Climbing Flyboys
Grade: 5.9+
Time: 9 hours (base to top of climb), 12 hours (car to car)
At 1800 feet tall, “Flyboys” is one of the longest sport climbing routes in the country. It’s located in the small town of Mazama, Washington, around a 3-hour drive from Seattle.
Preparation
Flyboys is the longest climb that Alex or I had ever attempted. We had climbed routes up to 5 or 6 pitches before, but 18 was quite a lot more than that. We did several training sessions in the gym in the weeks leading up to the climb, where we would attempt to lead climb 18-20 gym climbs in a session each, aiming for 5.10b/c (to account for gyms being easier than the outdoors).
On the day before the climb, we drove over to Mazama from Seattle. In Mazama, we rented mountain bikes from the local shop, and Alex drove up to the top of the Goat Wall to drop off the bikes, where we would need them in order to descend from the climb the next day (more on this in Descent). Meanwhile, I set up camp and prepared the climbing gear in Mazama.
Approach
We woke up early the next morning and drove over to the start of the climb. We left the car at 6am and started on the approach trail. About 15 minutes in, we spotted a black bear on the talus field ahead of us. It was a few hundred feet away, but directly on the path that we were trying to go. We did not want to approach the bear so we waited it out for around 20 minutes until the bear finally left. We then continued on the approach and reached the base of the climb around 7am, and starting climbing around 7:30.
Alex and I decided to “swing leads,” which means to alternate who is the “leader” and “follower” of each climbing pitch. The leader has the harder job. Swinging leads is usually the most efficient way to do a climb because it allows you to smoothly continue from one pitch to the next. We also wanted to split up the harder 5.9/5.9+ pitches, which were pitches 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, and 18. We figured that any pitch 5.8 and below would be no problem for us, so they didn’t really factor in. We decided that I would take the odd numbered pitches and Alex would take the even.
The Climb
(Note, only pitches that were of note to us are mentioned)
Pitch 1 - The Beginning - 5.9
I started off the day with a lead on Pitch 1. Climbing carefully through the moves, I made it to the top without too much difficulty, although it would have been nice to move at a slightly faster pace.
Pitch 4 - 5.9
“Intricate and sustained face climbing” – Alex recalls really enjoying this one.
Pitch 5 - “5”.Easy
It wasn’t worth pitching this one out. We weren’t quite sure what was coming, so I led this, but it was maybe one fifth class move and the rest was 3rd/4th class or just plain walking. if coming back to this pitch, I would coil most of the rope and simulclimb or do a sit belay.
Pitch 7 - 5.9+
This was my first 5.9+ lead on the climb, a definite step up from the previous pitches. It had some fun, overhanging pumpy moves on jugs. It didn’t present too much of a problem for me, since I am pretty comfortable leading 5.10+, but it was a fun challenge. (In my opinion, the 5.9+ pitches on this climb feel more like 5.10.)
Pitch 11
This pitch ended at a big ledge, plenty large enough to unrope and take a break. We stopped for lunch, and to let the other party on the route pass. They were a party of 2, and they were the only ones we saw all day, which was nice. I’ve heard this climb gets very crowded on the weekends, but luckily for us, it was a Tuesday. They were moving quite a bit faster than us due to linking pitches and simulclimbing everything but the crux pitches.
Alex used some of my liquid band-aid to patch up his cuticle on this ledge. The liquid band-aid smells a lot like nail polish, so the other party passing us did a double take as I’m sure it smelled like we decided to paint our nails in the middle of the climb. We all laughed after I explained that it was liquid band-aid.
Pitch 14 - The Crux - 5.9+
Pitch 14 was definitely the crux pitch for us. I wanted Alex to lead this one as he’s typically a big chimney fan, and the guidebook mentioned a squeeze chimney. However, it turned out that the chimney was only a few moves at the end. Before that, there’s a difficult, holdless slab section and an overhanging V2 boulder problem.
By the time we made it to Pitch 14, we were pretty tired, and our arms and muscles were definitely not in top shape. Alex made it through the slab section but struggled with the overhanging boulder problem. After a couple falls and around 15 minutes, I told him that he should just aid through the section in the interest of time, as we didn’t want to spend too long on any particular pitch and we were running behind already. (Our initial goal was to spend 20 minutes total on each pitch, for both climbers.) Alex begrudgingly pulled on the draws, past the overhang, and easily squeezed up the chimney to the anchor.
As I followed, I didn’t want to slow us down any further, so when I reached the slab section I briefly pulled on the draw as well to make it past the move without any hand holds. I did manage to climb through the overhanging section without falling, which was pretty fun.
Pitch 15 - 5.Easy Again
Similarly to Pitch 5, this was mostly 3rd/4th class and not worth pitching out.
Pitch 16 - The Abyss - 5.8
Alex is afraid of heights, which is a somewhat inconvenient quality for a rock climber. The guidebook noted that this pitch begins by stepping over an “abyss,” which was a fairly apt description. I have no problems with heights and exposure, so I would have been happy to lead this one, but Alex wanted to face his fears. After around 5 minutes of standing around nervously peering over the abyss, Alex finally took the step over and climbed the pitch.
Pitch 18 - The Finish - 5.9+
Initially Alex was going to lead the final pitch as it’s an even number, but since two of my pitches end up being super easy (5 and 15), barely a climb at all, I volunteered to lead this one. I was also feeling more energized and less tired than Alex. Why was this climb so back-loaded, anyways? ;P (Two of the hardest pitches are near the end, 14 and 18.)
I felt very determined to finish the climb quickly, and finish strong. I pulled through the bouldery sections with my remaining endurance and set up the final anchor on top!
It was extremely windy at the belay, and my windbreaker was annoyingly flapping all around my face and making a racket. Alex fell on one of the boulder sections and noted that he would have had difficulty leading it in his current tired state. I was relieved when he made it to the top to get out of the wind, around 6:40pm.
Descent
“Flyboys” has a unique descent for a multipitch climb, in that it is neither a rappel nor walk-off. The climb ends on the top of the Goat Wall, which has a 10 mile downhill dirt road to get back to the base of the wall. The most common descent is to ride down the road with mountain bikes, which need to be stashed on top of the wall before starting the climb.
We took some pictures at the top of the wall, then walked over to get our bikes. We started riding down the bumpy road around 7:45pm. Unfortunately, my bike wasn’t really adjusted properly and the shocks were not absorbing the bumps in the road, so I had quite an uncomfortable ride.
At some point on the descent, we got cell service and were able to place a takeout order at the restaurant in town right before they closed at 8pm. We told them we wouldn’t make it there in time, but they could just put it outside for us. Thankfully, when we arrived in town around 8:30pm, the bar was actually still open and they let us eat on their patio, and even order some drinks. I was extremely tired at that point but happy to have completed the climb and made it back down!
