Smith Rock Climbing Course

GALLERY

DETAILS

Join Us On Smith Rock Climbing Course

Smith Rock State Park is one of the great climbing destinations of North America. It’s also considered to be the birthplace of modern American sport climbing. Towers of welded tuff (volcanic ash and rock that spewed from ancient volcanoes before melting together) form a jagged skyline that contrasts with the flat landscape around. As a result, views from the top of these craggy formations are some of the best in the Pacific Northwest.

The climbing in Smith Rocks includes climbing for both beginner and advanced students. You can find moderate sport and trad multi-pitch routes alongside some of the most challenging sport routes in the country. There are splitter cracks, steep jug-hauls, and technical slab routes. There are also two different rock types- welded tuff and columnar basalt- all within a few minutes walk. Smith is an ideal venue for climbers hoping to develop their skills as outdoor climbers or climb their first multi-pitch routes. Miyar guides can adapt the climbing difficulty and learning content to the abilities and goals of students.

Parking: Smith Rocks has ample parking in the lots provided. There is a $5 parking fee per vehicle per day. For those who are spending three days this is recommended, for people spending four or more days it’s better to buy a yearly parking pass the Oregon State Parks pass only costs $20 and will get you in all year.

Skills Covered During Smith Rock Climbing Course:

Clothing selection for specific routes
Equipment selection for specific routes
Trip planning and permits
Leave-No-Trace
Climbing movement technique
Using a guidebook
Belaying (tope rope and lead)
Rappelling
Rappelling in a multipitch setting
Placing traditional protection
Traditional anchors
Outdoor Lead “sport” climbing
Sport anchors
Knots and hitches
Camping skills

We will have a logistics meeting or email a week before the trip.

Accommodation: There are plenty of hotels and motels in Bend Oregon (the closest major town). The guides will be staying in the Smith Rocks campground (within walking distance of the park.) The camp ground has showers and sinks.

Duration

3-5 Days Group size: 2-6

Passport

Not Required

Minimum Age

8 years old

Activity

Rock Climbing and Instruction

Accommodation

Tents

PRICE BASIS

PRICE INCLUDES

Group climbing equipment- (quickdraws, ropes, traditional gear, ect…)
Guide services
Pre-trip planning
Guidebooks
Camping gear

PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE

Transportation
Housing
Meals and snacks
Personal clothing
Personal climbing equipment- (backpack, harness, helmet, shoes, chalk bag, ATC, 2 Locking carabiners, and a double length sling)
Parking fees
Gratuities for guides

ITINERARY

Note: depending on the wants/ needs of the clientele the itinerary is subject to change.

Day 1:

Meet at the small covered structure at 8am, learn names and talk about the general plan for the week. Learn about specific climbs clients want to do, or specific skills clients want to learn. Start climbing/ teaching for the day, have dinner back at camp around 5.

Day 2:

Learn about basic climbing skills and/or techniques, if the clients don’t know them already. Skills covered such as: tope rope belaying, lead belaying, and tying in with a figure eight knot. In the Afternoon we go on a multipitch climb, this could be Voyage of the Cowdog (5.9), Superslab (5.6), and Cinnamon slab (5.6) to name a few.

Day 3:

In the morning we can expand on skills learned the previous days, and possibly move onto higher level skills, this will be accompanied by “craging” at any number of amazing single pitch venues in smith rock. This can either continue to the afternoon or we can head off to climb one of smith’s multipitch routes such as Wherever I may Roam (5.9), or even Lost in Space (5.10c).

Day 4:

Marsupials day! We meet at the parking lot and start the hike to the Marsupials, once we make it to koala rock we can either choose to climb round river (5.4) or for those wanting more of a challenge Thin Air (5.10a). After the morning climb we could continue to more climbing at Steander Ridge to climb The Cave Route (5.7) or Barred Reality (5.10b/c). For a more adventurous group we could move up to the Wombat for Birds in a Rut (5.7) which brings you to the top of the Marsupials, accompanied by an amazing view!

Day 5:

Early start for the Monkey Face, we meet at the parking lot and begin hiking up the Misery Ridge Trail, there is an option to climb Dirty Pinkos (5.9+) to the top of the trail instead of hiking up. Once at the top of the trail we walk to the other side of Smith Rocks where the Monkey Face comes into view. We drop down into the other side of Smith Rocks and walk to the base of our route. Either the Pioneer Route (5.7 C0), or the West Face Variation (5.8 C0). For folks that don’t want to aid climb and have a high level of fitness the option for Monkey Space (5.11b) also exists.

FAQs

General FAQ's

Testimonials

Sandeep is possibly the best person (Miyar and guides) in the business to take you on the mountains. Anyone who has trained with him to summit Rainier over the years can tell you how much he cares about his peeps. Talk to him and he can always find a way to make it happen. I have been trying to climb Rainier for few years with personal constraints (need to be always available, can return anytime, 24*7 sat phone access etc) and many times I had to return mid climb from big ones like Baker and Rainier. It was really easy to talk to the guides about this situation. I never once felt unsafe on the mountains. This is a big deal given how much we learnt when it comes to snow skills and glacier training. Be safe and go with Miyar!
Vivek Garg
What an awesome experience to go on climbing Mt. Rainier with Miyar Adventures. Sandeep and his team of guides ( Kirk, Alexis, Joe, Ben, Chris, Jasmin ) did an awesome job to lead the multiple rope teams trough snow skill preparations and guiding through safely on glacier journey. The amount of efforts put into multi-month preparation, pre-trip meetings, accessibility to gears for rent and attention to details with food/weight/personal gears were all instrumental in almost all of us (in a group of 24) able to summit Mt. Rainier and have wonderful memories. We knew we were in best company and safe hands with prior experience with Miyar Adventures led climb to Mt. Baker and few other preparation trips. And guides calibrated their approach from novice climbers to experienced climbers to push enough to have an enjoyable experience. I highly recommend to go with Miyar Adventures on amazing trips they have lined up around the Puget Sound Area and internationally.
Harshit Shah
If you are interested in doing any climbing or hiking but need a guide , I highly recommend Miyar Adventures...Sandeep is a wonderful person and you will actually learn (and practice ) climbing and crevasse rescue techniques in addition to the trip/climb ...it is definitely beyond a just a "get you to the summit" experience. He genuinely cares and brings in other excellent guides for bigger groups. My husband and I recently successfully made it to the summit of Mount Baker with Sandeep, two other guides and a group of friends and we had a fantastic experience. He and the guides he works with are very knowledgeable so I had confidence in their abilities to lead us but they are also very friendly and fun so that overall trip was enjoyable. I will definitely climb with Miyar Adventures again!
Monica Henry