Toxic Shock Area, 5.7-5.9

    Gear Used:
  • 60 meter rope
  • gear to 4 inches
  • slings
September 9, 2008

The Drive

The lower slabs of Index probably have the easiest approach of any climbing area in Washington. It's a quick 45 minute drive from Seattle on HWY 2. Cross the tracks and take the left fork so you are hiking west. It's about a 15 minute hike to the Toxic Shock area.

Corner Flash, 5.7*

Index
Corner Flash, 5.7*.

The hike into this area was a pleasant surprise. Your deep in a lush forest surrounded by granite walls. A very beautiful and relaxing place! We started off with Corner Flash which is located on the opposite wall that Toxic Shock is on. We thought that this would be a great warm-up for the harder routes we were planning. Although rated easier it;s a pretty fat crack that can take up to a #3.5 BD cam and maybe even a #4! I found myself doing the thrutching dance up this somewhat strenuous crack. It was still a fun crack though with bolts at the top for an easy rappel.

Index
Dylan struggling in the wide Corner Flash.

Twin Cracks Variation, 5.8**

This pair of wide hand cracks were just awesome! At times I couldn't really decide which crack I wanted to be in so I would just bear hug into them both! It was real fun with some good rock. It was defiantly a little wide near the middle which was probably the crux for me. I topped out on the pillar top and belayed Dylan up.

Index
Dylan low on the twin cracks.

Toxic Shock, 5.9***

Pitch 2

We climbed the second pitch of Toxic Shock next since we were already up there. This splitter crack is just amazing! It was hard to stop off of the pillar and get into the crack but once you are in the crack it is just amazing jams to the top! I tried to stay just in the crack without stemming on the adjacent wall but found myself needing the great rests from stemming.

Index
Dylan on the lower part of the crack.
Index
Dylan cheating a bit by using the corner.

We rapped to the ground with a single 60 meter and found that we still had time to try the first pitch of Toxic Shock.

Toxic Shock, 5.9***

Pitch 1

The first pitch of Toxic Shock is a strenuous but short layback. I was actually worried about leading this because of the blind placements that a layback require. I only had to fiddle with gear for a little bit before I found the correct size that I needed and moved on to the easier upper section. Not as fun as pitch 2 but still a good climb.

Pictures didn't turn out very good because of the shaded and dark nature of this area. Sorry.

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