spire rock - spanaway

[markwebster]

I posted this in the authors section but didn't get any bites, so here goes again. Do you have any pictures or route info on Spire Rock in Spanaway?

 

Jim Phillips and I published a small guidebook back in the eighties and I've decided to publish it again, in color this time. You can see a preview here:

 

http://www.websterart.com/img/spire_rock23.pdf

 

I've got the basic route photos already but we need some eye candy pictures to fill out the book. Do you have any you would like to share? We'd also like to have info on any of the traverses that have been put up out there since the first book.

 

Climbing gyms are cool, but spire has real rock where you can practice placing pro. I took my first leader falls and aid climbs there.

 

pierce county website for spire rock

 

[scottgg]

That preview looks great Mark! No cool photos to share, just lots of fun memories stoping there on the way home from work!

[Skeezix]

I've got some serious memories of climbing at Spire Rock back in the late seventies. I met a young guy named Jim Yoder there one day, and subsequently ran into him several times a week until he moved to Leavenworth. We used to dance all over that thing. It was awesome.

[markwebster]

yah, I knew Yoder back then, still run into him now and then at Smith and Vantage. Spire was the ticket back then, gyms (and cams) hadn't been invented yet. I pretty much grew up out there. It's still a good place for beginners and those who can't afford the gyms.

[Serenity]

Dan, the convicted felon with the bad teeth was always sporting some interesting boulder problems. He had one where he could do a complete 360 rotation (as in going upside down on) utilizing a series of holds to the left of the wide crack on the north side of the rock.

 

A young (at the time) college student by the name of Jens showed me a pretty hard problem called the "7 continents". It utilizes 7 of the largest single embedded rocks for a full 360 degree traverse. I'm sure you've seen it done previously.

[markwebster]

that's a great tip. Where on spire are the 7 continents, as in, north side, south....and by 360, do you mean going around a clock dial that is stuck to the side of the wall: up, left, right, down...I'm confused. I lost touch with the new stuff at spire when I started working in Seattle. You could argue that I am the wrong person to write the book...but I don't think anyone else cares, and or has the technical skills to pull it off. I was a pressman for 28 years, and do web work now, and this sounds like a fun rainy day project.

[Jens]

Spire Rock was amazingly fun. I went about 30-40 days a year from around 87-92.

 

Pehaps it would be a lame idea, but it would be interesting to have some kind of Spire Rock Reunion someday. Many of us have moved away from the rock and haven't visited in ages, but I'm sure some would make the drive.

 

I'd be willing to wager that a couple of the eliminates might weigh in as high as V6 or 7.

 

[markwebster]

I was out there with my wife and daughter last summer. Still a fun place, nothing much has changed other than getting run down a little. The county used to sandblast it now and then to remove the graffiti and moss. I was kind of hoping the new book would spark a small revival of interest in the old rock.

[Stefan]

taken my kids there a couple of times. I like the place. the routes have gotten harder...becuase they are slicker now.

[Figger_Eight]

I used to climb there regularly when I was in school at PLU. Dwayner still teaches his class there. It was always a good time when the Enchanted Forest came alive with people wearing homemade armor, swords and spears. They'd spend the afternoon "fighting" each other in made up accents and recover by slurping big gulps from the 7-11. Good times...good times...

[Fairweather]

"Jackson's Mark" needs to be restored. Explorer Post 515.

[Sargent_Rock]

I "discovered" Spire Rock while working in Tacoma summer 07. A fall from near the top sent an unfortunate young climber into the ER where I was employed.

What a wonderful urban climbing area! A great idea that was well executed, producing fun, enjoyable, and demanding routes. Here's to the designers and builders who gave future climbers such a priceless gift.

 

 

[Buckaroo]

"Jackson's Mark" needs to be restored. Explorer Post 515.

 

I thought that had been done already? They put another one somewhere in another location on the rock, but they didn't take off the old defaced one. Or has someone damaged the new one already?

 

I remember me and Yoder one time water/sand blasted all the graffiti. It was back on there within a couple of weeks.

 

the 7 continents AKA 7 big rocks problem goes from the large rock on the left bottom of the main chimney then across the chimney up and right diagonally following the obvious largest rocks to finish near the top of the big easy ramp all the kids climb. You can't touch anything else but the 7 rocks hands or feet.

[markwebster]

thanks for the photos, and the tips about the 7 continents. I'll get out there and take some pictures of that problem. This book may not happen till it warms up a bit as I need to some eyecandy photos of climbers on the routes. Hopefully some handsome guys, and some cute girls. I've got some partners who might co-operate.