elwha update

[old 5.9]

Out here on the peninsula a few of us wanted a place where we could conveniently climb some fairly hard shit on a regular basis. Thus the Elwha wall was brought into service. We would go out and spend days hanging on fixed ropes, trundling death blocks, scraping and scrubbing off moss and dirt, tearing up shrubbery and installing protection, all in the spirit of creating Port Angeles’s next dick wrenching mega classic. We were, I think successful in creating a few classics but of course not everything pans out and we created some duds too. All in all we did create a climbing area worth visiting and after being featured in the latest Olympic Mountains climbing guide has become a fairly popular stop in.

 

Other than myself there is only 1 other person that I’d call a regular climber in town, so I personally like that more people are visiting, it makes for a more regular climbing scene. Along with the new visitors there apparently have been a few (1 or 2) who feel it is ok to steal the fixed draws and slings off of a few of the hard routes. Granted Leave it to Cleaver does not see many ascents it did, however see quite a few attempts and the fact that you used to be able to bail after the first three clips by simply lowering off of stuff already in place encouraged folks to try it. I guess no more. The other routes affected by the thievery are done pretty frequently so fixed stuff will probably reappear at the tough clips. If ya took this stuff just return it and all is forgiven if not probably best you don’t come back.

 

To the rest of ya welcome, and for those that want to come and weren’t quite sure how to get there now that the dam is gone here’s the beans:

 

Park at the adventure trail trailhead just west of the Elwha Bridge on 112 and follow the trail to the powerline corridor go left down the corridor almost to last set of poles on this side of the river. Go right on a trail with no orv sign follow trail to trees with dayglo orange RP painted on them 50 feet or so past this look for a climbers trail branching of left and follow it down to the crag.

 

[JeffreyR]

How accurate/up to date would you say the Oly Climbing Guide route descriptions are? I have been meaning to get up there to check it out some time.

[Drederek]

My experience a couple years ago was that the guidebook descriptions were fair to good. It wasn't easy to get located and we warmed up on an easy climb that wandered a bit and I ended up on a neglected route. The good climbs are definitely worth seeking out, just be ready to bail if you wind up on something nasty. And don't miss turning left down the powerline on the way in.