Climbing Holds Grab Bag Sale & Climbing Walls Improvements

UPDATE 10/15/20 - CLIMBING HOLDS HAVE SOLD OUT. 

Over the past year, Mountaineers volunteers and staff have chipped in to help clean, update, and repair our various climbing structures at the Seattle Program Center. The goal of the ongoing project is to improve the safety of the climbing structures with safe, clear color coded routes. Additionally, we hope the improvements will facilitate better teaching with more anchor stations, cleaner climbing lines, and offer more technical routes. 

The recent route improvements came at little cost thanks to the generous donation of thousands of holds from Seattle Bouldering Project and the Stone Gardens climbing gyms. We're grateful for their partnership and support of our mission. 

As a result of our climbing wall revamp, we have a surplus of old and retired climbing holds. To continue to support The Mountaineers mission, we're offering "grab bags" of climbing holds for sale for $20 each. These holds are still functionally sound, but no longer match the majority of colors we have on hand, are smoother in texture, or sun bleached. Holds that are chipped, cracked, or rusted have been discarded.  We can't store them all, and hope to see these around our community in the coming years!

Climbing Holds "Grab Bag" Sale 

Surplus climbing holds are offered at $20 per tote bag during our Bookstore curb side pick-up hours. Holds are sorted in tote bags by color with an assortment of hand and foot holds. Use at your own risk. 

Sale Hours at The Seattle Program Center

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3pm-6pm

All purchases support The Mountaineers. 

Seattle Program Center Improvements

We've made improvements to all of our Seattle Program Center climbing walls, and are excited to see our community dive back into these routes when it's safe to do so. Please note that we're continuing to follow Safe-Start Washington guidelines, and as a result we can host limited gatherings inside the building, and the South Plaza climbing wall is closed by Seattle Parks and Recreation.

South Plaza Wall and Climbing Boulder

• Old holds have been removed and color coded routes are placed across the climbing structures. 
• Due to the expansion and contraction of the wall during daily warming, some holds may become loose during cooler evenings or after rain. All were placed this summer and we're working to re-tighten them in the cooler afternoons. Also, some holds are rusted in place and will require more work to repair. These rusted holds do not match the route color.

North Plaza

• Two new bolted sport routes with stainless steel chains and hangers have been installed on the North side of the North Plaza. A single hanger has been placed at the base as a belay anchor or for top-rope soloing.
• Each slab has 2 stainless steel ring  anchors installed.

Goodman C

• All the climbing holds have been removed and replaced with color coded routes. Each section has an easy route and a more difficult route.
• The center section below the rappel ledge has majority foot chips to prevent bouldering or leading in that area. Footholds provide stable footing for rappels and a line of hand holds are still in place for traversing the wall. 
• Large, bright holds have been placed at the top of the rappel ledge route to help climbers reach the rappel ledge. Two easy black routes have been added to each side of the rappel ledge for access.
• Hangers have been replaced or moved to provide consistent anchor teaching stations and lead routes.
• All top rope anchors feature two triple action lockers.
• The track lighting is LED, hopefully no more broiled climbers at the top of Goodman C!
• Color coded route tape has been removed.

Basement Climbing Wall

• New color coded climbing routes ranging from V0-V4.
• Easy routes leading up to each anchor station.
• Hangers have been replaced and/or moved to provide consistent anchor teaching stations and lead routes.

Additional Projects Going Forward

• Updated caution signage in the outdoor plazas.
• Update hanger colors for leading versus instructional use.
• More routes on the South Plaza wall and boulder.
• Rusted hold removal on South Plaza wall and boulder
• Structural rust repair to the South Plaza wall.
• New rappel anchors at the top of two remaining slabs in the North Plaza.
• North Roof rappel gates and railings mandated by Magnuson Park.
• Purchasing of mobile outdoor flood lights for use during evening night practice.

If you have suggestions for additional improvements, or if you're interested in getting more involved with this work, contact me at garretta@mountaineers.org.