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The ’90s and Now<br />
Paul Trendler climbs Rampage in the<br />
Marsupials at Smith Rock State Park.<br />
In the ’90s, things changed. “There was a definite lull in the rock<br />
climbing scene, and Smith fell off the circuit as climbers started to go<br />
to other areas that got more publicity and weren’t as far off the beaten<br />
path,” notes Greg Garretson, 34. He started climbing at Smith Rock<br />
as a 14-year-old, ditching high school classes in Bend to further his<br />
budding climbing career.<br />
In 1995, journeyman climber Tim Toula published his comprehensive<br />
guide itemizing all of the best places to climb across the country. With<br />
this bible in hand, climbers fanned out from Smith, landing in places<br />
such as Red Rock in Las Vegas, Red River Gorge in Kentucky, New River<br />
Gorge in West Virginia and Colorado’s Rifle Canyon.<br />
Slowly, though—over the past five to six years—Garretson and others<br />
have witnessed a rebirth at Smith Rock. “People are really psyched to be<br />
at Smith again, and many of the classic lines that had been forgotten are<br />
getting new attention,” says Garretson. The climbing scene, as he is quick<br />
to point out, is less about the publicity of flashing new routes in neon<br />
spandex. “Best of all the adventure is back,” he asserts.<br />
What began with a rappel, a drill and heresy has today become mainstream<br />
for novice to competitive climbers.<br />
Vanessa Burdick, a 23-year-old competitive climber from Georgia, arrived<br />
in Central Oregon a year-and-a-half ago to attend school at Oregon<br />
State University’s Cascades campus. “The fact that Smith Rock<br />
was so close motivated my choice to go to OSU-Cascades,” she says.<br />
The growth of the local college campus has helped draw younger<br />
climbers to the area, but so has the weather. Finding a crag that was<br />
good to climb year-round was one of the reasons Cristina Rose Mastrangelo,<br />
30, moved to Bend from Vermont eighteen months ago. She<br />
is drawn to the variety of routes, many of which are technique-intensive.<br />
“The challenging climbing here only makes you better,” she says.<br />
As Burdick and Mastrangelo enhance the current climbing community,<br />
a new generation ascends Smith Rock’s hard surfaces. Once<br />
recognized as one of the world’s most daring alpine climbers, John<br />
Bouchard now teaches school in Redmond and climbs at Smith Rock<br />
with his wife, Nancy, and their three young girls.<br />
“Of all the areas I’ve climbed, Smith Rock is one of the most familyfriendly,”<br />
Bouchard assesses. “The routes are accessible via short, easy<br />
hikes. There are plenty of one-pitch climbs that are low angle enough<br />
that they are not intimidating, even for toddlers."
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