Best time for Index

If I were to go to Index for a week or three, and I only have mid-June to mid-August available, when would be the best time to go, weather-wise?  The last time I was there in August, the heat and humidity had me drenched in sweat almost every day. Is June any better than July or August? Should I just deal and start training in the steam room now?

Yes.  Have considered a place called Squamish?  I've heard you can actually find shade there.

Its pretty hot all summer aside from some random nice overcast days. Typically people will just climb in the early AM or evening on routes that see daytime sun.

Index is either too hot or too wet much of the time. Best conditions are on windy and cloudy (but dry) days in spring/fall, or the mythical cold and sunny winter dry spell.  Summer is hot, and having to get up at 5 am for a hour of ok conditions, or wait all day for a hour of ok (still sweaty) conditions in the late evening, kinda sucks.

Index has some great climbing, but the conditions are unpredictable and hard to plan a trip around. The conditions factor is what prevents Index from being a destination. It really will always be just a great locals crag.

All that said, the best time for a visit is late September. Cooler but generally still dry. Within your timeframe, late June is marginally better than July/August. If you're lucky there will still be some cloudy days.

Really though, just go to Squamish. The summer conditions are way better. Or Washington Pass. 

I went in June and it rained for a solid week. 

If I had that amount of time I’d go to Squamish. 

If there’s a specific climb that is super high on your list at index plan to climb real early/late and siesta during the day. Also upper town wall cools off better than lower so idk about only one hour of good conditions like JCM was saying. If you’re psyched climb by headlamps they do it on el cap..

IJMayer wrote:

Also upper town wall cools off better than lower so idk about only one hour of good conditions like JCM was saying. 

Fair and true. I like to talk trash about Index so I'm prone to overstatement. Realistically the UTW can be decent something like 3 or 4 pm to dark. Still kind of annoying to work around. LTW stays hot longer. 

Go in August. If you look, you should have no trouble finding shade at Index. 

It may not have the onshore breeze and large body of water nearby as does Squamish, though some crags get a good upslope breeze in the afternoon. 

Some of the responses here are kind of mind boggling to me. I climb in Index all summer and there's almost never a point where we don't climb due to heat - outside of anomalous heat waves. Average high temps in the summer are in the 80s and there are plenty of spots to climb in the shade and there's a river nearby to cool off. If you can't handle a high of 84 degrees in the shade then yeah maybe don't go to Index in the summer.

Are you going to Redpoint your hardest grades in the middle of the day in the sun in August? Maybe not. But you can absolutely find something world class to climb in the shade at any point and personally I've found I can still climb pretty close to my hardest even in August. You just have to be willing to venture outside of the Lower Town Wall or UTW (scary I know).

I think it’s more that Squamish is simply the better option. Excluding the actual rock climbing,  squamish is a better hang, better rest day activities, better food, it’s colder, better swimming and has more options for everything. It’s simply the better destination.

Also I go to climbing destinations to do the classics, Ben’s comment implies that the classics (town walls) are not ideal in the summer, which everyone is saying.

Jamal M wrote:

Also I go to climbing destinations to do the classics, Ben’s comment implies that the classics (town walls) are not ideal in the summer, which everyone is saying.

Put another way: climbing moderates in sweaty conditions at the limited set of shady walls is a perfectly fine summer weekend entertainment for locals, but it isn't an experience I'd recommend road tripping great distances for.

Plus if you are limited to 5.10 anyway at Index (if it is too hot to try harder), Squamish would again be a better choice since it offers significantly more quality and quantity at that grade.

I mentioned it in passing above, but to return to it: Washington Pass is an awesome area that doesn't get the attention it deserves from out of state visitors. Better summer option than Index. Very different sort of climbing day, of course (cragging vs lite-alpine).

Washington in general feels like a better late summer/early fall ideal season. With your timeframe, I'd rather go earlier. Less fire potential, and still an okay time to bop over to Leavenworth for bouldering when it's rainy in Index.

If you can stand heat and/or hate bouldering, go as late as you can. I wouldn't go to index in August, but I can't climb hard and am a sweaty baby. Also, even got like 70% of average snowpack, so it's likely to be a wicked fire season.

Apologies to all, I was off my rocker. Ill amend my comments: Index is choss! All the Index classics are at the Town Walls! The shady options are limited! We only climb 5.10 from June to August! Don't come here! Go to Squamish!

Jamal M wrote:

I think it’s more that Squamish is simply the better option. Excluding the actual rock climbing,  squamish is a better hang, better rest day activities, better food, it’s colder, better swimming and has more options for everything. It’s simply the better destination.

100% this.  Index is a fine weekend crag for people who live in the area.  As somebody who does travel a lot for climbing, I can certainly say if I traveled to go to Index, I would be very disappointed. 

And yeah, you can pretty much climb there all summer as long aside from the occasional heat wave or when the smoke blows in.  But those are not super predictable in advance.

