routes In Index WA

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Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Jan 30, 2010 - 11:44pm PT

Ghost, I think part of the problem with Index exploration is that there really hasn't been a guide to the whole area that is done in laymans style.

Nope, that's not it. Darryl published a good guide a few years ago, and, printed guidebooks aside, this is the internet age. Anybody who is interested can find out as much as s/he wants with a few mouse clicks and a couple of emails.

Couple that with the fact that most of the climbing at Index is quite hard, even the moderates, and you end up with most people just sticking with the known variables

It's true that a lot of the climbing at Index is ferociously hard and committing, but anywhere else that would just drive people to find new, less difficult routes. Why don't they do that at Index? Why climb the same ten moderates five times every year and then go to Squamish or Smith? Why not scrub out and climb something new? That's what people do everywhere else.

Squamish has pretty much the same weather and is a "destination" area so I am not so sure that the weather is the reason

That's completely true. Weather doesn't stop exploration at Squamish...

Maybe Erik has the answer. Maybe it's the 5th force. Maybe the deviations in Newtonian gravity are so extreme at Index that 99% of the climbers who enter the area suffer some kind of mind melt.

As to Zeke's Wall, that's a subject for a separate post. But I really can't understand how or why Index now casts a "Do Not Do Any New Routes" spell on people.

D

Edit: The emphasis on the above sentence is on "now." There has been plenty of new route development at Index in the past, but not only does it seem to have died out now, plenty of perfectly good climbs are going back to the jungle. A couple of years ago Mari and I were up at a crag called Private Idaho with Steve & Mimi & Off White. One of us -- I think Mari -- remembered some climbs on a crag another two minutes up the trail, but when we went to check them out, we found a rock covered in a carpet of moss so thick that only the very tips of the bolt hangers were sticking through. Less than ten years earlier, it had been scrubbed clean.

argus

Trad climber

Jan 31, 2010 - 12:22am PT

Ghost, FYI a bunch of that stuff in the Private Idaho area has been cleaned in the last couple of years. Index Air Force, Them, Peanuts to Serve You, Magic Fern, Wet Dream, Eraserhead, Imagine Your Best Student Here, and End Run are all clean. Also, there are a couple of new high quality routes west of Rattletale on the Red Wall that deserve to be climbed.

Also, the stuff up on Shady Lane is clean, although the moss seems to be winning that battle since not enough people climb up there.

Darryl Cramer

Social climber

Jan 31, 2010 - 01:35am PT

Here's a link to a revised Private Idaho topo. link Those overgrown slab routes have been cleaned off at least a couple of times since they were first climbed. Back in the mid-80s you could actually see that cliff from town in winter. Private Idaho was visible all year - although some climbing related logging helped with that. A year round canopy really encourages moss growth.

James

climber

My twin brother's laundry room

Feb 13, 2010 - 01:58pm PT

Index is one of the best crags in America.

Jeremy Park

Trad climber

seattle, wa

Mar 19, 2010 - 05:18pm PT

Hey everyone,

If you haven't donated to Index or have and are looking for another opportunity here's your chance. The WCC is offering gifts for donations of 50 to 300 dollars now through Dec. Check out the link below for details.

http://www.washingtonclimbers.org/IndexFund/gifts.htm

Slabby D

Trad climber

B'ham WA

Mar 19, 2010 - 06:42pm PT

What's really weird about Index is that although the Lower Wall and the Davis-Holland area of the Upper Wall are now almost always so crowded that virtually every route has a line-up, most of the Upper Wall areas, and often many of the little sub-crags, are still empty.

Last Sunday (3/14) the Upper Town Wall was generally dry, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was almost (but not quite) t-shirt weather. I didn't see a single other climber the entire day. Not one. Left me feeling kind of lonely.

Rarely have I seen more than one other party up there even in the best of conditions (including on the DH). Strange, so much rock...

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Mar 20, 2010 - 11:35pm PT

Strange, so much rock...

Strange indeed. Early in the year, though, so a lot of folks probably assumed that even though the weather was good the cliffs would need another few days to dry. Just be happy that you had such a wonderful place to yourself.

But the DH does get lineups in the summmer. And a few climbers have realized what a gem Lamplighter/Heaven's Gate is. Other than that, though, it's mostly empty.

Reilly

Mountain climber

Monrovia, CA

Apr 6, 2010 - 02:02am PT

One of many Norwegian Buttress attempts.

