to Narr…

Description

Another Index classic.

Godzilla is the crack/corner system immediately right of City Park (5.13c), a fairly obvious landmark.

P1: (5.9+) Start in a shallow right-facing groove/face, just right of being directly below the obvious City Park crack. Climb up and trend left to the big flake at the start of the main crack/corner system. Continue up the obvious right-facing corner-crack system and then traverse left along some ledges up to a bolted belay/rap station.

Gear: the start of this pitch has an unwarranted reputation for being dangerous and has been the site of many accidents. The opening moves protect well with a nut or small cam, and about 15 feet up you can slot a perfect 0.5 into an easy-to-miss horizontal pocket just left of the crack, protecting you to get to the good small cams and nuts in the crack above.

There are several variations to this pitch.

Bottom: (10b) Start further left, climb the City Park bolt ladder.

Middle: (10a) Right after the flake, go straight up into the corner instead of laybacking out right.

Top: Move left early. There are several points to do this.

You need a 70m rope to rap down from the belay.

P2: (10b) (AKA "Leaping Lizards") - Move right from the anchor, clip a bolt, right again, then head up a crack to a v-slot with a pin and another bolt. Step right (3rd bolt) and stem/mantle to the chains.

From here, there are also pitches that go further right to the top of Natural Log Cabin and the base of Salad Fingers.

P3: There is a third pitch. Please tell if you've done it, and we'll update this info.

Protection

Standard double rack to 3", lots of slings, bolted belay/rap station. 70m rope mandatory.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

George doing an evening lap on Godzilla

Lisa eyeing her next moves.

Route from the base

This is what the base of the route looks like.

Awesome crack climbing on Godzilla.

Stella making the final moves at the top of Godzilla

Godzilla!!

Godzilla. Photo by Blitzo.

From the top of Pitch 1, you can traverse out right to a chimney system onto a route called "Park Ranger". Park Ranger is not on the original topos, but it gets climbed on occasion. This photo show…

Tony working the final stem moves, pitch 2 of Godzilla ("Leapin' Lizards" 5.10b)

Unknown climber doing the 10a middle variation to Godzilla P1. The standard route cruises up and around the right side of the flake.

Godzilla from far right

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Jesse James
Knoxville, TN

A really fun variation called "Bambi" steps left via a long reach and a mantle about 15 feet before the regular leftward traverse. This probably makes it 5.10-, and is a more direct line. Even better than the original godzilla, which is already ultra classic. Apr 15, 2006

Andy Laakmann
Bend, OR

5.9

A great pitch! You can rap/lower is a single 70m rope. Nuts and two sets of cams from TCUs to #3. Long slings helpful. If you're not comfortable jamming, the flake section may seem harder than 5.9! Jul 2, 2006

Chris Duca
Dixfield, ME

Stellar line on impeccable rock. It is possible to rap this route with one 60m rope. I did it today. We used an intermediate anchor (the anchor for Batskins) about 60 feet off the deck and to the climbers left when facing Godzilla. Note: The anchor I am talking about, however, is NOT the anchor roughly 30 feet below and also to the left of the top of Godzilla. Jul 29, 2008

blakeherrington

P2 - 5.10b - Move right from the anchor, clip a bolt, right again, then head up a crack to a v-slot with a pin and another bolt. Step right (3rd bolt) and stem/mantle to the chains. (this is also called "Leapin' Lizards")

You can DEFINITELY reach the ground in one rappel from P1 with a 60m rope. Just go straight to the ground and you'll be fine, its 30m straight down. 60m ropes aren't long enough to have the leader lower off the ground, so belay from the anchors. Dec 21, 2008

Rafe

5.9

Just an excellent route. Combined with 2nd pitch City Park and Slow Children is so good. May 11, 2009

Korrigan

Super good pitch if you can get on it.

The only knock on it is what's also good about it. There are a bunch of huge rests on this. There's even a no hands rest just before the leftward traverse at the top.

Basically if you're placing gear from anything other than a comfy rest with fat holds then you are doing something wrong. Apr 2, 2013

Zacks

DO NOT TOP ROPE ON FIXED GEAR!

