Index Summer
Climbing Series
Summer 2025
Weekday evening climbing at the Index Town Walls all summer long!
Do you want to work on crack and trad climbing skills at the best crag in the universe? Build community with other women and non-binary climbers? Are you local to Northwest Washington? Join local guides Katie Griffith and Bennett Rahn for the Index Summer Climbing Series THIS summer on Tuesday evenings*!
The program in a nutshell:
Climbing sessions every other Tuesday evening from 4-8:30pm
Dates: June 17th, July 1st, July 15th, July 29th, August 12th, & August 26th (August 19th is a back-up weather day)
5:1 max climber to instructor ratio
Focus on crack technique, slab technique, and leading trad
Cost: $675 for all six sessions
Program run in collaboration with our friends at The Climbing School
Who is this for?
Local Climbers: This series is designed for folks who call Index a local crag, because we’ll meet after work on weekday evenings throughout the summer. This program is a great way to meet other local climbers and find new climbing partners!
Women and non-binary folks: This program is for anyone who identifies as a woman (cis and trans) or non-binary. Instructors at this time are cis-gender women, both queer and straight, who are committed to creating welcoming spaces in the outdoors. They’re happy to talk with prospective participants about what to expect in this space.
What’s included?
Instruction covering crack technique, leading trad, trad anchors, and other climbing skills prioritized by the group
Ropes, anchoring material, trad gear*, belay devices
*Instructor will supply a double rack to share, but students are welcome to bring their own trad gear as well
Climber Prerequisites
This program is designed to help intermediate climbers gain confidence with slab and crack climbing skills and leading traditional rock climbs. Participants will get the most out of the series if they are able to*:
Top-rope 5.9 in the gym without falling or taking
Tie in with a figure-8 follow through and top-rope belay
Experience leading sport climbs helpful but not required
*If you’re curious about this program but not sure if it’s a good fit, please reach out! We’re always happy to answer questions.
What’s not included?
Transportation to Index, WA
Personal climbing equipment (helmet, harness, shoes)
Lodging or camping
Guide gratuity
Curriculum Details:
Index is the best classroom in Washington to work on crack technique, slab climbing, and trad leading! There is some flexibility in the overall flow of the program, but these skills will be our main focus. If there’s group interest, we may include anchor building, cleaning, rappelling, or basic rescue skills.
Crack Climbing Techniques: We’ll set up tons of top-ropes on a range of different crack sizes, learn new techniques, and thrash around until it clicks! Skills learned include hand and foot jamming, finger locks, offwidth technique, chimney climbing, and more.
Slab Climbing Techniques: Along with splitter cracks, Index is known for its slab climbing trickery. Pulling hard alone won’t get you through the cryptic friction cruxes; we’ll practice smearing, balance, and even breathing techniques to help you climb granite slabs.
Trad Leading: We’ll start the series with an introduction to trad gear and lead strategy. Over the course of the program, students will have plenty of opportunities to mock lead and receive feedback on gear placements. During the second half of the summer, we will work toward live leads. Check out the Leading Trad webpage for a more thorough curriculum overview.
Other Skills: If there’s group interest, we can also cover outdoor climbing skills like anchor building, rappelling, cleaning anchors, or rescue.
Why Sign Up for a Multi-Week Series?
Grow Confidence in Skills: We’ve taught enough weekend climbing courses to know that it takes more than two days to solidify new skills. This series will introduce concepts in bite-sized chunks, rather than hitting you with a fire-hose of information. You’ll get ongoing practice and feedback over the course of the whole season. With more sessions over a longer period of time, you’ll gain more confidence and competence as an outdoor climber.
Learn Your Local Crag: A season-long program will also give you a thorough introduction to Index climbing. With a reputation as a “sandbagged” climbing area, Index can be an intimidating place. But the truth is, there is more and more moderate climbing developed there every season. Bennett and Katie have been climbing in Index for over a decade. They are constantly exploring new crags and will share their favorite first leads, moderate climbing meccas, and best spots for honing crack techniques.
Meet Your Instructors!
Katie Griffith first climbed in Index in 2015, learning to hand jam on Toxic Shock at the Inner Town Walls. After struggling up the steep, granite walls all day, she was totally wrecked and instantly hooked. She has returned year after year and has spent the last five summers living just fifteen minutes from “downtown” Index. Climbing at the Town Walls on a summer evening is one of her favorite things in the world, second maybe to swimming in the Skykomish River. When the rain starts falling in the PNW, Katie heads south to her second favorite sandbagged climbing area – Joshua Tree – where she also works as a rock climbing guide.
Bennett Rahn first climbed in Index in 2019, getting thrown on Godzilla because “I can climb 5.9!” and flailing spectacularly because she had no idea how to crack climb. Since then she’s made it a project to climb at as many of the walls of Index as possible, championing the best 5.7 cracks and slabs, and trying to get as many people as possible stoked about sticky splitter granite from finger cracks to the elusive off width. As a plus size queer woman, she’s pretty passionate about creating psychologically safe spaces to try hard, and get more people from diverse backgrounds into technical outdoor sports like trad climbing. She also works the rainy seasons in Joshua Tree, and has become a bit granite dependent - dreaming about totems and smear feet.
Contact us to sign up!
Spaces are limited; ten total spots are available. We may add a second evening if there is enough interest.