Smith Rock

Not us

We chose Smith Rock as the first destination on our trip because of its famed sport climbing. We wanted a place to climb a bunch of routes, get outrageously pumped, build up some muscle, and get our heads screwed on straight for the challenges of long multi-pitch trad climbing.  I also wanted to see some folks in spandex- Smith and spandex were becoming popular at around the same time in the 80's and the two were synonymous for a short while...

The view of the Front Side

We found Smith to be absolutely beautiful, but less desirable than anticipated for climbing.  The rock at the main areas of Smith is a volcanic ‘welded tuff,’ which makes for lots of knob climbing up delicate and balancy routes.  This type of climbing isinteresting and fun, but it was not the sport climbing of the Red River Gorge. No hugely overhung pocketed jug hauls. Many of the routes at Smith, at least the moderate ones, have a delicate style that blends together after a while. And we didn't see any spandex either!  For some reason a dozen or so young climbers choose to live at Smith, we could think of quite a few other places we’d rather dirtbag…  The best routes at Smith seem to be the very hard ones, like this route that pro climber Alex Honnold was attempting during our time there.

 East Face of the Monkey Face (5.13d)

Our favorite area in this famed sport cragging mecca was, in fact, the trad climbing of the Lower Gorge.  The Lower Gorge is made up of beautifully formed basalt columns, and the climbs follow the crack seams between the pillars.  We spent two days here exploring the lines up these pillars. 

Basalt pillars

In addition to climbing at Smith, we spent a wonderful rest day in Bend, 30 minutes south of Smith Rock.  Max went to a yoga class and relaxed in a coffee shop while I went mountain biking on the beautiful Phil’s Trails outside of the city with my friend Rachael.   She took me on some of the best trails I’ve ever seen!  That night we cooked up some delicious food and hung out with some great hosts in the city. 

Once we returned to Smith Rock the weather began to sour.  We settled for a half day of climbing before watching some amazing climbing shorts at the Reel Rock Film Tour. The Tour just happened to be rolling through Smith Rock as part of a bigger festival, the Smith Rock Detour.  Unseasonably heavy rain made the rest of the festival kind of a wash, but the movies, free food, and beer were great. 

Us and Rock

The wet weather motivated us to get on our way north a day earlier than anticipated, and we said goodbye to Smith Rock and hello to Rock, the trusty minivan.