Climbers purchase 20 acres of famed climbing walls in Index
INDEX — Washington climbers have acquired a 20-acre parcel of granite walls in Index, helping permanently protect part of Washington’s renowned training ground for rock climbing.
On Monday, the Washington Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund, a national climbing conservation group, announced it had acquired the parcel in Snohomish County. It includes part of the Lower Lump and Inner Walls areas and was purchased from a private landowner who for years had given climbers implicit permission to use the area.
These hunks of rock along U.S. 2 in the Cascade foothills are home to some 30 routes, including many of the more moderate climbs in the notoriously challenging destination. They will now remain climber-friendly in perpetuity as the new owners intend to donate the land to the state for inclusion in Forks of the Sky State Park.
This outcome would repeat the groups’ successful acquisition and donation of Index’s Lower Town Wall in 2010, avoiding a potential quarry. It was later christened the Stimson Bullitt Climbing Reserve after the noted Seattle broadcasting executive who climbed Index rock walls into his 80s.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/climbers-purchase-20-acres-of-famed-climbing-walls-in-index/