Dave "The Drill Sargeant" Whitelaw with his little red bag.
(OK, one of his little red bags) [date: note the 1st gen Friend]

Caution: Man at work

edit:
Humorous Trivia Note:
About '75 or '76 I sewed a copy of my Forrest single-point
shoulder-crusher for Rick Ridgeway. He and Clark Gerhart were
going up there but somehow I don't think the hammock ever got used.

joepuryear

climber

Leavenworth, WA and Talkeetna, AK

Apr 6, 2010 - 09:33am PT

Made my contribution to the NNB failed attempt list a few years ago. Stoney Richards was up leading on pitch 6 and placed a micronut next to a large block. The microwave-sized block came down and landed right next to me on the stacked rope and cut the lead line clean in half. Stoney took a good fall but was okay. We bailed and then it poured rain that night. Fun times!

Big Mike

Trad climber

Mar 27, 2015 - 08:59pm PT

Bump

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Mar 27, 2015 - 10:56pm PT

Mt Index has it all: almost died of thirst on it, almost drowned on it,
and had a partner get frostbit on it. What more could one want?

drapnea

Trad climber

SLC, UT

Mar 27, 2015 - 11:22pm PT

Drove by Index yesterday. Looked pretty dry from Highway 2. Snow still up high and water in the streams/rivers were flowing fast, but that wall looked like it needed some of my attention.

bixquite

Social climber

humboldt nation

Mar 28, 2015 - 08:13am PT

I think of the mountains as teachers and Index is a high end zen monk with the chops
to get any climber to clear their mind and become a student of its teachings. The more you attend
class the more you'll grow from the professor.

Ghost

climber

A long way from where I started

Jul 16, 2016 - 08:32pm PT

Since there have been some old-time Index climbers on this thread, I thought I should throw this one up today: Remember Bush House? The Hotel?

It had been falling into disrepair for as long as I've been hanging out at Index, and finally closed down for good about 15 years ago. And after that, the disrepair accelerated and it soon looked like it was about to cave in on itself and rot away.

But check this out:

The front is almost fully renovated, and they're working on the back end. Word is that it will open for business as a restaurant/lodge sometime next year.

donini

Trad climber

Ouray, Colorado

Jul 16, 2016 - 08:37pm PT

By far the best rock climbing in the Pacific Northeest.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Jul 16, 2016 - 10:15pm PT

Will the new Bush House carry the torch like the old one with rooms by the hour?
What, you thought the name was more pedestrian, or even presidential?

mastadon

Trad climber

crack addict

Jul 17, 2016 - 07:23am PT

Forgot all about this thread. I'm glad to see the Bush House get resurrected.

I just love Index and the surrounding area. If I didn't think my wife would kick me to the curb, I'd buy a house in the area and spend summers up there.

I was there a few years ago and wandered to the base of the lower wall with shoes and a harness. There were a bunch of coffee driven young Seattle yuppies buzzing around with top-ropes on at least a dozen routes, one of which was Godzilla. They didn't pay any attention to me, they were too busy rushing around ticking off everything with manic intensity. I quietly asked one of them if they would give me a rope on Godzilla. She gave me a doubtful look and asked, "Have you ever done this before?" as in "Do you have any idea what you're getting in to, old man?". I responded, "Yes. It's been a while though. The last time I did this I used pitons". I could tell she had her doubts but belayed me anyway and I somehow managed to get up it. What a cool route.

I talked to Pete Doorish a few years ago and got a detailed drawing of his route on the Norwegian Buttress. His route is completely different than the one we tried. You never know. I might try to get up there and finish the route we started in 1974. All the new aid climbing do-dads have dramatically changed the face of big wall climbing. Don Brooks even expressed interest in going. Wouldn't that be a kick. Maybe we could even talk Dave Davis into going. He always loved adventure.

Don Brooks and Rich Carlstad on El Cap two summers ago. Old guys having fun!

Steve Grossman

Trad climber

Seattle, WA

Jul 17, 2016 - 09:24am PT

Great news about the Bush hotel revival.

I never understood why the town of Index became such a dead zone. The locals decided that they wouldn't tolerate any gay customers and the whole scene dried right up.

Don- You should have asked Missy for her personal best list but the pitons remark likely did the job.

Godzilla to Slow Children is my favorite lower wall combo.

Best crag in WA perhaps but Index doesn't compare with Squamish at all.