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Hello. I'm looking to top rope solo some routes at Index, specifically Slow Children, does anyone have any beta on approaching from the top if possible to attempt this? Thank you

Been meaning to write something up on this new route we did last Jan. Finally found the time. Gilkison's Travels

Normandy 5.12 (a/b?) 10-12 quick draws w/Chain Anchor. #1 Camalot optional after 5th or 6th draw Starts off obvious block on left side of the Beach ledge just to the left of Between the Cheeks and Heavens Rear Entry Vehicle. Follow bolts. Steep, bouldery face climbing and two roofs lead to an airy, narrow, stemming finish.

Trip: Index - Upper Town Wall - Swim + FFA of Free Swim Date: 8/10/2011 Trip Report: Another great Upper Wall route. I first tried Swim a couple weeks ago and got a little pushed around up there to say the least. But I wasn't all that surprised as this is usually the case on Upper Wall climbs. My second time on the route I choose the solo top rope mini trax mission. While dangling around up there doing some scrubbing and TR'ing I got the bright idea of trying to free a variation around the original 4th pitch A0 bolt ladder. On first inspection I didn't think it would be to bad. The free variation would start up the shallow corner of Steel Pole Bathbtub and then diagonal left across the bolt ladder onto an old aid pitch I put up 10+ years. Only problem was a fairly large (6ft tall) and loose toothpick shaped block that was barely attached. This thing had to go. And it went without much of a fight. To my dismay my original thought about the pitch looking easy was proved wrong. It was going to actually take some work to do and well to be honest I wasn't so keen on starting another involved project as my schedule was already pretty booked. But for some stupid reason I still got all excited about the project... and I'm bad at saying NO to good climbing. So after a couple more days of work up there which involved a bit of scrubbing and some bolting it was ready to go. My luck with the weather has been great lately. Lows 60's and a chance of rain in the forecast meant good sending temps. Thankfully for me I found a stoked partner, Rachel, that would be game to go have a little adventure up there with me. We met up at the parking lot a little before 3pm, which is a perfect time to start an Upper Wall route if you plan on climbing by headlamp... (Rachel following the 2nd pitch 11d) It felt nice to be grabbing freshly brushed holds and knowing where to go this time. The climbing was actually enjoyable. We quickly made it the big ledge at the base of the 4th pitch and the new free variation. I opted to pull through on draws for a quick refresher of the moves and one last brush of the holds. I came down, pulled the rope, put on a tighter pair of shoes and headed back up. I had worked the pitch just the right amount. I definitely wasn't sure i was going to send and had to improvise a few of the moves but I managed to make it through without incident. After the funky compact smeary corner crux the climbing eases off to cool, fun and casual 5.10 and eventually meets back up with the original route near the anchors. I can't really figured what to grade the pitch so I'm going to say Index,11d which in my opinion has ZERO correlation to Yosemite Decimal System. IF it were in Yosemite, it would probably be somewhere closer to 12/12+ (the upper 5.10 portion of the new variation) Rachel followed giving it a good effort but had to resort to a bit of Batman technique through the crux. The next 11b pitch went down with out much of fight though the sun had still managed to slip perilously close to the horizon. Rachel hurried up the pitch feeling the encroaching darkness. Only two more pitches to... (good light and a shitty iPhone camera) I crept up one more 11+ techy slab and nearly blew it on some dirty 5.10 that I mistakenly had not cleaned or climbed previously. I probably should of brought a head lamp as the climbing surely would of been easier if I could see. Thankfully Rachel was kind enough to let me borrow her headlamp for the last pitch so I could figure out where to go. At somewhere close to 9:45 I topped out. I sure am good at turning a 7 pitch route into an adventure. Gear Notes: Mostly clips and slings with a few wedges thrown in for good measure. Approach Notes: Snohomish --> Lyndseys Lattes in Sultan --> Index town store for a croissant sammy --> Trail --> Bolts --> Top