Jamal M wrote:

I think it’s more that Squamish is simply the better option. Excluding the actual rock climbing,  squamish is a better hang, better rest day activities, better food, it’s colder, better swimming and has more options for everything. It’s simply the better destination.

Also I go to climbing destinations to do the classics, Ben’s comment implies that the classics (town walls) are not ideal in the summer, which everyone is saying.

No way Squamish is a better hang than Index. I can agree with rest day activities but does it get better than free tent camping right on the Skykomish River?

I had no idea how contentious a topic this could become. I'd likely be mixing Index with Squamish on this trip... I was just hoping there was some secret weather beta about seasonal winds or lower humidity or something. Oh well, sounds like no such luck. Maybe I just had a particularly bad weather window, but even in the shade I had a hard time not soaking through my climbing shoes and turning into a chalk-covered prune. As far as the vibe of the two places, Index wins for me. I love the quaint, unpretentious feeling of the town and smaller scene, no highway/chainsaw noise (could do without the train I guess), river, etc. The fact that such a perfect crag exists in such a difficult climate, is, well... it's just not fair!

Brandon R wrote:

I had no idea how contentious a topic this could become. I'd likely be mixing Index with Squamish on this trip... I was just hoping there was some secret weather beta about seasonal winds or lower humidity or something. Oh well, sounds like no such luck. Maybe I just had a particularly bad weather window, but even in the shade I had a hard time not soaking through my climbing shoes and turning into a chalk-covered prune. As far as the vibe of the two places, Index wins for me. I love the quaint, unpretentious feeling of the town and smaller scene, no highway/chiansaw noise (could do without the train I guess), river, etc. The fact that such a perfect crag exists in such a difficult climate, is, well... it's just not fair!

Theres no Index without the train Brandon... You cant have one or the other..

Love this thread... As Ben said, Index is hot, sweaty choss!

If you have a car and the flexibility to escape to Washington Pass or Squamish then you can't really go wrong if you get hit by a heat wave, rain, or smoke. August is more likely to be smoky, especially given the low snow year we've had. June is more likely to have rainy spells, though it's an El Nino year so that might be less likely now. I would say late June till end of July to be safe. Tons of classic climbing to be done in the shade or at higher crags when it's hot out, and with long daylight hours you can still pack a full day of climbing into the afternoon.

According to the guidebook, Index grades are supposed to feel fair on a "crisp winter day". There was one this year. You missed it :(

On a more serious note, it's completely unpredictable in the range you have. Most major walls face South and are not fun in the summer sun. And a hot spell can happen any time, we practiced aid there in May and one weekend it was raining (I bailed), a few weeks later is was 90 degrees on UTW (I didn't bail but spent a lot of time kinda wishing I did). Free climbing would not be fun on either of these weekend... June is more likely to be less hot, but also more likely to be rainy.

Brandon R wrote:

I had no idea how contentious a topic this could become. I'd likely be mixing Index with Squamish on this trip... I was just hoping there was some secret weather beta about seasonal winds or lower humidity or something. Oh well, sounds like no such luck. Maybe I just had a particularly bad weather window, but even in the shade I had a hard time not soaking through my climbing shoes and turning into a chalk-covered prune. As far as the vibe of the two places, Index wins for me. I love the quaint, unpretentious feeling of the town and smaller scene, no highway/chiansaw noise (could do without the train I guess), river, etc. The fact that such a perfect crag exists in such a difficult climate, is, well... it's just not fair!

As a long-time Squamish local, I empathize with your feelings about changes to Squamish's vibe compared to what it used to be. However, there are pretty accessible quality crags which take you away from the noise of highway if you care to be adventurous, walk a bit, and are willing to do routes outside the top 100 list. 

Brandon R wrote:

I had no idea how contentious a topic this could become. I'd likely be mixing Index with Squamish on this trip... I was just hoping there was some secret weather beta about seasonal winds or lower humidity or something. Oh well, sounds like no such luck. Maybe I just had a particularly bad weather window, but even in the shade I had a hard time not soaking through my climbing shoes and turning into a chalk-covered prune. As far as the vibe of the two places, Index wins for me. I love the quaint, unpretentious feeling of the town and smaller scene, no highway/chiansaw noise (could do without the train I guess), river, etc. The fact that such a perfect crag exists in such a difficult climate, is, well... it's just not fair!

For those really hot days, Index now has a very cool route: 

https://www.mountainproject.com/route/124582826/traintruck 

I suggested August above because June can be rainy, whereas August never is. The upslope wind I mentioned is nice at the upper Lookout Point crags, and probably others nearby. The summer of 2021 was brutal, but other summers have seemed fine up there to me, particularly when I could get some midday shade. Planning around an early afternoon rest can help. 

Also, I haven't been to the Inner Walls in a long time--maybe they are a cool option in summer?  

Although a few people have mentioned smoke, I recall smoke only in 2022. Being on the west side of the crest I think makes it less smoky than places further east, such as Washington Pass.