This is the start of a multipitch. I'm tired of rapping down only to get stuck waiting for someone to top rope the 1st pitch.

If you top ripe off the fixed carabiners then a party above can be stuck as there is no way for them to rap off. Just put your own draws or anchor on. Jan 10, 2016

Pawel Janowski
Seattle, WA

5.9

We TR'd with a 60m. Just be very careful. The 60 is sufficient for the climber to reach the pedestal to the left (where City Park begins) if the belayer walks up to the wall (if you continue to sit on the comfy tree, it won't reach ;).

5.9 is a fair grade. Wouldn't say it's sandbagged at all, just very consistent. May 16, 2016

Jimmy Downhillinthesnow
Fort Collins, CO / Seattle, WA

Rumor has it that a very famous climber was lowered off the end of his 60m rope on this not too long ago. He's fine, but the landing could be ugly so if you want to tempt fate, tie a knot.

Brand new quick-clips up top, thank you to whoever put them in! They seem to be sprouting up lots of places at Index and I'm a fan. Just keep in mind that they're not standard everywhere, be prepared to rap, and don't TR through them. I've seen how fast they wear through at Rumney. Jun 8, 2016

Jeremy Park
Seattle, WA

The 2nd pitch of this Leaping Lizards definitely needs to get climbed more. Super fun moves with the bolt protected crux's. Yes please! Jun 15, 2017

Nate Redon
Peshastin, WA

5.9

Leaping Lizards is currently clean and very good, it deserves more traffic! You can link it from the ground for a long fun pitch and then head to slow children or NAD. Jul 5, 2017

Serge S
Seattle, WA

PG first ~5m off the ground. Jul 24, 2018

Don Harder
Yosemite via Seattle

I was out at Index a few years ago and wandered to the base of the lower wall with a harness, chalk bag and a pair of shoes. People had ropes on, seemingly, everything. Near the base of Godzilla there must have been 15-20 people top roping things to the left and to the right. They were all very friendly. There was a rope on Godzilla that nobody was using. I asked a young woman if she would mind giving me a belay. She said sure, no problem. Then she gave me kind of a squinty-eyed look and asked me if i’d ever done it before. I could tell what she was thinking, “Am i gonna have to haul this old duffer up this thing?” I politely replied, “Yes, I’d climbed it before and used pitons when I did it.” She didn’t look satisfied. I somehow managed to get up it without thrashing too much. What a cool climb. Jun 8, 2019

Cristina Garcia
Seattle, WA

This is such a great climb. It took so much for me to lead this clean. I used to struggle at the start just to get on it. It's a powerful first move for me. Everyone else i know seemed to just hop on no problemo. It was wet and I sent so i feel even more dignified. : ) (if you've never been exposed to granite and trad, this route makes a great teacher) Nov 9, 2020

Bennett LaFond
Denver, CO

Sustained and just simply gorgeous. No move is particularly difficult, but the wandering exposed section up top gets pretty heady. This thing is super long, so don't be afraid to bring a lot of gear. Dec 7, 2020

Mike Gagnier
Seattle, WA

5.9+

The start of godzilla tends to stay wet after rain. An alternate start to avoid the wetness is to aid the bolt ladder to the left, and crossing back right to rejoin the rest of godzilla which will likely be dry. Nov 3, 2021

Luke McSenderson

Probably more like 5.7. I mean I decked from about 20 feet and broke my back, so I can’t speak for the whole route. Those first 20 feet were pretty cruiser though. Jun 22, 2024

Luke Lalor
Bellevue, WA

Gear spray: there is a trucker .5 (tight, but it goes in) in a horizontal pocket about 15 feet up on your left.

Godzilla has a reputation for being a sketchy lead, so I think many new leaders have blinders on through the beginning of the pitch. Look around, and don’t make the route more dangerous than it needs to be. Jul 20, 2025

Brad Burns
Story, WY

5.9

Phenomenal rock climb. Made me feel like a big lizard. Oct 11, 2025