Mountaineers Forums

Hi Climbers,

I'm living in Munich, Germany and I am eventually going to move to Seattle next year.
I'm interested in getting general information about the climbing possibilities around Seattle.

Some information about me: I like sports climbing (bolted routes) for training purposes and I love to climb multi-pitch routes.
In trad routes or I'd say I can climb up to a 6a (max.) (french system) safely, in bolted routes I usually could climb a 6b (max) as leader. So let's say in general I could safely climb a 5.10a.
Top Rope I can climb around 6c/7a.

I'm used to climb in limestone and dolomite here in Europe but I also spent already some time on the granite of California (Joshua Tree, Tahquitz, Toulumne Meadows).

I would like to know the follwong things and I would be happy if you could help me: 

How far is the next climbing crack for sports climbing (=single pitch)?

How far do you have to drive to do multipitch-climbing?

How about the protection situation?
Are the bolted routes or only/ mainly trad climbing routes (means, you have to put the pro yourself)? 

What are the best climbing gyms in Seattle? 

What are the best guide-books for the region around Seattle? 

Thank you so much in advance for your answers!!!

 Greetings from Munich!

caroline
 

Hi Caroline,

caroline:

How far is the next climbing crack for sports climbing (single pitch)?  How far do you have to drive to do multipitch-climbing? How about the protection situation?
Are the bolted routes or only/ mainly trad climbing routes (means, you have to put the pro yourself)? 

The nearest crack climbing is a place called Index, which is about an hour from Seattle.  Here there is single pitch and multi-pitch trad climbing with some sport climbing.  The nearest single pitch bolted sport climbing are a couple collections of crags called Exit 32 and Exit 38 which are about 45 minutes from Seattle.  Leavenworth is two hours away and has a good variety of climbing.  In Seattle, having a car (or friends with cars) is pretty much a requirement.

Here's a quick overview of rock climbing in Washington:

http://www.washingtonclimbers.org/Climbing/

caroline:

What are the best climbing gyms in Seattle? 

There are three commercial climbing gyms in Seattle. Two are run by a company called Vertical World and the third is called Stone Gardens.  Vertical World typically has better top-roped climbing and Stone Gardens has more space for bouldering.  Your choice.

http://www.verticalworld.com/

http://www.stonegardens.com/

If you're coming to work at the University of Washington, they have a great gym on campus.

caroline:

What are the best guide-books for the region around Seattle? 

Because there are so many climbing areas, the is not one best guide book.  "Weekend Rock" is a good overview, though.

http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=665

caroline:

Thank you so much in advance for your answers!!!

Greetings from Munich!

Hey, if you get the chance, say hello to Daniel.

http://danielarndt.com/article/108/About_Me

 - Tom

Hey Tom,

Thank you very much for you answer! I'm happy about this amount of climbing spots next to Seattle, that  really sounds great to me, juhu!

Funny, the climbing world is really small. So I won't have to tell you about the climbing spots in Euope any more ... ;) 

Bye,
caroline