ROB SMITH (foreground). works the belaying rope for his brother, Scott Smith, center, as he begins his assent of Town Wall in Index, one of the state's most popular climbing spots.  A climber on the next pitch over, top, checks his gear. The future of the wall is threatened as the owner considered selling the property to granite quarriers; climbers are trying to raise $115,000 to buy the property. PHOTO BY JIM SCOLMAN

Climbers struggle to save Index Town Wall from granite quarrying

BY POLLY KEARY, EDITOR

Granite is wonderful rock for rock climbers. It's rough enough to grip, forms cracks that are fun to ascend and is loaded with the natural features that make good hand and foot holds.

Too bad.

Because it's great for counter tops, too.

The rocks' value as building material nearly cost Pacific Northwest climbers one of their favorite climbing sites: the sheer, towering cliff behind the town of Index known as Town Wall.

The climbing season was just getting underway in March when climbers, eager to tackle the granite after a long winter, began to arrive at Town Wall only to find new No Trespassing signs in place. Alarmed, they quickly learned that the woman who actually owns the wall itself was considering selling the granite.

"She is a member of the family that used to quarry granite in the area," said Matt Perkins, secretary of Washington Climbers. "It's where the first curbstones in Seattle came from, and the steps to the capitol building."

The woman is no longer in the quarrying business, but still owned the 20 acres that includes Town Wall, and she told climbers she was considering selling the granite to another quarrying interest.

That was bad news for climbers.

Town Wall was first climbed in the 1960s and has been enormously popular ever since. On a warm summer day, as many or 50 cars can be found parked below the wall, as brightly clad climbers slowly wend their way up the sheer precipice.

The climbers approached the owner and asked what she wanted for the property. She quoted them $115,000, a figure Perkins thinks is a bit high, given that there is no access to the site, and it is not developable.

No matter; the climbing community bought an option to buy, bringing the No Trespassing signs temporarily down, and now has 18 months to raise the money to keep the site available to climbers.

Although fundraising efforts are still being organized, the prognosis is good. Two major climbing organizations, including the Access Fund and the American Alpine Club, have pledged support, as have individual climbing enthusiasts.

The climbers are going to have to raise more than just the price of the land, though.

For the decades, the use of Town Wall has been informal. Making it a formal recreation area will require a lot of permits and agreements with other interests, including Burlington Northern, the railroad that owns the tracks that climbers must cross to access the wall. There are several other landowners that own land the climbers use to access the site, too.

But Perkins says not only will the climbing community try to raise enough money for the land, the permits, and whatever access it needs, they will lso try to get enough for portable toilets and improved parking.

After that, they hope to gift the improved 20-acre site to Snohomish County Parks Department, who would maintain it from that point forward.

He also said the town of Index has been very supportive. Not surprising, given that town residents recently raised millions to buy land that was slated for logging. That land forms a backdrop for the town and would have been a blow to the town's remarkable scenic beauty.

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