The Boys Go British - First Ascent in Larrabee State Park

Last week my friend Sam texted me photos of an area of cliffs he found. It was located downhill from Chuckanut Roof, along Chuckanut Drive. There were a few dihedrals that could make fun stemming or slabby arete boulder problems but the photo that drew my attention was a crack.

The crack started on a pebbly slab before arcing up a blank face. Chuckanut sandstone forms all sorts of holds, huge huecos, razor crimps, pebbles, and slopers. However, the rock doesn't form many continuous cracks, so even though the whole route was only about 25ft, I was stoked to check it out.

We decided to go back and clean the route that weekend. The next Sunday me and Sam, along with our friend Preston, piled into Preston's car and drove 20 minutes to a gravel pullout on the side of the highway. A short trail lead to the railroad tracks that follow the coastline for most of Larrabee State Park. The tide was low and oyster farms were visible, and smellable, on the mudflats. We walked for only a minute down the tracks and then Sam lead us into the woods.

We marched up the loose hillside to the base of the cliff as I tried in vain to keep the dirt from pouring into my shoes. The base of the cliff wasn't the best spot to stand around, the ground was steep and loose. We set up a crash pad at the base which helped make a flat area to stand. After a failed attempt by me to scramble above the route, Sam made it and set up a fixed line down the route, rapping to the base. I jugged the line with some brushes and began cleaning. 

The sandstone is soft, so you have to be gentle when cleaning to avoid scrubbing holds off or accidentally improving them. I knocked some very loose flakes off the face, there were a few that looked suspect but held up to a few firm taps so I left them intact. I scrubbed the inside of the crack as well as I could, but at a certain point, it stopped getting less sandy. Some tubing to blow in the crack and a longer brush would make a big difference. After a bit of work, I felt like the route was clean enough to lead, although not fully clean. I had to be back by 2pm and I wanted to get some attempts on it that day, so I wasn't super thorough.

I lost rock, paper, scissors so Preston got the first attempt at the route. I put him on belay and he confidently climbed up the slab to the base of the crack. As he climbed higher he seemed to get stuck jamming straight into the crack, which was ringlock-sized. With some effort, he reached the pod halfway up the crack and got a solid jam, but ended up too pumped to keep climbing. I want to note that Preston was the only one who hadn't rappelled the route, so this was an onsight attempt. 

He eventually climbed the rest of the route, with one more take a few feet higher. I wanted Preston to send it, but now the first ascent was still up for grabs. I was both nervous and excited, the climbing looked fairly straightforward and the gear seemed solid despite the rock quality, but there were still a lot of unknowns in my mind. Some of the footholds were definitely hollow and I had no idea what the slab after the top out looked like. At some point you just have to get going though, so I made sure to take plenty of 0.5s, stole Preston's chalk, and started up the short pitch with Sam belaying.

The initial slab was easy, a few shallow locks and dirty smears lead to a solid stance below the crack. I placed a bomber 0.75 c4, but for confidence, I backed it up with a 0.4 right above. To avoid getting stuck in the same position, I liebacked the start of the crack until I could reach the first hand-pod. I placed two 0.5 c4s in the crack, although I really only needed one. The ledgy slab below me and the crumbly rock made me a bit nervous so I really sewed it up. 

After the hand-pod, you can place another cam or two above your head and then you enter the crux. I made a few moves on sandy smears and small edges, with good hand jams before I jammed my toe in the first pod and could reach up to a decent jug at the lip. I matched on this hold and slowly reached out to a better sidepull jug, from here I could pull myself over the lip on some dirty crimps.

The final slab was super dirty and unprotected, but I moved carefully and it felt secure and safe. Once I was safely above the edge I called down "off belay" and scurried to the tree anchor. I was super stoked to send the route, even if the quality was debatable. It's one of the best cracks in the area, although the bar is low, and especially if it gets cleaned a bit more, it's a route well worth climbing. 

We collectively named the route "The Boys Go British" in reference to the short sandstone routes in the UK. Even though I got the official FA it was a group cleaning effort and Sam deserves credit for finding the line as well as Preston for being the first to try it. The grade felt about 5.8 to me and Preston, although that's just a guess and it'd probably be easier if it cleaned up more. I would be super stoked to hear if anyone besides us 3 climbs it and I'm looking forward to developing more in the area. 

My rack recommendation would be 2-3 0.5s and a 0.75.

If the route sees more traffic, it could be worth putting anchor bolts in the upper slab to avoid the runout as well as protecting the tree.