CITY PARK (C1 or 5.13c) Index Town Walls, Washington        topo map

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Brian Scott makes a winter aid ascent of City Park

The first pitch of City Park ranks among the thinnest, steepest, most elegant thin cracks in Washington granite. The crack—a seam really—splits a slightly overhanging granite shield. It is one of the hardest free pitches in Washington, definitely the hardest crack climb in the state. Small wonder, since it’s vertical or overhanging in its entirety, on a mostly smooth wall, and the best jam you’ll find in its 120-foot length will accept barely more than your first knuckle. Luckily, the crack eats wired stoppers eagerly, making it a very popular clean aid pitch.

Of course, like all great Index free climbs, City Park began as an aid route. There is some question about when it was climbed. Most sources list City Park as having been climbed in 1966, by Roger Johnson and Richard Mathies, who climbed four pitches to the top of the Lower Wall.

Todd Skinner working out the moves on City Park

The first ascent party claims it named the route City Park to follow the Japanese Gardens motif. Regardless of when the first ascent was made, it is assured that the popularity of the first pitch as an aid climb was greatly increased by the pin scars, which allowed wired nuts to slot in all the way up the crack. The resulting damage from pin scars during the early 1970s, before clean climbing was wholly embraced, definitely made it possible for the crack to be free climbed. In 1986, Wyoming cowboy and notorious trickster Todd Skinner, after weeks of attempts, made a redpoint ascent of the pitch (all protection placed on lead during a continuous ascent from the ground with no falls) and established City Park’s first pitch as Washington’s hardest free climb. The story of Skinner’s ascent is nearly as classic as the route itself. Some doubt Skinner’s free ascent, and even discredit Hugh Herr’s free ascent because he didn’t have real feet. Truth be told by someone who was there, Skinner did free the pitch.

Hugh Herr during the second free ascent of City Park

The route is very straightforward. It begins with a short bolt ladder that goes free at 5.10b. The crack starts wide enough to take a #2.0 Friend, but soon thins down to wired-stopper size for the next 80 feet to the ledge. Some climbers new to aid climbing distrust their aid placements and put in too many pieces, then run out of gear and have to retreat. More experienced aid climbers often leapfrog gear, leaving in a piece every six to ten feet. The crack eats wired nuts, and nearly every placement is bomber. Bring a hammer or tool to remove nuts, which often get stuck in the crack.

Those who want to get a taste of free climbing City Park but aren’t up to a 5.13c finger crack can climb the first 20 feet of the crack then traverse left to the Bat Skins anchors. This variation (dubbed Skinhead Upstart) is 5.12b, with only about 15 feet of thin climbing. Also, the final 20 feet of the crack goes free at 5.11a, making for an exhilarating, airy finish to an otherwise aided ascent.


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