Rock climbing options aplenty in the state | Outdoors

Chris Horel stands on top of a cliff with a strand of webbing as the only thing keeping him from an 80-foot plunge.

He’s been climbing the cliffs at the Deception Crags for more than seven hours and is working to “clean” (remove the gear from) the last climb of the day. Clouds moved in overhead, raindrops hit the ground, and rolling thunder chased lightning bolts across the alpine forests of North Bend.

While anchored to the rock, Horel moves quickly but precisely to untie himself from the rope, run it through a set of chains and tie himself back in. This is his first time cleaning a route, and if his hands slip and drop the rope, he’ll be in serious trouble. But he clears the gear off of the anchors, runs the rope through without dropping it, and signals his belayer that he’s ready to be lowered off the wall.

Later, while talking over some post-climb beers, his only summary of the experience is that he “can’t wait to do it again.”

It was Horel’s first day climbing outdoors, but he’s fallen in love with the sport since he got involved in it a year ago. He started climbing in rock gyms and after meeting several co-workers who climbed, he got his first taste of outdoor rock Aug. 12.

Climbing is a sport that can be done at any time, outdoors during the summer and inside at a rock gym in the winter months. It’s accessible to almost anyone; whether you’re 80 pounds or 280 pounds, you can get into rock climbing.

People climb for many reasons; some for the adrenaline rush, some do it to challenge themselves, and some do it to prepare for more intense expeditions. But every reason has the persistent theme of the activity’s immersion.

Brandon Blackford, a U.S. Navy officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, says that there are few extreme sports that get you as close in touch with nature as climbing does. He says that while sports like skydiving or scuba diving are edgy and fun, they don’t rely on the terrain like climbing does.

Other climbers, such as Saeto Beaucher, who works at the Stone Gardens gym in Bellevue and has been climbing for two years, says that climbing is a mental exercise. To him, climbing is about how to use his arms and legs to climb a surface. “Figuring out how I can use my body to solve these puzzles, it’s awesome,” he says.

Rock climbing is generally divided into two types: indoor gym and rock walls or outdoor climbing at parks or whatever can be found to climb on. While many climbers like to start in gyms, as soon as they move to “real rock,” they find it hard to go back indoors.

Climbers use ropes, harnesses and specialized shoes, among other tools for climbing, and to novice climbers, the startup costs can seem overwhelming. But while shoes, harnesses and rope are worthwhile investment, they aren’t necessary to get started in climbing. Instead of buying everything at once, most climbers recommend picking it up in pieces, starting with a solid pair of climbing shoes.

While there are countless varieties of shoes, climber Bryan Pelach says to buy a cheaper shoe. “When you start out, you’re not gonna know the difference,” he says. Beaucher recommends buying something in the $75 price range. Shoes should fit your feet snugly, often sized down a half or full size from the climbers regular shoe size. Also, few climbers go to a wall without “chalk,” a magnesium carbonate powder that keeps the hands dry and improves grip, usually kept in a chalk bag.

Now that you’ve got some basic gear, it’s time to find a place to climb. There are countless areas to climb in Washington, from gyms to outdoor sites. A good place to start, most climbers say, is in a gym that offers rock climbing. For about $120 to $150 new climbers can get a pair of shoes and a gym membership, and everything else is available to rent or use at the gym, including harnesses and ropes.

The Seattle-area gyms with rock climbing include the Stone Gardens gyms in Ballard and Bellevue, Vertical World in Lawton Park and Redmond, and the Seattle Bouldering Project in the Atlantic district. For those closer to Tacoma, they can go to Climb Tacoma or Edgeworks.