Climbing in Northwest California: A Deep Dive with Evan Wisheropp
In this interview, Evan Wisheropp, author and photographer of Redwood Burl: A Climber’s Guide to Northwest California, unpacks what it takes to develop a crag, shares why he loves climbing in Northwest California, and gives the inside scoop on some of his favorite Redwood Burl routes.
If you’d like to read the written version of this interview, keep scrolling past the video.
Q: Beyond being an author and photographer, what else would you like to share about who you are and what you do?
I started climbing when I was six or seven, just in the gym, and then became super obsessive about it when I was about fourteen and started climbing outside a bunch on my own. Then I moved up to Northwest California for school, and I moved to this area—Humboldt County—that’s known kind of just for weed and nothing else.
My climbing friends were like, “There’s no climbing up there. What are you doing? You should go to other places.” And I said, “No, I saw this one climbing guidebook the one time I went up here to camp, and I’m intrigued and I want to explore it.” So I made it a mission to climb as many routes as I could that were in that book.
The book had these black and white hand-drawn route maps, and it was really mysterious. And then around 2015, I started running out of routes in the area to climb that were within my grade range.
So I said, “Oh, well, I’ll just start developing some more.” And I put up two routes and I was like, “Well, I think that’s all the new routes possible in this area.” And then somehow I kept finding more and more, and now I’ve done 400-something first ascents in this area—and there are still so many more that I know of, and so many more to be found.
Route development has become my obsession, and I mostly stick around here because it’s like a gold mine in my backyard. But I also like to go to Moab and Vitavu and all sorts of other locations—we go to Thailand to sport climb a bunch.
But yeah, something about this area and how there’s all this hidden climbing just makes this my magnet.
Q: When you were getting into developing and finding new routes, what was that process like?
I got into the route development around here somewhat on my own. I didn’t have any mentors that were able to teach me, so I kind of had to ease in real slow. I, of course, recommend everybody find a mentor—they could skip some of those errors that I made along the way.
But I was always very analytical about it and planned out, so I was able to do things safely. But of course, you know, I think a good climber should be learning something new every single day they go climbing. I think it’s the same exact thing with route development. And the route development—it’s so exciting because there are all these mysteries. You know? What are you going to come across? Is the route going to be a dud? Sometimes you’ll spend two days working on a route and then it just turns out there’s a two-move section that’s impossible and you just wasted two days.
And sometimes, you figure the moves out and then it’s this golden, magical experience. So I find route development to be just as rewarding as climbing, if not more rewarding. Because it’s not just about, “Can I do this move that this other person has already done—or these hundred other people have done?”
It’s about, “Can this move even be done?” We have no idea. So you’re scouting it with binoculars and drones and trying to figure out, “Is this a total waste of time, or is it going to be epic?”
You never know.
Q: What’s your favorite first ascent that you’ve done or your favorite route that you’ve found?
The funny thing is, most of my favorite routes I’ve ever done—just coincidentally or maybe via bias—are routes that I found. I like long routes that are endurance-y, but I also like weird routes that require odd techniques or strange rests in order to have the endurance to keep going.
Maybe Megalodon at Promontory. I think it’s 13c, and a few other people have graded it 13c, but we ended up giving it 13b because some tall people said 13b. But I think that’s one of my favorites because it’s an extension above a super classic 12b called Great White, and it’s jug pockets on a super overhang.
It’s tough to say a favorite, because the thing about this area is it’s not the same kind of rock around the whole place. It kind of depends on your mood and the season. So if it’s the middle of summer, your favorite route is clearly going to be sandstone on the coast. And if it’s the middle of spring or fall, your favorite’s going to be on the inland limestone. So I have a thousand favorite routes inland.
Q: Would you say that you can climb in Northwest California year-round?
I’ve never gone more than two weeks without climbing here. But generally, once that first rain hits in the late fall, everybody freaks out and goes, “Oh no, season’s over,” and they pack up and go to the gym.
If you’re experienced enough in the area and you’ve done enough reading through the book, you can climb here almost year-round—minus a few, maximum two-week sections throughout the winter. If you’re really experienced, know where to go, know how to read the weather reports, and you read the book—you can climb here year-round.
It’s awesome.
You just can’t plan a trip as a non-local. If some people hit me up and said, “I heard you can climb here year-round—should I drive the 20 hours to get there in January?” I’d say, “You could, but maybe just wait two months.”
But if you’re four or five hours away, you could totally time it and come out here and have amazing days throughout the winter. There are a lot of sunny days in the winter here where you can climb on the coast or certain inland limestone crags.
Q: Would you say that there are harder routes on the coast versus inland, or vice versa?
There’s more volume of climbing inland. There’s more of everything inland, including the hard grades. But I would say maybe the concentration of the grade range is actually pretty similar inland to the coast.
Q: And is there bouldering, sport, and trad in the area?
Yeah, bouldering, sport, and trad here. There’s not a ton of trad, but there are a few trad climbing routes that really stand out. But there are also ones where you have to be a trad nut to enjoy. At Sumeg State Park, there are some incredible, super safe trad climbs, and then there are these super incredible, super dangerous trad climbs that I also love.
But I love those because they’re bad gear, so you have to really hang out and fiddle it. So something that’s 5.12a is really harder because you’re hanging out, trying to fiddle in little brassies. Most of the climbing here is sport climbing, and there’s a good deal of bouldering that’s still getting developed.
Q: You’re spending a lot of days on the wall. How’s that been? Do you have a team of people you’re working with?
The route development’s usually just me, but sometimes I’ll have some friends who are available to come out and help. It’s kind of tough because a lot of the work is pretty solo work, but sometimes you can get a second rope up and kind of work together and divide up the duties.
