Index Town Walls  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  47.8202, -121.556 Map Page Views:  319,063. Good page? (2 likes)    Administrators:  Jon Nelson, Peter Franzen, Kristine Hoffman, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Lizzy Trower on Jan 26, 2006 Make this area a Favorite What's New  Printer View Add Area  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event  Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun 57° | 45° 61° | 34° 63° | 39° 66° | 37° 66° | 45°

Godzilla.
Photo by Blitzo.

Description 

Index contains possibly Washington's best granite climbing. It definitely is the most accessible and has the most variety, with cracks, knobs, friction slabs, bucket hauls, and thin edging.

The main attraction of the area is the spectacular crack climbing on fine-grained granite (not as abrasive than J-Tree or Leavenworth), but there is also sport climbing and many aid routes. The routes range from shorter single-pitch routes to long 500'-high walls. Index is known for its hard climbing, but still has many climbs of 5.9 and lower. And a lot of the harder climbs have more moderate first pitches (see below for a partial list).

Although rain can be more of an issue here than on the east-side, some steep routes can still be done in the rain. Moreover, summer conditions are often ideal, with cool shady spots for midday climbing. As most cliffs are partly south-facing, one can also climb here in winter.

The small mountain town of Index, just below the cliffs on the Skykomish River, provides a picturesque place to relax and enjoy other things as well.

Getting There 

Drive east on Highway 2. Several miles past Goldbar and soon after crossing the Skykomish, turn left onto the road that leads to Index. After going under the railroad, turn left on the arch-style bridge over the North Fork of the Skykomish. Go straight past the general store and town park to the T intersection at the second stop sign. For the Lookout Point Area, park somewhere around here in town. For the other walls, go left past the Bush House, over the tracks through town, taking a right where the road hits another T. Continue along the shaded road, which parallels the river. About a hundred yards or so past the camping spot is the Lower Town Wall parking lot on the right. In another hundred yards or so is a pull-off on the left for the Lower Lump.

Seasonal falcon closure at the Upper Town Wall 

See image below.

Falcon closure. Submitted By: Jon Nelson on May 4, 2013

Camping 

Free and scenic camping exists just 100 yards or so towards town from the Lower Wall parking area. One can camp near the river or near their car.

Moderate Routes 

Though known as a place with only hard routes, Index has plenty of moderates (i.e., 5.9 or less). If you use the tool on the left side of this page, you can find over 50 full-length moderate routes. More exist in published guidebooks.

But in addition, quite a few of the harder multi-pitch routes have moderate first pitches. Some of these include

Lower Wall:
Sagittarius 5.9.
Tatoosh (original finish) 5.9.

Lookout Point Area:
Rattletale 5.9.
House of the Seventh Bobcat 5.9.

Upper Town Wall:
Davis-Holland 5.8.

Inner Walls:
Even Steven 5.8.

The Classics

Featured Route For Index Town Walls

Breakfast of Champions 5.10a  WA : Index Town Walls : ... : Great Northern Slab

This is the second pitch of Roger's Corner. Take the obvious handcrack next to the tree. Straightforward, fun jams. You'll wish this went on for another 150 feet. A bonus is that it stays dry in the rain. There is an anchor on the ledge above, and you can toprope Marginal Karma, the 11b immediately to the right, from those bolts. You can also approach this from the top of GNS if you don't want to go up Roger's....[more]   Browse More Classics in WA

Photos of Index Town Walls Slideshow

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Mt. Index. Photo by Blitzo.	Mt. Index. Photo by Blitzo.	This is Index!
rainy day at index	Walking the railroad tracks	Upper town wall just before the sport wall from th...
The top of upper town wall looking across to Mt.I...	Scenic and fun climbing at Lookout Point (start of...	Upper Town wall
The Golden Arch	January 2013 sunshine finally	Abraxas