Rock Climbing in Smith Rock State Park, Marsupials Crags

Where: Koala Rock, Marsupial Cliffs, Smith Rock State Park, Terrebonne, Oregon

When: November 3rd. Weather: 50's to 70's... Got some sunburn on my nose.

Summary: Late on Friday night, Jenny Martin and Rebecca Larsen of Altrec / Greatoutdoors.com asked what the plans were for the weekend. The topic of climbing instantly came up, and Rebecca, Jenny and I quickly made plans to get out super early the next morning.

Around noon, I finally picked the ladies up and we headed for Smith Rocks. On such a busy weekend we elected to head for the "hills" and trek the hour long approach to a remote park of the park called "The Marsupials". Once there, we decided to get some air and exposure on a 3-pitch (roughly three rope lengths... or 300 feet) climb called "Down River" (5.8). This particular climb granted us some of the best views of the park. The orange rock was featured with pockets and knobs that led us toward the flat summit of "Koala Rock". We had a fantastic climb on two pitches of low angle slabs, which led us to a dead vertical last pitch of slopey huecos that took us directly to the summit. After topping out, we slapped some high fives and walked to the back of Koala Rock and rappelled down to the ground via a free-hanging rappel.

With a few hours of energy left, we found two more routes on the Koala that were not in the guide book. Being the adventurous group that we were, we decided to climb them as well. They were both nice and probably around the 5.6-5.8 level. A super mellow climbing day in perfect weather away from the crowds..... marvelous!

Check out the photos, and if you're ever itching to climb in a remote"ish" area at Smith, keep the Marsupials in mind. Great rock, and no crowds. - Drew D. Peterson