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Mountain Madness Climber

Rock climbing in Vantage, WA

By Mark Gunlogson

Last weekĀ­end we took the whole famĀ­iĀ­ly and some friends rock climbĀ­ing at VanĀ­tage, explorĀ­ing the columns, lookĀ­ing for ratĀ­tlesnakes, and yes, takĀ­ing time to smell the flowĀ­ers, which were the best Iā€™ve seen there ever! Good times in the WashĀ­ingĀ­ton desert!

CreĀ­atĀ­ed by masĀ­sive floods that unearthed ancient basalt columns, the coulees of eastĀ­ern WashĀ­ingĀ­ton are home to some great rock climbĀ­ing. Ample top-ropĀ­ing locaĀ­tions for all ages can be found, from jugĀ­gy face climbs to splitĀ­ter cracks, with a choice between clipĀ­ping bolts or trad. MounĀ­tain MadĀ­ness offers trips to VanĀ­tage as part of our rock climbĀ­ing proĀ­grams and it is someĀ­times used durĀ­ing the rock climbĀ­ing comĀ­poĀ­nent of our alpine climbĀ­ing course.

Ellie (5) crankĀ­ing the moves

Zoe (5) climbĀ­ing in the Feathers

Desert flowĀ­ers in full glory

Zoe showĀ­ing the propĀ­er stance for being lowered

ColĀ­umn climbing

ExplorĀ­ing the columns

Hana (9) reachĀ­ing for the bucket

Girl powĀ­er on the rocks

Zoe almost on the top

At Gingko PetĀ­riĀ­fied Forest

Fossilized trees and dinosaurs

PetĀ­roĀ­glypghs found near Vantage