How many climbers are there?

[Rad]

I've discussed this with partners as well. I can't answer your poll without some more granular definition.

 

What is PNW? Does BC count? OR? Idaho? Montana? WY? AK?

 

What is alpine? Do you mean back country, and if so how far back? Above treeline? Do you mean only trad? Will I think we can agree that Prussik is alpine. Gunsight is alpine. CBR is alpine. What about Darrington? Guye peak? Vesper? Sloan?

 

BTW, I think many of the people on this board would like to see your list of the 25 routes people actually do. There are plenty of routes in the Nelsen guides that don't make that list (e.g. Disappearing Floor, Eve Dearborn (OK, it's ice), and Girth Pillar).

 

 

[Blake]

Darin estimated there are 25 routes in WA (or maybe in "the northwest" which are 5.9 and harder that see traffic ( a few ascents a summer at least).

 

Maybe:

 

Prusik - Beckey and Stanley

CBR - West Face

Dragontail - Backbone

Stuart - N. Ridge - NW Face - Girth Pillar

 

There's 7 from the enchantments

 

Lib Bell - Lib Crack - NW Face - freedom rider

Lexington - East Face

NEWS - NW Corner and West face

SEWS - DEB - Boving route - passenger? - .10b variation to SW rib?

 

There's ~9 from the lib bell group

 

Burgundy - North Face

Chianti - Rebel Yell

Juno - Clean Break

 

3 more

 

N face bear, NE buttress of Slesse

 

That's a total of 21, and sadly involves only 2 routes that aren't at WA pass or the enchantments...

[genepires]

what about the pickets? And Darin's arayete on shuksan? and Darin's lines in the twin sisters? Castle peak has a couple. Since you got into Canada, North rib of slesse and some on rexford. There has got to be more that still get done but not that often. Are all the hardman sport climbing or at index?

 

I think I have done some 10 or 11 of these routes but I think that I must currently remove myself from this list.

 

 

[dberdinka]

25 was a guess, so nice list Blake. Add N Rib of Slesse, Early Morning Spire and....hell maybe that's it. EDIT Genes right. Add Nesakwatch Spire-Dairyland and Cathedral-SE Buttress. No one climbs Castle and the Mythic Wall is cragging (as is Snow Creek) and don't sell your self short Gene.

 

The PNW criteria was simply that I was interested in how many climbers there are around here (basically B'ham to Portland) not how many Iowans like to climb the N Ridge of Stuart.

 

As for 5.9 or harder I figured that's probably where a dedicated technical climber who's focused on the mountains ends up. Obviously if you set the bar to include The Tooth, The Beckey Route and Ingalls Peak you could probably triple the count any given year but I would think that includes a lot of people who might kind of quickly enter and exit technical climbing.

Edited July 3, 2009 by dberdinka

[jshamster]

I realize it's your route, but if the Mythic Wall is cragging, then so is most everything at WA Pass. I don't really compare it to SCW, what with the hour or so of schwackin'. Yeah, it's only a few pitches, but the Green Creek Cirque is definitely alpine. I say add that one to the list.

 

Cheers.

Jimbo

[curtveld]

what about the pickets?

Inspiration Peak definitely has a couple - E. ridge & S. Face (if you call it a 9). N butt of Terror gets done though everyone comes back with a different rating.

 

SW Face of The Early Morning Spire seems reasonably popular.

[Choada_Boy]

Why not define "alpine" as a climb you could scream for "help" from and no one would hear you. That would exclude the climbs on the west side of WA Pass but maybe not the east, and put Green Creek into the mix, for example.

[sobo]

As far as I know, native Washingtonians don't really exist.

Au contraire, mon frère. C'est moi!

[sobo]

Excluding the responses that called me a fool...

One of those was me...

[Valhallas]

How long do you have to live here before they are YOUR rocks? I've been in Seattle since 2005 and started climbing in 2007. Can I call them my rocks yet? Or is that a prerogative of native washingtonians.

 

 

 

Having family in the PNW since the 1880s and being a second generation climber I'm sorry to say the answer is

 

No

 

We'll give you rent free guest privileges though

 

 

Can you let my landlord know I'm supposed to be getting rent free privileges? Thanks

Edited July 3, 2009 by Valhallas

[AlpineK]

Sorry landlords don't follow those rules for anybody native or non-native.

 

I think you could add routes to the list less technical than 5.9, but they would have to involve long approaches/bushwhacking. The standard route on Nooksack Tower is sub 5.9, but I bet not many climb it.

[Frikadeller]

You Portlanders should stay in Oregon though.

 

That's fine with me, as long as you keep Washingtonians off our roads in Portland. It sure would ease traffic a bit.

[Lowell_Skoog]

For what it's worth, I voted 100-250. If you count each person only once per year (not each time they do a climb) and if you count only climbers doing 5.9 and up in the alpine, I think the number is pretty low. But I'm just guessing.

[Mattski]

Boston Basin should make this list of routes with at least 3 routes on Forbidden and Sharkfin Tower. Marble Creek Cirque has the Early Morning as well as Dorado Needle and the West Arete of Eldo. There also Chimney Rock, Lemahs, Snoqualmie Pass....

 

If using the 5.9 yardstick, then a few routes would make it from these areas.

[RICHARD_CILLEY]

Climbings dying.Almost nobody out there.Whats the Mythic Wall?

[Rad]

I agree with Lowell that the numbers are probably low, I don't think this is because climbing is dying. Here are two factors to consider:

 

1 - Climbing may once have been trad only, with crags being just training for tha alpine, but this is no longer the case. There are plenty of folks who mainly boulder, mainly climb hard sport, mainly climb trad at favorite crags (e.g Index), mainly climb ice, mainly climb indoors, etc etc. So even though there may not be tons of >=5.9 alpine climbers that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of climbers.

 

2 - The distibution of good WA alpine rock routes is skewed toward easier lines so harder climbers look elsewhere for challenges. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of alpine rock routes looks like this: # 5.7 and 5.8 >> # 5.9 and 5.10 routes >> # 5.11 routes >> # 5.12 routes. I have to imagine this is a largely a function of WA geology, because guides suggest there are plenty of alpine 5.11s and 5.12s in CA and CO. Perhaps climbers who are motivated may swiftly outgrow our lovely PNW and seek bigger challenges in the Bugs, Yosemite and high Sierras, AK, Patagonia, Europe, Colorado etc. The rest of us weekend warriors seem to have plateaued in the 5.9 to 5.11- range and happily gobble up what WA has to offer.

[G-spotter]

There are hundreds of climbers in Squamish who cruise 5.12 trad but few of them are interested in alpine climbing - thankfully .