Where it All Began

These six crags shaped American rock climbing and are still amazing destinations today.

When Climbing began publishing in 1970, the majority of climbers aspired to do big walls and Himalayan mountains. Short rock climbs were regarded mostly as practice for bigger things. But, over the next few decades, as this magazine reported, issue after issue, American climbing changed profoundly. Free climbing, bouldering, and eventually sport climbing shook the sport’s tweedy foundations and revealed a new emphasis on athleticism, an explosion of route development, and the recognition that rock climbing should be mostly about having fun. The six major cragging areas explored in the following pages each played huge roles in this transition. And each remains a place that every climber must visit.

Smith Rock, Oregon

Call it the birthplace of American sport climbing, home to the States’ first 5.14, or an international playground—whichever description you choose, you’d be correct. No crag had more influence on U.S. rock climbing in the 1980s than the volcanic (welded tuff) spires of Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon. Climbing at Smith has been recorded as early as the mid-1930s, and the various pinnacles and obvious crack climbs were bagged by Pacific Northwest climbers from the 1940s through the ’70s. “It was a classic local crag. Nobody really came from out of state to visit,” says Alan Watts, the prolific Smith developer and guidebook author. A 1982 Climbing article mentioned Smith’s shift from aid climbing to free climbing, but the most significant changes had just begun. A group of students from the University of Oregon, about two and a half hours away, began frequenting Smith every weekend, Watts says. “We were pushing each other, and once we had done all the existing climbs, we had to find something else to do,” he explains. “There weren’t many cracks left, but there were so many beautiful faces and arêtes.”

The problem was lack of protection, and rather than run it out, Watts began experimenting with rappelling down potential climbs, cleaning loose rock, and hand-drilling a few protection bolts. “It was a big shift, putting up the bolts and making the routes as hard as we possibly could,” says Watts. “We were just trying to raise the standard.” Unlike places like Yosemite Valley and Joshua Tree, where rap bolting had a stigma that led to controversy and even violence, sport climbing was quickly accepted at Smith, mainly because of the area’s isolation. By the mid-1980s, there were dozens of 5.12 and 5.13 routes at Smith, including many that remain popular classics today.

The years 1985 and 1986 brought two breakthroughs: Watts free-climbed the full East Face of Monkey Face at 5.13d, then probably the hardest rock climb in North America, and visiting Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Tribout established To Bolt or Not to Be, America’s first 5.14. “Eventually, people just had to take notice because the climbs were much harder,” says Watts. “It was becoming clear that sport climbing was becoming a whole new branch of the sport. Smith is where sport climbing, in the U.S., really started to thrive.”

By the late 1980s and early ’90s, other major sport climbing areas began to surface, including Rifle in Colorado and American Fork in Utah. “The people that developed Rifle came to Smith Rock, saw what was going on there, and took those tactics back home,” Watts says.

Today, more than 1,800 routes line the park’s walls. The majority of visiting climbers gun for the many fun moderate routes, but hardcore climbers still trek to Smith to push themselves on the time-tested classics of To Bolt and Just Do It, the 5.14c Tribout put up in 1992. “There’s something about the park,” says Ian Caldwell, one of today’s leading activists. “It’s a very scenic place to be, and there are really beautiful faces. Smith is really friendly to climbers of all abilities.” In fact, the lion’s share of the development over the last 10 to 15 years has been in the 5.8 to 5.11 range. As for those cutting-edge 1980s routes, Watts says, “The climbs have really stood the test of time. Smith Rock will never fade away.”

MUST-DO CLASSICS
Moonshine Dihedral (5.9), The Dihedrals
Light on the Path (5.9), Morning Glory Wall
Karate Crack (5.10a), The Dihedrals
Overboard (5.11c), Morning Glory
Magic Light (5.12b), Morning Glory
Heinous Cling (5.12c), The Dihedrals
Churning in the Wake (5.13a), Morning Glory
White Wedding (5.13d), Aggro Gully
Scarface (5.14a), The Christian Brothers

MUST-DO RECENT ROUTES
Honey Pot (5.9), Picnic Lunch Wall
The Outsiders (5.9), Morning Glory
Nine Gallon Buckets (5.10c), Morning Glory
Heresy (5.11c), The Christian Brothers
Blackened (5.11d), East Face
Tsunami (5.12c), Shipwreck Wall
Lucky Pigeon (5.13c), Aggro Gully

Guidebook
Rock Climbing Smith Rock State Park, 2nd Edition, by Alan Watts; smithrock.com

From the Mag: Climbing 100, February 1987
The “curious name [To Bolt or Not to Be] is intended as a statement. Tribout feels that without the opportunity rappel-placed bolts offer, his climbing skills would never have developed as they have... Smith Rock is perhaps the only major climbing area in the U.S. where, without exception, all leading locals firmly embrace the tactics of hangdogging and bolting on rappel. With no time wasted on ethical squabbles, the locals are able to devote full attention toward raising the area’s standards.” —Alan Watts