William Lewis Manly Park
Climb Review
At this park on Communication Hill, there is a children’s playground with an artificial bouldering wall that is about 90’ long and 9’ high. We climbed all over the wall and found it to have easy holds all over.
Cedar Tree (VB; Left Wall)—Super easy, jug holds, just gotta step up and reach.
The Cave (V0; Left Wall)—This was rated a V2+ on mountainproject.com, but I disagree. I did a few variations to see if I could find a V2+ one, but I thought it was barely a V0. I think the person who reported this place was using indoor ratings, in which case the V2 makes sense.
Waterfall (VB; Right Wall)—This is the best place to down climb once topping out on any of the routes. Nice and easy.
Ultraverse: An Ultra Traverse (V0; Right Wall)—So I thought this was decently difficult, especially where you can’t see the feet due to the angle of the rock. I sent it, but only in 3 different parts. I think I’ll try to send it all together the next time I come here.
What I Learned
I didn’t know artificial rock could feel good on my hands. I still prefer real rock, but not bad for an artificial wall!
What Happened?
A week or so ago, I saw that there was a new entry for an outdoor climb in San Jose. Reading the description, I thought it’d be a perfect place to explore with my kids, so we came around sunset to send some routes. The kids actually had a fun time bouldering and the easy holds gave the girls confidence to actually top out on the routes. I found the place to be pretty nice, though I doubt I’d come back by myself. Still, I’m grateful that I found this place, and maybe the easier holds will get my girls more into bouldering.