The classic Heel Hook Problem at Swiftwater.

Swiftwater is a small roadside picnic area just off of US Highway 2 near the upper end of Tumwater Canyon. Most sources list it as "Swiftwater," but the forest service sign says "Swift Water." Whatever. This picnic area is of interest to climbers because of the assorted granite boulders scattered on either side of the highway. There are many very popular boulder problems here, some of the best in the area. Given its accessibility and the quality of the problems, this ranks as one of the finest bouldering venues in the state. Other Leavenworth areas have as good or better problems, but not so close to the road and in such high concentration. For climbers coming over from the west side, Swift Water is a good place to stop, stretch out, and do a few boulder problems to warm up for the day's climbing. There's also a toilet here, another reason this is such a popular stop.

Please be careful when crossing the highway to get to Royal Flush and the other problems there. Cars speeding around the curve can sneak up on you. Look both ways and cross carefully.

To see a topo of Swiftwater boulder problems, click here. Thanks to Brian Chase for providing the topo and information, photos, and video of some of the Swift Water boulder problems.

This is the big boulder on the downstream side of the parking lot, presenting an overhanging face on the river side. It has several of the best face problems at Swiftwater.

• 1. Cranky (V0+) * Crank up sloping face holds on the far left side of the overhang, closest to the parking lot. Variations are possible.
• 2. Slap and Dangle (V4) *** Jump up to the only good hold on the route, a horizontal finger hold, then slap and dangle your way straight up the improbable slab above.
• 3. Leap of Faith (V0+) *** An excellent problem on the right side of the overhang. The first move requires a leap or cheat stone for height-challenged climbers.
• 4. Traverse (V2) ** Traverse rightward from the first hold on Slap and Dangle to join Leap of Faith.
• 5. Mantle (V0-) * Farther around the corner to the right are a few more problems, including this face problem just left of an arete.
• 6. Flying Naked (V5) * Palm up the arete on the overhanging side and lunge for the top. A sit-down start variation is V7.
• 7. Flying Blind (V6) Climb the face up to and over the lip just right of the apex of the aretes and finish via a nasty sloping mantle. A bit contrived. Alert spotter recommended.
• 8. Arete (V0) Palm up the easier arete around the corner to the right.

This is a large flat boulder located on the upstream side of the parking lot, about 50 feet left of and back from the toilet. It has a popular heel hook problem that is visible from the toilet, and a few other good problems.

• 9. The Heel-Hook Problem (V0) *** A Swiftwater classic. Start sitting down and climb up and over the bulge. A V6 variant starts on the matched lowest obvious small edge for hands; even more contrived, but more powerful.
• 10. Heel-Hook Eliminate (V3) * Climb directly up the face, eliminating the big holds on the left and without any heel hooking, and mantel directly over the bulge. Contrived, but interesting.
• 11. Quartz Crack (VB) Hand traverse up the quartz infested flake around to the left from the heel-hook problem, or do a reach problem from the crack directly up to the top of the boulder.
• 12. Rugosity (V6) *** Just left of the quartz crack is a blank face with one very small crystal nubbin high up. Climb this face making the best you can of the tiny, painful hold.
• 13. Left Arete (V0) * On the far left side of the boulder is a steep face with few holds. Climb the face or the arete just left. Can be varied.

Cave Traverse, Swiftwater.

This boulder is located just behind and to the right of the toilet. It has an obvious cave. The rock is friable metamorphic choss, but there are a couple of good problems.

• 14. High Traverse (V0) ** A face traverse across the cave. Great for laps.
• 15. Low Traverse (V2) ** Traverse the smaller holds lower down. Contrived but fun.
• 16. Up and Over (V0) * Climb up and out of the cave on the far left side. Maybe a little loose at the top.
• 17. Over and Out (V1 R) Climb up and out of the cave on the right side. Dangerously loose rock near the top. Be careful!

These boulders are located on the other side of the highway. A trail begins directly across the highway from the parking lot. Another trail begins from the big cave down the trail from the heel-hook boulder. Look both ways and cross carefully! There are a lot more problems over here. There are a lot of good problems over there; I'll add some more after I take a refresher course this spring.

• 18. Gripper (V0)
• 19. Heavy Petting Zoo (V8) *** Someone says this is the best boulder problem in Leavenworth. Click on the link to see it done.
• 20. Hairline (V1)
• 21. Weenie in the Bunnish (V5)
• 22. Dirty Britches (V0)
• 23. Bangalore Torpedo (V8) * A sit-down start problem.
• 24. Royal Flush (V1) **** The obvious roof crack in the big boulder overlooking the highway. Just like J.T.'s "More Monkey Than Funky," but shorter.
• 25. Joker's Wild (V3) *** The imposing, technically troublesome face problem just left of Royal Flush.
• 26. Footless Traverse (V6) *** A long, pumping, technical face traverse on the uproad side of the huge boulder just left of Royal Flush. Good luck!
• 27. Heaviness of the Load (V10) A two-move problem establishing on underclings then slapping for a crack, matching, then jumping off.