located all over the Methow and Chewuch drainages. The result, according to Sid Pattison, is “improbably good climbing” and a remarkably open and rapidly growing community of climbers. Speaking from his shoe repair shop in downtown Winthrop, Pattison recalls that when he first arrived in the valley, “people only climbed here if they had been weathered out of the mountains. Now people come here specifically to climb in the valley and if they have some time left over go up to climb at Washington Pass.” It is a change that reflects other evolutions in the sport as well. Over the last 30 years, as year-round training, bolted routes, better gear, and densely informative guidebooks have removed much of the mystique that once marginalized climbing (and climbers), that space has been filled by a community within the sport that is both broader and more inclusive.
“I love having a growing community of folks to go out with,” Sol Gutierrez of Mazama explains. “Especially other women. It’s inspiring for me.” That’s a sentiment shared by Tiffany Vidal of Twisp. “Sometimes it can take quite a while to find people who you are psyched to climb [with],” she says. But not here. “It has been really cool to find a strong climbing community in the valley,” Vidal says. “I really appreciate the amazing people that are part of [it].” Tom Smith, also of Twisp, has even opened a Facebook page to help connect valley climbers with each other and to provide route information.
An expanding scene Looking ahead, there is very little reason to believe the numbers of people coming to live and climb in the Methow will do anything but grow. Local rumor insists
that Burdo will be back in the valley this summer putting up even more routes and finishing work on a muchanticipated second edition of his out-of-print guidebook. Likewise, after a year of working through financial issues related to a change in its national structure, Outward Bound’s Mazama base will once again be open and introducing scores of new climbers to both climbing and the local mountains. Photo by Ashley Lodato But perhaps the biggest factor in growing this It’s never too early to begin scaling the rock. community is what has not1 changed. Ms. Kitty’s place 1 “What I value most 2 Ms. Kitty’s place about climbing,” as Pattison put it, “is its ability OLD time phOtO to center me. To help me parLOr find my equilibrium.” Or, ‘Create A Memory’ as Vidal describes it, “when Kitty Nelson Kitty Nelson Fun For The you overcome your fear Owner Owner to accomplish something Whole Family challenging, it just feels 229 C Riverside Ave. 229 C Riverside Ave. incredible.” Winthrop, WA. 98862 Drop-ins Welcome Winthrop, WA. 98862 For whatever else we (509) 996- 9912 take up onto the walls of (509) 996-Riverside 9912 245-A Avenue Washington Pass, or the Downtown Winthrop (509) 996-9912 Methow, or the Chewuch, 3 4 the one constant is ourOLD time phOtO parLOr selves. Climbing never lies. It is always the truth. It is 3 an honest broker – a mirror OLD time phOtO Kitty NelsonparLOr that embraces our wildest Owner dreams without criticism and yet never fails to reflect Kitty Nelson our greatest fears, our most 229 C Riverside Ave. Winthrop, WA. 98862 Owner burning wants, our most stinging limitations and our (509) 996- 9912 most profound capabilities. “Part of what I love 229 C Riverside Ave. about climbing,” Gutierrez 6 Winthrop, WA. 98862Ms. Kitty’s place 5 told me, “is that it feels good (509) 996- 9912 to look back and acknowlOLD time phOtO edge my growth and laugh parLOr at myself.” Or, as Cory Richards so succinctly described Kitty Kitty’s Nelson place verythingMs. it, “Climbing is like love.5 of e Owner t i b We endure pain for the joy le that comes with discovering 229 C Riverside Ave. tt i l Winthrop, WA. 98862 ourselves.” And who wouldn’t want (509) 996- 9912 a part of that? So while climbing the Kitty Nelson east face of Liberty Bell Owner might make very little practical sense, there just may not 229 C Riverside Ave. be any more useful primer Winthrop, WA. 98862 for life or for forming a community of friends. a 996- 9912 open daily(509) 7am-6pm
OLD time phOtO parLOr
Ms. Kitty’s place
Ms. Kitty’s place
Deliciously fresh and homemade
.
Photo by Ashley Lodato
A full range of climbing challenges can be found in and around the Methow Valley.
Geof Childs is an accomplished climber and author of Stone Palaces, a collection of climbing-related stories.
OLD time phOtO parLOr .. od go
...A
The mAzAmA sTore
50 lost river rd mazama, WA 996-2855 Methow Valley Summer 23