Although technical rock climbing in Icicle Creek Canyon dates to the 1940s, for years it was slower to develop than in Tumwater Canyon. Outside of Snow Creek Wall, very little history was recorded until the first full guide was published in 1989. Many routes (and even entire crags) were known by different names [...]
Leavenworth is perhaps the densest climbing area in Washington State, with a wide range of bouldering, sport and trad cragging, and access to some of the state’s best alpine rock. Leavenworth is also the birthplace of Washington’s technical rock climbing in the state, and was the focal point of rock climbing in the state [...]
Located south of Bellingham on the slopes of Blanchard Mountain, the Bat Caves have more than 30 sport (and a few trad) routes ranging from 5.4 to 5.12c. The area’s name is a misnomer: there aren't any real caves, only holes in an impressive talus field below a series of cliffs. The cliffs, which [...]
Beacon Rock is an 800-foot basalt monolith rising above the Columbia River at the west end of the Columbia River Gorge. It is the scene of what must be one of the first technical rock climbs in the Pacific Northwest. On August 24, 1901, Frank J. Smith and Charles Church of Portland, along with George [...]
Index is Washington’s most famous cragging destination, and features some of the highest-quality granite trad climbing in the United States. Index has also seen extensive bouldering development in recent years, and there is a growing collection of world-class boulder problems lurking in the woods below the Upper Town Wall, across [...]