Recently I just bolted a seven-pitch traverse over the ocean that maxes out at 5.13, and that was the hardest route I’ve ever bolted, ever. For that one, I had a team of helpers—which wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I think we spent seven days bolting, and we always had two people—at least me and one other person. And even with the help, it was seven days. Without it, it probably would have been 12 days of bolting.
Evan goes on to share about financing route development:
As far as financing it, most of the time it’s just me as well, but lately I’ve been doing more posts on Instagram and showing people the process of what I’m doing—and they have been amazing and pitching in. Actually, I have this Excel sheet, and it’s got all these stats of every single route I’ve ever bolted.
Advertising at the crag.
I can see my route costs and how much money I’ve spent personally, which subtracts donations. So I’ve put in $33,000 for routes, and personally I’ve spent $27,000. Locally I’ve spent $25,000, and that’s since 2015. And the spreadsheet also has how many pitches: 460 pitches total. So that’s my retirement… in the rock.
I’ve heard a lot of people in other areas say, “Oh, guidebook authors are just trying to make money,” you know, “Why don’t they just put it up on Mountain Project and everything’s free?”
And then you think, “Okay, well, the guidebook took nine busy, busy, busy years to finish,” and I logged every single day that I worked on it with just writing. That was over 500 days of writing. And that’s not even including the days of photo editing or going out to get photos or information.
Then you realize—it is not a money-making pursuit at all. It is far from a money pursuit.
It’s totally a passion.
I put up these routes so that I can go climb them with my friends. And then I go to the crags and I meet all these people who are from other areas and they're super stoked and then they want to climb.
And then I go to their neighborhoods and we climb and we all make friends. So the book to me is the exact same thing that I'm doing with Instagram, which is trying to share these experiences and share these routes and places. Then I make more friends and then it's all more fun.
With the book, if I wanted to make money, ah, you know, I could have spent my time elsewhere.
When I retire, I would rather be living on low income and have authored an awesome book than have a slightly larger house and say, “Look at my house”, or have a slightly nicer car and say, “Oh, I got a nice car”.
The experiences are worth so much more than the money of doing other things. And I think it's the exact same for somebody buying the book. You know, $45 in the grand scheme of things is nothing when you choose. You just trade $45 and then you get a lifetime of amazing experiences with friends and cool places.
So that's why I'm hoping more people buy the book because, hey, we'll see them out at the crags and they have a good time and it's a fair trade, I think.
“You buy the book, but you essentially buy into the area and you buy into community.”
Anytime I go to a new location, even if I'm just there for a few days, I always buy the book because I'm climbing on their bolts and I have to contribute to the area somehow. And quite often the route developers are the guidebook authors. So you buy the book and then it supports the route development.
It's a hell of a lot cheaper than going to the gym. The big gyms nowadays are what, $35 for a day? And then you climb on these plastic routes that disappear three weeks later and your memory of that accomplishment vanishes as the new set takes hold. Or you buy a book for $45, you go outside, you accomplish a route, you can come back 20 years later and test yourself on it again.
Q: Are there any other thoughts or additions that you want to make about the Redwood Burl area?
One thing I would want people to know about this area is that everybody's familiar with the two main crags, Promontory on the coast and the Aretes inland. And those areas are super popular because they're incredible but I think they're only super popular because they're super well known. We have so many other crags here that are just as good, full of routes of the same difficulties, same amazing views and scenery. People just don't know about them.
And I think in the age of Instagram and how things get shared, people follow the crowds because you find something that's attractive and you get magnet-ed to there. So with this book, I really wanted to show people that there is so much out here and if you want to step away from the crowds, oh man, you have so many options here.
I hope people will flip through the book, pick a crag and go check it out and there's really detailed descriptions and everything. How to drive there and how to hike and find those spots and mix it up and go have an adventure.
Then, the more you get off that beaten path, the more you're thinking, “Oh my God, I have to move here.”
The only downside to this area is how some of the stuff is kind of spread out, but everything's a day trip from, from town. And if you want to go wild, go camp out there for three days and you blow your muscles and go home. So yeah, I just really want people to explore out of those two crags.
Q: If you were going to send people to one crag that's not those two, where would you send them?
The trick is, where do you start? Every crag has its own personality and feel and I really describe those well in the book. If you're going on the coast and you want easy, 5.8’s and stuff like that, I would say High Bluffs. If you're going on the coast and you want 5.10 to 5.12 go to Footsteps. Footsteps is awesome. It feels like you're kind of out there and remote but you're not like that remote.
And it's just intensely amazing inland. If you want trad climbing stuff, I'd say the Haven. If you want hard slab, Castle Rock. If you want mid-winter climbing, that's the Sanctuary. If you want ultra-mega-epic-world-class 5.10 to 5.12, that's Marble Caves.
Ultra-mega-epic-world-class 5.11 to 5.13, that's Cecilville. So it's really about, what are you in the mood for today? On the coast if you want super cool top roping where you can sling trees as anchors, that's Sumeg. Or if you want to be chilling on a sandy beach with your dog, obviously that's Moonstone.
I like to stick to one area for a month and really have my growing personal connection with that area and then I'll step away and I'll do a different area for a month. And it's nice because I can like stash water and all that. Oh, If you want mid-grade slab, that is Chanchalula and that's listed in the book as well. Since the book came out, I've bolted more routes and I think there's eighteen routes there now. So yeah, the next edition will be stacked…
Evan’s unapologetic passion for climbing in Northwest California is inspiring. The route development process and stories he shared here are proof that his care for this area runs deeper than profit or first ascents. If this has you stoked, grab the book, pick a crag, and go have an adventure.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them down below or DM us @WolverinePublishing on Instagram. Also, go follow Evan on his social media. He's doing some really cool things and would love to hear from the readers and watchers.
