After being told about the horrors of rock quality at Smith Rock, I first thought it might be a gross exaggeration to even call it rock. The rock in the main part of the park is commonly referred to as "welded tuff" which doesn't exactly conjure thoughts of beautiful rock suited for climbing. From wikipedia, Tuff (from the Italian tufo) is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption... sounds like great climbing to me...
When I arrived on Halloween day this year not only was I completely blown away by the beauty of the park, but the climbing was fantastic. Don't get me wrong, it took a little getting used to the sometimes crumbly, sometimes knobby, sometimes dirty cliffs of Smith Rock, but the climbing is as advertised: world class. Thin, balancy, technical, thuggy, and crimpy are all adjectives that describe the classic climbs at Smith. And that's exactly why it's so much fun! Here are a few pics from my trip:
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| The Crooked River curves by the Monkey's Face and the Smith Rocks Group. |
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| Cattle and horses graze in the pastures on Smith's outskirts. |
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| Topping out on Wherever I May Roam, 5 pitches of 5.9 sport climbing. |
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| The glassy Crooked River reflects Shiprock on the east side of the park. |
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| Smith's dramatic skyline at Sunset. The Smith Rock Group, Asterisk Pass and Shiprock loom above the glitter of the Crooked River. |
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| The Asterisk presides over a beautiful Oregon sunset. |
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| An old farm in Terrebonne with an amazing view of the Sisters. |
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| Dustin Hardgrove leading a crack in the Dihedrals area. |
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| Looking down from the first pitch of Wherever I May Roam. |
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| Molly Moonbeam leading an interesting crack. |
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