Climbing the Inland Northwest from inside out
By JP Vallières
Cover photo courtesy of Angus Meredith
In my 20s, I’d drive a full hour on a gridlocked Long Island Expressway to rock climb. In a gym. On the long, rude drive (full of honking and middle fingers) I’d dream of someday living in distant cities that were near crags: Salt Lake City, Boulder . . . Spokane.
Eventually, through determination and youthful recklessness, I headed west to live in a place I’d never visited. I’ll never forget witnessing all those mountains, the wild spaces, seemingly endless opportunities for adventure. Before that moment, I figured all those pictures in the magazines were lies. That was the only way I could rationalize the unimaginable beauty I was missing out on. Suffice it to say, these last 14 years, I have been climbing in the gyms and outdoors around Spokane.
At first, I didn’t know where to begin. Climbing is weird like that. Sure, you can buy the guidebook, but often the guidebook gives you just enough information to get you lost, down some herd path, forever. The most reasonable option was to head to the local gym. It’s the best place to meet people who know when to bang a right at the pile of moose scat followed by a left where the granite’s shaped like a tea kettle. You follow them, and eventually, you’re the experienced one, knowing exactly where the best climbs are.
In the Inland Northwest we have three great public gyms: Coeur Climbing Company, Wild Walls, and Bloc Yard as well as the non-profit Sandpoint Rock Gym open to gym members. These places are packed with people who want to tell you everything they know about the sport, even if you didn’t ask.
Inland Northwest Gym to Crag Climbing Courses
If you’re into a more structured approach on how to climb in the outdoors, check out Coeur Climbing Company’s first-ever Gym to Crag Climbing Course. Once you know basic climbing skills, learned from the Intro to Rock Climbing Course, you will plunge into a four-day accelerated path that will teach you everything you need to know. The skills, techniques, all the gear, and the cool climber lingo: gaston, dyno, crimp, sloper. And how to stay safe while having the best time of your life.
Spokane Mountaineers Rock School has a similar annual course, where you’ll be trained in the basics and instructed by topnotch climbers who have been doing this longer than any multipitch route in Leavenworth. Meaning, you learn from them, and then you’re set free to climb the remainder of your days. Consider it the deal of a lifetime.
Gearing Up for Outdoor Climbing
These courses will lead you into three potential styles of climbing: bouldering, sport climbing, and traditional climbing. For all three, you’ll need a pair of climbing shoes. Get a good tight fit, like a small glove that eventually stretches. Second, chalk and a chalk bag. Now you’re set up for (arguably) the purest form: bouldering. Think of bouldering as climbing to a reasonable height, until you either get to the top or fall on your friend’s cushy “crash pad.” I can’t tell you how many climbers start off with the goal of scaling Everest but decide, after a few weeks, to stick to bouldering. It’s just that much fun.
But for others, there’s still the lure of great heights. These folks need more gear. Harness, helmet, and a trusted climbing partner. Between the two of you, a dynamic rope, various cords / webbings, and a plethora of hardware will get you safely up any local climbing route. It might seem like a lot, at first, but you don’t need every piece of gear right away. Climbers are great at sharing, as long as you repay the favor with a future belay.
Most people I meet in the gym are total newbs, buying their first pair of climbing shoes, a chalk bag, and just bumming around. Climbing is a very social sport, attracting all personalities, even those who claim to be antisocial. We all hang out between climbs and sit around and talk. Everyone has something to say, because we’re so happy to be here. At some point, we make plans to climb outside.
We check the weather report and meet up on the day it’s dry and cool. After the hike in, we climb something easy, an established route, one we’ve all done before. Once we’re warm and ready, we look to test ourselves on the route we’ve been dreaming about for weeks, months, maybe years. We’re wondering if all that time in the gym has prepared our forearms for the real thing. We look at each other and ask, “So, who wants to lead?” Everyone wants to, even if we’re afraid to admit this thing we do is a little crazy.
Humans weren’t meant to live so high up, right? But honestly, the best thing about climbing, the thing that makes us return to the crag every week, is once we grab that first hold, all life’s distractions fade away. There’s no social media or suffering economy or gridlocked traffic. Nothing left to do, nothing left to think, but climb.
JP Vallières is the author of the novel, “The Ketchup Factory: a love story.” You can find him climbing at Q’emiln Park in Post Falls.