Trip: Index, Upper Town Wall - Rise and Fall, 5.12a Date: 8/23/2010 Trip Report: The Upper Wall "sport" routes have intrigued me since my first foray up to Sisu over 13 years ago. I had walked away from Sisu with my tail between my legs wondering how people even manage to climb 5.11 up there, let alone 5.12. As time went by and I gained more experience and knowledge of the area the Upper routes became even more elusive. In the last 10 years the only full length old school "sport" route that I know has been repeated is Swim which was this year (or maybe last). I've heard rumors of ascents but never full redpoints. WHY? What is wrong with these routes? While doing Green Drag-on and Town Crier earlier this summer I often found myself staring at Rise and Fall which is in spitting distance of GD. It looked amazing! I knew if I had time this summer I'd have to try it. Kate following the 5.10 third pitch My first attempt was at the end of July with Colin Haley. We were both feeling ansi and started up the first pitch in the sun, though it wasn't to hot, climbing in the sun made the 5.12a pitch feel real hard. I battled my way up it. Standing in slings, grabbing bolt hangers in desperation, and doing whatever it took to get the rope up. My fist inclination told me this pitch was impossible! Surely the fist ascent had used smoke and mirrors to send it…. I continued upwards demoralized but still motivated to see what laid ahead. It must get easier? Thankfully I was able to onsight the 5.10 third pitch, though I can't say I made it look easy. And then their is the 5.11+ 4th pitch. Really how hard can 5.11 be? Well at Index it can be just as hard as 5.13 in some other areas. This pitch was another quintessential Index sandbag. After much cursing, floundering and flailing, I A0'd my way to the anchors, completely mystified. Another pitch that might as well be rated 5.IMPOSSIBLE I lowered back down and looked at every possible hand and foot hold. Real slowly the sequences started to appear. High step mantle, to high step mantle lead to a final hold-less deadpoint that would without a doubt be the MOVE while redpointing. I managed to link very little of this pitch on toprope. One more 11b pitch followed. The theme of the day continued with me grabbing draws and getting totally shut down on the crux, but luckily after a bunch of brushing and chalking of holds it came together. 3 star pitch! By the end of the pitch I had the rock climbing version of the screaming barffies in my toes and was having a hard time touching my tips to anything. We were both royally annihilated! Time to go down. Kate in desperation on the 5.12 second pitch Good weather and alpine climbing plans took me away to Alaska for a quick trip but all I could think of was getting back to Index in time to give Rise and Fall another go. This time I enrolled my girlfriend Kate to go up their with me, which usually makes me climb better. I also had another trick up my sleeve this time, Alpine Anorexia. I had lost 6 lbs of the 125 I usually carry around in just three days while up in AK. I was feeling light! I almost sent the 12a pitch first go but lacked any cohesive beta to make it happen. I knew it would go down next try though. We cruised up to the 5.11+ only to get completely shut down again. I threw a great wabler up there and almost went down. I was letting falling on 5.11 get to my ego. NOT GOOD! I man'nd up, swallowed my pride and aided to the top to setup the toprope. After more inspection it came together and I was able to link the whole pitch on TR. I also knew it would go down next go. Me on the start of the 5.11+ roof to slab pitch (Town Crier's triple roofs in the background) Yesterday, along with Kevin Newell, I used my own smoke and mirrors on Rise and Fall. I eked out a redpoint of the 12a pitch first go which was going to be the mental crux for me. As always I'd hope to make a no falls redpoint but to my dismay one momentary lapse of friction spit me off the final move on the 11+ pitch. Next go found me much more relaxed and holds feeling that much bigger. I haven't been so thrilled to send 5.11 in a very long time! Now the self imposed pressure became thick as all I had left was the 5.11b pitch. Thankfully chalked edges and pockets appeared whenever they were critical and I found myself at the anchors in fading dusk light. Kevin raced up the pitch and made quick work of the final 50ft to the top of the wall. Just like the rest of my climbs on the Upper Wall this summer, I followed in near darkness by brail. My grin couldn't get much bigger once I hit the top!!!!! Leading up to the roof on the 5.11+ pitch This route is a testament to the skill and ability of Greg Child and Andy DeKlerk as well as the unbelievable sandbagging that was going on when those guys were putting up routes. For me this was nearly as difficult to redpoint as Green Drag-on and Town Crier, which are rated one full number grade harder or so. If you are looking for a route to fluff your 8a.nu card this may not be the one. STOKER!!!

