Drytooling Areas near Seattle

[jared_j]

I've only seen vague directions on the site to established drytool areas off the I-90 corridor near exit 38 or 900.

 

Any beta on location would be appreciated! I did a little ice climbing last winter, looking to do more this winter.

[kevino]

so you get off on exit 38. then you drive down the road for a ways. right before it starts to turn back to i-90 there is a FS road going straight. You go for a little ways, but not too long and there is a widen part if i recall correctly. Theres a little trail then you head uphill and off to the right. There is a talus field and a little face right about that. then right about the face is the iron horse trail.

 

Last time I was there I missed the memo about the appropriate attire consisting of gaitors and hard shells even though there was no rain or snow. so be sure to dress accordingly. The ironic part? There was ice right above these people TR rock with ice tools? WTF?

Edited October 8, 2008 by kevino

[John Frieh]

Alex said something about posting this on the wa state ice site

 

Issaquah DT crag is: from Issaquah, drive up SR900 towards Renton for several miles. There is a Cougar Mountain Trail pullout, space for only 2 cars, that comes up on your right near the top of a very small climb. Park here, walk in on the trail 20 feet, make a left, and the climbers path will take you to the crag in 2 minutes flat. The rock is standstone, with lots of positive edges and some crags. 2 lead-bolted lines and enough room to fart around. It's the better crag in my opinion.

 

Black Ice DT crag approach directions are described in the book, but basically go I-90 to exit 38. At end of off-ramp, go right, and drive until just before you PASS UNDER I-90 again. (This is a few miles.) Here there is a dirt road, leading off to the right a little. It's a shaded lane that parallels the highway on it's southern side. The DT crag is basically directly above the dirt road, but below the railroad trestle. The approach trail is hard to find in the summer when everything is overgrown, but it starts about a 1/4 mile up the dirt road on the right, and eventually curves into the talus slope below the crag from the left. The routes are on Rhyolite, with yucky downsloping ledges and moves. Some are lead bolted and some just have anchors. A few of the lead bolted routes will make you scratch your head and ask why.

[jared_j]

Thanks, guys. I'll make note if the fashion police are there.

 

Do ya'll think that these are good areas to get your game tight (or just create one's game if you're new to it like me) in preparation for the moderate classic winter ice / mixed climbs in the region?

[John Frieh]

IMHO any time learning body position, tool/pon placement, etc etc will only help you this winter.

 

Get some

[tradhead]

kevino -

 

Sounds like you might have seen me and a few friends at the dry tool park. A buddy of mine wears gaiters there to deter other climbers from hanging around.

 

The ice up above is really unstable and I've seen a large chunk of it come down over the left side of the crag while we were climbing on the more protected right side.

[mike_m]

An easier approach to Black Ice is to follow the exit 38 old highway until just before it bends back under I-90, then head up and right on a dirt road until you cross the Iron Horse trail, and park. Walk back West on the Iron Horse about 15 minutes crossing the trestle. West of the trestle a couple hundred yards will be a crappy rock band above the RR grade and the Black Ice slab below. There's a rough trail heading town the west end of the slab and 5 TR anchors on the top.

[Alex]

It's still on the stack of things to do. I *did* work on the website recently and update a bunch of stuff, including more pics of routes etc, but was unable to upload via FTP for some reason that day. I will get to the drytoolings stuff soon.

[Jens]

Try the thin ice above if you want to test your mettle during a cold snap. Bring pins. It is pretty delicate/heady but fun stuff.

 

[Valhallas]

Any thoughts on the grades of the two lead lines at the Cougar mountain crag? I went there the other day for my first non-gym dry tooling and for some reason made up the numbers M3 and M4 for the left and right lines, respectively. For some reason I thought that's what my friend said, but he asked me where I got the number, so evidently that was all in my head. Anyway, they felt harder than some M3 and M4 lines I've done at stone gardens, but the holds there are 1) big, 2) mostly wood, and 3) I was wearing rock shoes rather than boots and crampons.

 

I'm just curious as a point of comparison when I see M grades in writing.

 

[yikes]

http://wastateice.net/

 

select the 'guide' link and the 'SR900' from the dropdown menu.

 

Are you free on Saturday? I'm thinking about heading out there and I'm looking for a partner.

Jason