impressive collection of routes at
Smith Rock. The fact that they were
influential throughout the rest of the
country was a total and complete
surprise. I would never have guessed
that.

SmithRock.com: At what point did
you realize the impact you were
having on climbing at Smith Rock?

Alan: I'd start by saying that 1983
was the turning point for climbing at
Smith Rock itself. After freeing a
bunch of aid climbs, I was turning
towards things that were more remote,
more unpleasant, things that were for

the most part OK, but...let's just say
that they're routes that don't get done
a whole lot today.

Routes like Midnight Snack, Tarantula,
Tears Of Rage -- things like that. That's
where I was headed. If I had kept going
in that direction, just looking for cracks
to climb and more and more remote
cracks, I could have done quite a few
more. But doing those routes was only confirming the opinions of those who
thought that Smith Rock was climbed
out, and a LOT of people -- the
majority opinion in the early 80's --
thought that Smith Rock was climbed
out, believe it or not....

Check back next week for part three
of this interview with Alan Watts. It's
1983 and sport climbing isn't even a
word yet -- and Smith Rock is far from climbed out!

This is the end of part two of the
interview with Alan Watts. Part three
starts on Page 9.

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