Static Point Beta

[Matt_Anderson]

Plan to go to Static Point early on Saturday for a friend's first multipitch before he leaves the country for a year. I have commitments that require me to get back in Seattle by 4:00.

 

The beta I have is in Washington Rock Climbs.

 

Anybody have any comments on getting to the crag so we don't waste time on the way there? (never been).

 

Any suggestions regarding how long it'll take a first timer to get there from downtown seattle?.

[mattp]

You will not be able to drive to the end of the access road unless somebody has recently been up there with a big chainsaw and a comealong, but you'll get close enough. After perhaps a half hour or so you will find the second or third piece of old culvert left just past a little wash where you can actually look up the hill and see granite. There should be a cairn here, and the trail heads uphill to the left.

 

The trail emerges at the base of the rock about 50 yards short of the begninnig of OnLine.

 

Estimated time: 1.5 hr. drive; 1.0 hr hike.

 

It it is a hot day, Static Point cooks. Be prepared.

 

Take a copy of Sky Valley Rock if you can get one.

[JayB]

From what I can recall expect about 1.5 hours driving time from Seattle. On my first trip there we followed the directions in Smoot and managed to get there without consulting any additional maps - but if you've got a Delorme it wouldn't hurt to bring it, I suppose.

 

As far as the trail is concerned, park when you can drive no futher, and follow the decommissioned road until you run into a large, trashed aluminum culvert sitting on the trail, at which point you should see the trail leading to the climbs on your left. I'd guess it takes most parties roughly 1/2 hour to get to the culvert, and another 1/2 hour to get to the base of the climbs. Online is right there at the junction between the slabs and the trail. Most of the routes that start from Tombstone ledge have had the old leeper hangers replaced since the book came out.

[JayB]

Wow - guess my recollections were spot on....

[Matt_Anderson]

Thanks both!

[mattp]

What climb are you going to do? For someone's first multi-pitch, I'd consider "Total Soul" at Darrington over

"On Line" at Static (I mention On-Line because it is the one that everybody does there). Total Soul offers more variety and is a little more straight-forward. The holds are actually visible.

[Dave_Schuldt]

If it's above 70 in town I wouldn't go. It's all foot work so when it's hot it's no fun.

[Matt_Anderson]

I was planning on doing online. I'll take a look at total soul if its in Sky Valley or Washington Rock.

[Matt_Anderson]

Re: temps - We're thinking about leaving around 6:00, so getting there 8:30 - 9:00. He follows pretty quick, so we were thinking we'd miss most of the horrible temps. Still no go advice?

[mattp]

Total Soul is in niether. Washingotn Rock is out of date and it is not in the Sky Valley. It is in one of Nelson/Potterfield's "Select Climbs" books and it is depicted here:

 

Topo on Darrington Rock Climbing site

 

Another good choice at Three O'Clock Rock would be Silent Running, a little easier though it has a little less variety, or the first three pitches of 'Till Broad Daylight,(all very short and the first two are best run together), then switchin to the Kone for three more (diagonal so you'll rappel a different climb, Tidbits).

 

I'm assuming that since you were looking at On Line you were looking for six or eight pitches on low angled granite in a scenic location, and Three O'Clock Rock definitely fits that bill. It also heats up early in the day, though.

 

On-line is, as Dave Schuldt notes, "all footwork." It is pure slab climbing, with not even knobs to stand on and nothing for your hands. The Darrington climbs I mention here definitely have similar characteristics, but no to the extreme that On-Line has.

[chucK]

The total approach times for either Online or Total Soul are about the same ~2.5 hours (maybe 15 min less for Total Soul).

 

I think either will be OK in the morning. They start getting pretty unbearable by afternoon.

 

Total Soul is twice as long as Online, so could put a crimp in your getting back in Seattle by 4 pm plan, but you can rap from anywhere on the route.

 

If you go to Static using Washington Rock beware the approach instructions, they are wrong. Do not go directly up the wash. Find the beached culvert with the cairn, look to your left and find a trail up through the forest (just after the wash).

 

If you go to Total Soul, all the info you need is at

Darrington Web Page

[mattp]

Total Soul goes into shade about 3:00 pm. If it is in the 90's in Seattle, it will be unbearably hot by 11:00 am and it would be better to wait until mid-afternoon to start. That won't help Matt A, though, with the 4:00 return-time.

 

For shade climbs, the west facing stuff on Blueberry Hill is shady in the morning and in fact the approach up the Granite Sidewalk doesn't take any longer than the hike up to Total Soul or that up to OnLine. The "Granite Sidewal" is anything but the casual stroll that Smoot desribes, though, and it is probably not a good choice for someone who has never done any multipitch climbs before and presumably has little scrambling experience. Those Blueberry Hill climbs are not as easy to descend as the other choices being discussed here, either, so come to think of it just forget about them entirely.

 

OnLine is six pitches (isn't it?) and Total Soul is eight. My guess is that Total Soul would for most parties not be a significantly longer round trip from Seattle, and of course you can rap from anywhere on the route so all you need to do is take a watch and turn around at the appropriate time.

[chucK]

Ooops sorry for the misinformation. You could probably even consider Total Soul to be 7 pitches if you dispatch the first pitchlet via soloing or simuling.

[mattp]

Of course, we're straying far and wide from the original inquiry but I'd say that Castle Rock in Leavenworth is probably not much more than 2 1/2 hours from downtown Seattle and offers excellent moderate climbing which is largely in the shade early in the morning.

[catbirdseat]

Shhhhhhhh!!!!!

[Buckaroo]

For the approach to Static Point beware. There are several "abandoned culverts" near gulleys that go up to the left. You pass 4 or 5 of them until you come to one that is directly in the trail and half full of dirt with a cairn on top (just past a gulley). Follow the climbers trail up and left.

 

Online has chain anchors on the first couple of belays, there's another route to the right of it with webbing belays, that's not Online.

 

Bring your leading head some of the easier pitches are a little runnout.

[Matt_Anderson]

Thanks everybody - We'll probably figure out where we're going to go on the way there. Likely to bake on one of the slabs - Castle Rock's a great idea, but something new has quite an alure.

[curtveld]

Looks like you're getting some solid advice, but I'll offer my $.02:

 

If you want a nice backcountry climbing experience, I'd go with Silent Running (next to Total Soul, but easier). You've got the 5.10 finish if time and energy allow.

 

If you prefer scenic driving (and faster bail options), the Fault/Catapault/Canary link-up at Castle would be a good plan. Wear your helmets for this one, though. Enjoy.

[curtveld]

Ah, the joys of cross-posting. A last tid-bit: You will NOT bake on 3OC rock - the climbs mentioned face north!

[Matt_Anderson]

Left at 6:00, got back around 3:30 - the wife was quite happy.

 

Thanks for all the beta - it was a lovely climb and my friend had great time as well.

 

Re: temps - we finished the top pitch around noon. The rock had heated up by then, but not to bad. As we rapped down to the lower angle lower pitches, the rock heated up pretty significantly.

[Dirtyleaf]

What are the directions to get to Static Point from Seattle?

[turn_one]

go northeast young man

[curtveld]

What'd you end up doing Matt? (those of us with limited climbing time - AKA "parents" - fill the gaps by finding what others are doing)