Scratch, tap, squeak. The sound of my tools pierces the cold fall day, awakening a primal feeling within me. These tools aren’t meant for building a house, or crafting a sculpture, but for climbing on rock. 

Dry tooling is a quickly growing sport, in which climbers use tools, like ice axes with sharp points on the end, to climb up rocks. It’s a gymnastic sport, similar to rock climbing, but instead of using sticky rubber shoes, climbers use boots with sharp spikes attached to them, to precisely balance on improbably edges of rock. 

Hooking, slotting, and balancing the tools held in each hand into fissures and pockets in the rock, climbers ascend routes for the pure joy of the challenge, and the unlikely feeling of staying on the wall with weapon like equipment. 

Just outside of North Bend, dry toolers have developed a world class “crag” or selection of routes, specifically designed for dry tool climbing. As fall brings rain and damp days in the area, rock climbing season largely shuts down. However, the beauty of dry tooling is that it doesn’t matter whether it’s raining or not, meaning dry tooling can be done year-round. 

The Seattle area has several dry tooling options. There’s a gym in White Center called The Barn that calls itself the Pacific Northwest’s first dry tooling climbing gym. Another option is Wayne’s World Dry Tooling, an outdoor adventure off I-90.

Dry tooling was originally practiced as a way to prepare for climbing mountains, when snowy and icy routes gave way to rocky sections devoid of ice and snow. Now, it is a sport of its own, with dry tooling competitions and climbing areas across the country. 

Here, in Seattle’s backyard, dry tooling awaits anyone up for wielding tools seemingly fit for fighting monsters.