The Lower Town Wall was threatened with closure but instead we are going to buy it and turn it into a climbing park.
2009 Index Climbing Fund.
Thin Fingers, 5.11a, on the Lower Town Wall at Index: this was the cover photo for the guidebook, Washington Rock Climbs, published in 1989. Photo Larry Kemp.
This overlay on an aerial photo shows the approximate location of the private property at Index Town Wall, as well as surrounding State Parks and National Forest land
(click the photo for a broader view with a legend).
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Purchase Option:
The Washington Climbers Coalition has reached an agreement with the landowner at Index. We have eighteen months to raise the purchase
price and climbers will be allowed to climb there during the meantime. The parcel in question is approximately 20 acres and includes the
Lower Town Wall, Middle Wall, Inner Wall, and several other crags. The Access Fund loaned the Washington Climbers Coalition the money for
the option payment, which will also serve as a down payment toward the planned purchase.
Background:
The Lower Town Wall at Index was previously quarried for granite but the operation was shut down when the Burlington Northern
Railroad moved the tracks closer to the wall in the 1960's. The family who ran the quarrying operation still owns that property, and
the Cascade Land Conservancy, Access Fund, and Washington Climbers Coalition have in the past talked about the possibility of purchasing
the Wall.
On March 12 or 13, 2009, no trespassing signs appeared at Index. We are not sure exactly where they were because they have since been
removed but they apparently were located so as to encompass the Lower Town Wall, the Quarry area, and The Country - including some areas
not on private property but which are on land owned by Washington State Parks. It was not immediately clear who installed them, and
speculation followed as to whether it had been the private property landowner, somebody connected with Burlington Northern Railroad,
climbers, or some outside party with an unknown interest in climbing at Index.
The signs were removed by someone from State Parks but we at the Washington Climbers Coalition received word that a note requesting a
telephone call to discuss cleaning activity had been left on a climber’s car on the day that the signs appeared. The number turned out
to be that of the private property owner who owns the Lower Town Wall.
This all came about after the present property owner, hoping to sell the land, apparently talked with quarry operators who told her that she would
be able to sell it for granite operations if it was not a popular climbing area. They warned her that climbers and townspeople will
not take kindly to having the climbing area closed and they would face vandalism or worse if they tried to run a quarrying operation at
that location. (We're not sure that climbers or locals are such a lawless bunch, but the area does have a 50 year climbing history and we
would be very sorry to lose the opportunity to climb there). The owner believed that climbers presence on her property was reducing its value.
We don't know whether sale of the property to quarry operators was ever a real option. The railroad company forced closure of the quarry operation
years ago and we doubt they'd be friendly toward renewed activity of that sort. Further, we believe wetlands protection and other environmental
regulations would have made quarrying unfeasible, and the value of the actual product is uncertain (we don't know much about it but although the granite
at Index is absolutely fantastic for rock climbing, at least one geologist has said it is not suitable for high value applications like making
granite countertops). Regardless, we now have a purchase option and we fully expect to be able to raise the money so that Index will forever be preserved
for rock climbing.
The Climbing: The Lower Town Wall and related cliffs have a climbing history going back about 50 years. Due to their proximity to
Seattle (~50 miles) and low elevation, the area was originally conceived of as an “off season” training ground by the alpine oriented climbers of the
late 1950s and early 1960s. As the 1960s progressed the Lower Wall became the place to learn aid climbing in the Pacific Northwest. Well known
climbers such as Jim Madsen ands Bruce Carson (first clean ascent of El Cap) cut their teeth at the Town Walls. While the majority of the climbs from
this era have been freed it would be unusual not to find people aiding at the Lower Wall regardless of the weather conditions. Aiding up the first
pitch of the route “City Park” has for years been a rite of passage for aspiring NW aid climbers and the Lower Wall has been called “the best place to
learn aid” in the Pacific Northwest.
In the 1980s and 1990s the Lower Wall was transformed into one of the premier free climbing areas in the Pacific Northwest. The density of routes is
far greater than at any other granite crag we are familiar with. For comparison Snowshed Wall at Donner Summit has a similar route density but is about
1/10 the size. The sheer number and high quality of the routes led Mountain Magazine to proclaim the Lower Town Wall one of the “top ten crags in America”.
Peter Croft has said that the Lower Wall has one of the greatest concentrations of thin cracks that he has seen. The well publicized story of Hugh Herr
traveling across the country to snatch the second free ascent of City Park made the Lower Wall well known for its crack routes but there are an equal
number of less known sport routes again ranging from 5.8 to 5.13+.
The several hundred routes and hundreds of pitches at the Lower Wall crags are only an hour drive away from Seattle and the walk-in from the parking lot
adds less than five minutes over a flat trail to the overall approach time. This ease of access makes the Lower Wall a popular choice for after work or
after school climbing. The next most easily accessed granite climbing area to the Seattle Metro area would be the crags around Leavenworth which are an
additional 90’ drive over to the eastern slope of the Cascades and they are covered in snow all winter.
Looking Ahead:
This is an exciting time for Index climbers. We intend to set up a fund-raising team over the Summer and start the formal campaign in the Fall.
Stand by for more announcements.
Watch our discussion forum for updates and post your suggestions!
-Matt Perkins
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