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Dave Back
Guest
My name is Dave and I am an 11 year rock climbing veteran. Of that period I have spent about 8 of those years climbing at a little known town called Index, WA. Here is a little history about the area and what you may not know is that Washington climbers have been developing routes and honing their climbing skills at Index for the past 60 years with little notice from the public until about the mid to late 80's when an explosion of attention and development took place. Part of this development was due to technology that improved the climbing implements we used to protect ourselves. The other part of it was due to an increase in the climbing population.
Now fast forward to the year 2000 when I began climbing. I was a part of a "baby boom" of new climbers in the country that is continuing to occur as we speak evidenced by the increased number of climbing gyms in Western Washington as well as an increase in the membership population of those climbing gyms. With this increase, climbers around Washington ventured out to improve their skills for trips they took to some of the well known climbing venues of North America such as Squamish BC, Buggaboo's BC, and of course the biggest climbing location in the world Yosemite CA. To add to this increase in attention it just so happened that Index was as good a quality climbing attraction and just as challenging as any in the world but the people outside of Washington didn't know about it so Index quietly remained a prized gem of Washington climbers for many years. That time is over. Many Washington climbers such as myself have left the state to climb in places like California, Utah, and Colorado and have spread the word about Index and it started to catch on to the extent that climbers now make a point to stop at Index while traveling from Yosemite to Squamish. Climbers also fly into Seattle looking for transportation from Seattle to Index while trying to avoid the hassles and cost of a rental car. Then a really amazing thing began to happen with the advent of the internet and the word spread to Europe, Australia, South America and all over the world. When climbers Google searched the states that they would be traveling through, like Washington for example, for climbing locations the number 1 venue that came up in Washington was Index.
All these climbers from around the world traveling to Index is in addition to one of the biggest climbing communities in the country that exists between Olympia WA and Everett WA and is an untapped source of possible Amtrak ridership. There are scores of climbers that would jump at the chance to board a train in Tacoma, Seattle, or Everett and travel out to Index for one, two or more days of climbing and then take the train back, avoiding the massive amounts of traffic that exist between Index and the Seattle Area, especially in the summer! The summer vacation traffic between Index and Everett WA can back up on Sundays evenings bumper to bumper from Everett all the way to Index which is about 50 miles worth and I have experienced firsthand how long it can take to get back into Seattle on those evenings and I as well as many others would gladly watch that traffic jam from a train.
An additional development occurred two years ago that would impact the country's awareness of Index and continue increasing the draw of scores of climbers in its direction. This event was the purchase of land that the Lower Index Town Wall sits on which got a tremendous amount of press in Seattle news as well as the climbing media around the country. The party that owned the property where we climb threatened to quarry the walls and forced our hand causing us to raise the money necessary to purchase the and turn it over to the Washington State Parks Department to be managed jointly by them and the climbers. If enough climbers cared that much about index to raise money and purchase the land I am certain there is enough interest to provide the rider ship necessary to make it profitable for Amtrak to establish a stop in the town of Index. There are tens of thousands of climbers that commute to Index throughout the year from the greater Seattle area and this number is growing every year as new climbers desire to get out of the gyms and push their limits. Many climbers that enjoy the benefits of the environment near Index have strong feelings against driving their cars out to the climbing area giving off emissions polluting the wilderness that we care so deeply for that we are constantly looking for alternative forms of transportation such as buses or carpooling to get us out there to be able to perform our hobby and not spend a fortune in gas and emissions.
Unfortunately, the bus line stops in Gold Bar WA one town shy of Index and there are so many climbers that carpool out to Index that we still have a staggering number of cars causing a traffic jam of vehicles at the parking lot. This is where Amtrak Comes in, or, ah, actually travels right through. The climbers actually have to wait for Amtrak trains to pass before we can cross the tracks to be able to get to the climbing wall. During peak season I as well as many others go out to Index as often as we can and I would gladly pay a proportional fare to that of Seattle to Mount Vernon, a similar distance. I believe many other climbers would also pay those fares causing Amtrak to gain ridership and only have to stop the train for 5 to 7 minutes for passengers to get on and off, a similar length of time that the same train performs in Leavenworth WA.
So let's assume Amtrak decides to provide a stop at Index. I am fully aware that there are safety standards that require a platform to be built to allow for passengers to have safe access to the train. The funding and construction of this platform would need to be worked out between all the parties involved such as the town of Index, BNSF, Amtrak and Access Fund/Washington Climbers Coalition(who initially purchased the Index Lower Town Wall and are always interested in improving access to Index) The first step, however, is opening the lines of communication and finding out if any members of management within the Amtrak organization are interested in the idea. If Amtrak is willing to consider establishment of a train stop in Index, WA or even just interested in having a dialogue about the subject please contact me through my email address (email address removed). If this forum is not the most effective communication method for getting my message across and I'm not communicating with the proper authorities then perhaps someone from this forum could send me the email address necessary to get this information to the ears that need to hear it. Thank you for considering my proposal and I look forward to Amtrak's response.
