X-38 for beginner

[Alex_Mineev]

Ok, I am going x38 after work this Thursday with a friend.

I want to climb prefferably a topropable route in the range 5.6-5.8;

 

We've never been there.

 

Which route(s) would you recommend and how far are they from the parking lot and a brief description of approach or a book that has approach would be very much appreciated!

 

Thanks

Alex

[catbirdseat]

Go buy a copy of the Exit 38 Guide by Garth Bruce. They sell it in REI and the Mountaineers bookstore. You'll be able to figure it all out for yourself by reading the book.

 

I would recommend you try a place called the Gritscone on the Far Side. Everything there is top-ropeable and there are routes that start at 5.6. To get there drive the Exit 38 frontage road until it passes beneath the freeway. Park on the gravel shoulder under some power lines, before you come to a gate. Hike the road until you come to a bridge, which you cross and pick up a trail immediately on your right. The trail meets an old road for a buried telephone cable. Follow this until you come to a fork. Take the right fork at a small stream crossing and it is only a hundred yards or so to the Gritscone, which is a lumpy rock outcropping in heavy forest. As the name suggests it is gritty with good traction for your feet. Enjoy.

 

Bring some quick draws with which to set up your top rope, that is, don't pass the rope through the chains. If you want to be ultrasafe, you can replace the biners to which you clip the rope with locking biners, but it is not necessary.

[Alex_Mineev]

[Gripped]

Go buy a copy of the Exit 38 Guide by Garth Bruce. They sell it in REI and the Mountaineers bookstore. You'll be able to figure it all out for yourself by reading the book.

 

I would recommend you try a place called the Gritscone on the Far Side. Everything there is top-ropeable and there are routes that start at 5.6. To get there drive the Exit 38 frontage road until it passes beneath the freeway. Park on the gravel shoulder under some power lines, before you come to a gate. Hike the road until you come to a bridge, which you cross and pick up a trail immediately on your right. The trail meets an old road for a buried telephone cable. Follow this until you come to a fork. Take the right fork at a small stream crossing and it is only a hundred yards or so to the Gritscone, which is a lumpy rock outcropping in heavy forest. As the name suggests it is gritty with good traction for your feet. Enjoy.

 

Bring some quick draws with which to set up your top rope, that is, don't pass the rope through the chains. If you want to be ultrasafe, you can replace the biners to which you clip the rope with locking biners, but it is not necessary.

 

Yeah, what he said. Gritscone is good for beginners. Very Top-rope-able.

 

E-38 online

[Alyosha]

In addition to Gritscone, Squishy Bell (also in the Far Side area) is entirely top-ropeable. Unlike Gritscone, which is entirely under tree canopy, Squishy Bell is open to the winds, and faces East/South, so it might be dryer; it certainly is sunnier. It's about 20 minutes' hike from the parking area (If you follow the trail that goes past High Point, and Eastern Block, once you hit the talus field, skirt along its lower/left edge, until you see the trail that goes left of the talus field, and takes you to Squishy Bell: the trail is not obscure, or particularly faint, but is a lot easier to find once you've seen it once, and can be missed the first time around).

 

Write-off-Rock in the Deception Crags area can be top-roped, after you lead the really short and easy 5.5 (Exit 38 rating) on the left. FWIW, I thought that 5.5 was a nice, gentle first sport lead. It may be possible to scramble to the top of Write-off-Rock, but I suspect that'd actually be harder than leading the 5.5 on the left. Write-off-Rock is about five to eight minutes' walk from the Deception Crags parking lot.

 

Beware of credit card stealing car-prowling shysters when you go to Exit 38: take your wallet with you to the base of the climb.

[Alex_Mineev]

Kudos for the link!!