| Sehome Hill (B'ham Crags) Mountain/Rock |
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| Sehome Hill (B'ham Crags)   | 
| Page Type: Mountain/Rock Location: Washington, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 48.77791°N / 122.48657°W County: Whatcom County Activities: Sport Climbing, Toprope, Bouldering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter | Page By: Duseks Created/Edited: Mar 2, 2007 / May 2, 2007 Object ID: 274673 Hits: 1099 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
OverviewSehome Hill is a fun spot to rock climb if you only have a few hours. The Sehome Hill arboretum is adjacent to Western Washington University and many people are introduced to their first outdoor rock climbing here.
The clmibing consists of bouldering and top roping on good Sandstone. Routes range in height from 10' - 35' and in difficulty from 5.0 - mid .10's. It is important to stay off the routes when they are wet as saturated holds are prone to snapping off.
The ease of access seems to have translated into easing off on ethical standards. Chipped holds (+1 entirely chipped route) run rampant. Please never chip holds or unaturally modify routes, it may bring the route down to your level, but it tarnishes the rock for the rest of us.
Getting ThereFrom I-5 North:
-Take exit 252 (WWU)
-Take a left on Samish Way
-Take a left on Bill McDonald Parkway
-Take a right on 25th St
-Park before gate or @ side of the road under the "canopy" trees that bow over the road
-Follow trails to the obvious sandstone outcrops
The Road is gated at dusk. Please be respectful where you park. University police will occasionally check out what you're doing, just be polite and they will be too.
GearCrash pads or ropes can provide fun at Sehome Hill.
Long Top Anchors:
Most of the achors for routes here are 20 to 35 feet back from the lip of the climb. If you value your rope, life, and the health of the rock then bring long slings, cord, or another rope and run the anchor all the way over the lip so that no moving parts contact the rock.
Damage from improper top-roping is evident in many places, mainly because so many new climbers come here. Take the time to set up anchors right, and if you don't know how ask someone at the WWU Outdoor Center how to properly rig your anchors. Other ConsiderationsBolting:
There are some anchor bolts here, and some of the routes where once bolted (by scary 1/4" bolts). A few of the climbs would make fun leads but would most likely be chopped by the University. The official policy isn't clear but if you do decide to bolt be prepared to lose your investment. It's probably best to simply leave things as they have been for so many climbers before.
Graffiti:
Sandstone is soft, soft enough that with persistence you can etch your name into the stone with your finger. Please avoid unecessary scratching or marking of the stone, it's ugly, damaging, and in very very poor style.
Dry Tooling;
Yep, it's here but one should exercise great discretion while dry tooling here. NEVER dry tool anything that even remotely resembles an established route. Never dry tool anything visible to normal users. In short hike back into some secluded nook where no one ever goes and do your dry tooling there. Dry tooling is very noticeable on sandstone and it looks like hell, so let's keep it secret aye?PhotosI don't live in Bellingham anymore and I never took pictures here. I'll gladly snap some next time I'm in the area but until then I welcome anyone that has shots of this area to please upload them.
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