Dave Back
Now fast forward to the year 2000 when I began climbing. I was a part of a "baby boom" of new climbers in the country that is continuing to occur as we speak evidenced by the increased number of climbing gyms in Western Washington as well as an increase in the membership population of those climbing gyms. With this increase, climbers around Washington ventured out to improve their skills for trips they took to some of the well known climbing venues of North America such as Squamish BC, Buggaboo's BC, and of course the biggest climbing location in the world Yosemite CA. To add to this increase in attention it just so happened that Index was as good a quality climbing attraction and just as challenging as any in the world but the people outside of Washington didn't know about it so Index quietly remained a prized gem of Washington climbers for many years. That time is over. Many Washington climbers such as myself have left the state to climb in places like California, Utah, and Colorado and have spread the word about Index and it started to catch on to the extent that climbers now make a point to stop at Index while traveling from Yosemite to Squamish. Climbers also fly into Seattle looking for transportation from Seattle to Index while trying to avoid the hassles and cost of a rental car. Then a really amazing thing began to happen with the advent of the internet and the word spread to Europe, Australia, South America and all over the world. When climbers Google searched the states that they would be traveling through, like Washington for example, for climbing locations the number 1 venue that came up in Washington was Index.
All these climbers from around the world traveling to Index is in addition to one of the biggest climbing communities in the country that exists between Olympia WA and Everett WA and is an untapped source of possible Amtrak ridership. There are scores of climbers that would jump at the chance to board a train in Tacoma, Seattle, or Everett and travel out to Index for one, two or more days of climbing and then take the train back, avoiding the massive amounts of traffic that exist between Index and the Seattle Area, especially in the summer! The summer vacation traffic between Index and Everett WA can back up on Sundays evenings bumper to bumper from Everett all the way to Index which is about 50 miles worth and I have experienced firsthand how long it can take to get back into Seattle on those evenings and I as well as many others would gladly watch that traffic jam from a train.
An additional development occurred two years ago that would impact the country's awareness of Index and continue increasing the draw of scores of climbers in its direction. This event was the purchase of land that the Lower Index Town Wall sits on which got a tremendous amount of press in Seattle news as well as the climbing media around the country. The party that owned the property where we climb threatened to quarry the walls and forced our hand causing us to raise the money necessary to purchase the and turn it over to the Washington State Parks Department to be managed jointly by them and the climbers. If enough climbers cared that much about index to raise money and purchase the land I am certain there is enough interest to provide the rider ship necessary to make it profitable for Amtrak to establish a stop in the town of Index. There are tens of thousands of climbers that commute to Index throughout the year from the greater Seattle area and this number is growing every year as new climbers desire to get out of the gyms and push their limits. Many climbers that enjoy the benefits of the environment near Index have strong feelings against driving their cars out to the climbing area giving off emissions polluting the wilderness that we care so deeply for that we are constantly looking for alternative forms of transportation such as buses or carpooling to get us out there to be able to perform our hobby and not spend a fortune in gas and emissions.
Unfortunately, the bus line stops in Gold Bar WA one town shy of Index and there are so many climbers that carpool out to Index that we still have a staggering number of cars causing a traffic jam of vehicles at the parking lot. This is where Amtrak Comes in, or, ah, actually travels right through. The climbers actually have to wait for Amtrak trains to pass before we can cross the tracks to be able to get to the climbing wall. During peak season I as well as many others go out to Index as often as we can and I would gladly pay a proportional fare to that of Seattle to Mount Vernon, a similar distance. I believe many other climbers would also pay those fares causing Amtrak to gain ridership and only have to stop the train for 5 to 7 minutes for passengers to get on and off, a similar length of time that the same train performs in Leavenworth WA.
So let's assume Amtrak decides to provide a stop at Index. I am fully aware that there are safety standards that require a platform to be built to allow for passengers to have safe access to the train. The funding and construction of this platform would need to be worked out between all the parties involved such as the town of Index, BNSF, Amtrak and Access Fund/Washington Climbers Coalition(who initially purchased the Index Lower Town Wall and are always interested in improving access to Index) The first step, however, is opening the lines of communication and finding out if any members of management within the Amtrak organization are interested in the idea. If Amtrak is willing to consider establishment of a train stop in Index, WA or even just interested in having a dialogue about the subject please contact me through my email address (email address removed). If this forum is not the most effective communication method for getting my message across and I'm not communicating with the proper authorities then perhaps someone from this forum could send me the email address necessary to get this information to the ears that need to hear it. Thank you for considering my proposal and I look forward to Amtrak's response.
Dave Back
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