Kai Lightner’s big days climbing at Smith Rock

Mention Kai Lightner to almost any rock climber and they’ll know exactly who you mean. At 6-foot-3, he’s a professional athlete with 12 national climbing titles, six Pan-American titles, and a 2014 Youth World Championship gold medal—the first American to earn that honor in two decades. Most recently, he starred in a Reel Rock film, “Death of Villains,” the film festival for the climbing world.

But get this: Kai had never climbed at Smith Rock State Park—the birthplace of American sport climbing. Just 20 miles north of Bend, Smith Rock offers everything from some of the nation’s hardest testpieces to approachable routes for all abilities.

We helped Kai fix that omission. He came, he climbed, and he didn’t disappoint. Along the way he found a warm community, great food, and even some playful otters. Here, Kai shares his hot takes on what climbers should do when they visit Smith.

Hint: Get going. Fall is a great time for climbing at Smith Rock, with sunny days and cooler temps.

Smith Rock sports more than 1,500 established climbing routes that range from beginner (like, 5 Gallon Buckets, a 5.8) to “make Kai sweat” (like, Just Do It, a 5.14c). To help show him around, Kai made plans to meet Alan Watts, a Bend local and climbing legend who helped turn Smith Rock into the climbing destination it is today by putting up scores of routes in the 1980s. 

Kai had spent the night at the Oxford, a boutiquey, friendly hotel in the heart of downtown Bend (and recently ranked one of the best in the country by TripAdvisor), where he had a great view over downtown, tried on the plush bathrobes, and appreciated “all of the little things” the Oxford does that made his stay feel seamless. For breakfast, he grabbed an elk sausage burrito from Roam, the hotel’s restaurant. From there it was off to Smith Rock for a day of tackling classic routes.

At Smith, Kai immediately noticed the pristine, well-kept trails and beautiful scenery of golden walls soaring over the languid bends of the Crooked River. It felt familiar. He’d actually been to Smith once before—briefly circa 2016 when he was 17 years old—after he flew in from a climbing competition in Austria, hung on a few cliffs for a photoshoot, and jetted out. This time, he was here to climb for real. The route that brought him the most joy? Chain Reaction, a spectacular 5.12c that counts as one of the most photogenic routes in the park, maybe even the country. Watts created the route in 1983. Kai also worked on Badman, a 5.14a, as well as Magic Light, a 5.12b that Kai “onsighted,” or climbed on the first try with no information on how to do it.

Kai came back to Bend and joined up with friends for a delicious steak dinner at Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge, where celebrity chef and Bend local Brian Malarkey dishes up high-level western fare. But Kai didn’t order just anything. Instead, he went for an off-menu steak sampler plate he’d spotted on Instagram. (Yelp says Hawkeye is a “$$$” restaurant. For a “$” option, try Don Gabino’s for five-star cheap eats.)

Across the street from the Oxford sits one of Bend’s more popular cafes, Thump, which Kai hit up the next morning for a cup of London Fog—a mix of Earl Grey tea, steamed milk, and a hint of lavender—that he paired with a delicious breakfast sandwich on brioche bread. From there it was off to the Bend Rock Gym, a central hub for the climbing community that showed Kai’s Reel Rock film “Death of Villains,” that raised money for the High Desert Climbers Alliance, a group that works tirelessly to update and improve climbing routes at Smith.

Kai can climb all day long but he also wanted to see what else Bend has to offer. He took the afternoon to explore the High Desert Museum, where he was particularly tickled with the “charismatic” river otters. “They are really smart and curious,” he said. He learned about the museum’s wildlife rehabilitation efforts and called the whole experience “fascinating.”

On his last evening in Bend, Kai took a drive up Pilot Butte, a small volcano in the middle of town, for panoramic views of the city and the surrounding Cascades. Later, he strolled along the Deschutes River to the Bend Whitewater Park where surfers rode the man-made waves into the sunset. “I feel like what’s cool about Bend is that a lot of people in the climbing community hang out with each other,” he said. “They interact and there’s this intergenerational respect for listening and keeping the climbing culture of our elders alive.”

—
Credits and Acknowledgments

Follow Kai Lightner: Website, Instagram, Facebook, Videos
Photography: Nikolaus Williams [Images of Kai Lightner], Richard Bacon [Images of Smith Rock and Pilot Butte State Parks], Breathe in Bend [Images of Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge], Whitney Whitehouse [Image of River Surfing]
Words by: Tim Neville [Visit Bend]