Trip: Index - The Waterway F.F.A. 5.11D Date: 8/5/2010 Trip Report: Earlier this week I hiked up to the Upper wall to go check out Good Girls Like Bad Boys but upon reaching the base with my friend Sean we got distracted by the possibility of freeing The Waterway. We weren't prepared to go ground up so we hiked back the the car grabbed some static ropes and then hiked back to the top of the Upper wall and rapped it. We fixed 3 60m ropes to the ground and then top roped our way back to the top. The climbing was cleaner, better and easier than expected. The only pitch we had problems on was the first but we figured it would go fairly easily. After borrowing some cleaning supplies we headed up the next day to give the thing a scrub and prep it for the lead. Unfortunately thunderstorms and rain chased us off without being able to clean that much of it. We figured it was clean enough though and we decided to head on up there for the redpoint yesterday. Sean started up the first pitch around 6pm but got shut down on his first try due to some dirty footholds and hard to place pro. He scrubbed it a little and figured out the key piece of protection and then fired it next try. I followed in a less than secure manner, barely sticking the crux move. We figure around 5.11D. Feeling pumped and dazed from the lower pitch I let Sean lead the next pitch as well. The second pitch starts off face climbing on good holds and then clips a bolt and moves down and left to good holds and a 5.10 mantle. This is followed by easy liebacking to a small roof that its passed on it left side via good side pulls. Kinda pumpy here. Opposing sidepulls and small feet make up the crux sequence which then leads to easier secure climbing and a nice belay spot. Sean dispatched of this pitch no problem. Great pitch. I finally felt recovered and took the 3rd pitch which follows an easy hollow flake to small fingers/stemming/liebacking in a corner. Double of small cams (purple tcu) is nice here. It takes good pro but it felt hard to place. Underneath some thin hanging flakes I stepped left using a cool undercling pocket to another undercling flake. I found the move left to be reachy. 50ft of easy (5.8) climbing up amazing rock leads to a couple moderate 5.10 lieback moves. I had already used the crucial stopper that protects the last 5.10 which forced a 10ft run-out or so. I think you need a #5 or #6 BD stopper for the last move. The belay is on a sloping ramp. Sean took over here and lead off to the right traversing on easy terrain (5.8) with poor gear. He moved quickly up the chimney choosing to run it out for close to 80ft. I think there was available pro but it was almost dark and I wasn't looking for it. After the chimney Sean moved left to a bolted arete to avoid the mungy 4th class gully. Currently the bolted arete is part of a route in progress, it felt around 5.10+ or so. It was to dark to see my feet so maybe it is easier. We left our fixed lines in place so we/I could put another day of scrubbing in to clean it up for future ascents. Overall we found the climbing to be quite amazing. The route follows natural features and perfect rock. We thought it was classic and hopefully will see some traffic in the future. Not sure if it can be rapped with one rope but it would be easy to walk to the top and rap Town Crier or Green Drag-on with a single 60m. Sean following pitch 3 Link to full size topo Gear Notes: single grey TCU Doubles of Purple TCU to #1 camalot single #2 camalot Nuts.

Heard some rumblings through the grapevine that Mike sent City Park last week.

Climb: Index-Davis-Holland/1st pitch of Lovin Arms Date of Climb: 6/17/2006 Trip Report: Hansel ropegunned me up Davis-Holland and the 1st pitch of Lovin Arms today. I also had a pitch of copenhagen for the first time since junior high, and the rock achieved much more clarity. Also time sped up, and i heard chanting voices. Notes: -The first pitch is indeed wet! Slimey in fact. It is slightly harder in these conditions. -There were no mosquitos, but beware of ants at the top of the first pitch! -Beware, the girl working the coffee shop in Goldbar is not as cute as I remember. -520 is closed today. Don't go there. -Sparks is a wonderful after climbing beverage. -There is a lizard living on the ledge at the top of pitch 3 of Davis-Holland. -Though it rained on the drive out, it didn't rain while we were climbing. We stopped at 1st pitch of Lovin Arms because it looked like it was gonna, but it didn't. -pictures on a disposable camera, so wait for developement. -I heart Index -Nobody dropped coils on us today. -I had a Layton pinchy experience starting on the third pitch. Even though I was following, it was intense. Thanks to Jeff for allowing me to rap first on the last rappel. -Jeff told me a story about how he once beat up this dude(it was self defense!):