The Mountaineers' climbing wall at Seattle's Magnuson Park
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The outdoor climbing wall at Seattle’s Magnuson Park is a refreshing alternative to the typical forearm pumping, crimp and pinch climbing featured at most gyms. Now there’s nothing wrong with trying the same V6 problem a hundred times until your spiritual chi and muscle memory finally align in a victory that raises you several feet off the ground, but for those more interested in actually learning how to climb mountains, this is the place for you.
The Magnuson wall, built by The Mountaineers, looks like it was modeled after the side of a crumbling mountain face, featuring easy to moderate slab climbing including several cracks and two wide chimneys. Climbs range from 15 to 30 feet and are well protected with bolts. The wall material is gritty, almost like sandpaper, which is great for holding onto, and not so great when falling against. There is also an artificial boulder which has the potential for more challenging bouldering problems. Here is a link to you-tube for a couple of problems that we came up with: problem #1, problem #2.
More than anything, this wall is great a place to learn to climb cracks, chimneys, and slabs on top-rope or lead. Because most of the routes are of lower difficulty, it fosters a safer learning environment where the focus is on building skills and technique rather than pure strength.