(SHORT REPORTS)
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OUTER SPACE, Snow Creek Wall, Leavenworth, WA Trip Report #: 20, 55, 87, 141
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Route overlay for Outer Space, by Steph Abegg.
Steep with plenty of jugs and jams! Jenny starting off Pitch 5, the first of the hand crack pitches, Apr 2013.
Caleb blasting up the stellar 5.7 handcrack just below Library Ledge, Oct 2007. ![]() Watch out for these residents of Snow Creek Wall. On the April 2013 climb, the day's tick count was 19 (!). |
First time up Outer Space: May 1, 2006 with Jason Cullum Brief trip report: Outer Space is a Leavenworth classic. I led most of the route since my climbing partner was just beginning trad multi-pitch and was not altogether comfortable with placing gear. The 5.9 fingery traverse was my favorite pitch. The last two pitches involved a fun 5.7-5.8 hand crack with spacy jugs everywhere. I was glad that before the trip I had borrowed a few larger cams, since even so I had to backclean as I went up the crack. My only complaint about this route is that it was cold! When it started to snow and the snow was actually moving vertically upwards, we truly did feel we were in outer space! This is certainly a route I would like to do again! Second time up Outer Space: October 14, 2007 with Caleb Ng Brief trip report: I first climbed Outer Space in May 2006, and always wanted to climb it again. So when the forecast called for a sunny mid-October weekend, I headed for a day of climbing on Snow Creek Wall with my friend Caleb. We climbed Outer Space (8am-12:30pm) and then Orbit (1:20pm-4:20pm). The autumn colors were beautiful, there were no crowds, the rock was warm, and the climbing partner was fun. What a great day! Third time up Outer Space: May 9, 2010 with my sister Jenny Brief trip report: I'll never tire of this route! Fourth time up Outer Space: April 27, 2013 with my sister Jenny Brief trip report: Another fun day on this Washington classic. The climb took a few hours, so we quickly descended and then headed back up Snow Creek Wall via Orbit. Tick count for the day: 19! Pitch-by-pitch:
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ORBIT, Snow Creek Wall, Leavenworth, WA Trip Report #: 21, 56, 142
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Route overlay for Orbit, by Steph Abegg. (Mary Jane Dihedral route also shown.)
Caleb climbing up the tricky thin crack of Pitch 3 of Orbit, Oct 2007. The righthand crack (the one Caleb is climbing) is harder than the lefthand crack. Fun climbing though!
Looking up the airy 4th pitch of Orbit, April 2013. This pitch earns is often listed as 5.8+ or even 5.9.
Old pin on the 4th pitch. |
First time up Orbit: May 14, 2006 with Jason Cullum Brief trip report: The last time I was climbing on Snow Creek Wall, climbing Outer Space, we had nearly frozen in the cold and it had even snowed on us. This time it was around 75° and sunny, a nice change. Orbit was a bit more sustained in difficulty than its more popular neighbor Outer Space, and an equally fun route (the photo for Outer Space also shows the Orbit route). This time we knew the descent trail, which can be a bit tricky to find at times, so we got down quickly. Second time up Orbit: October 14, 2007 with Caleb Ng Brief trip report: I first climbed Orbit in May 2006, and always wanted to climb it again. So when the forecast called for a sunny mid-October weekend, I headed for a day of climbing on Snow Creek Wall with my friend Caleb. We climbed Outer Space (8am-12:30pm) and then Orbit (1:20pm-4:20pm). The autumn colors were beautiful, there were no crowds, the rock was warm, and the climbing partner was fun. What a great day! Third time up Orbit: April 27, 2013 with my sister Jenny Brief trip report: After warming up on Outer Space, we headed for Orbit, which makes a great link-up totaling 13 pitches of climbing (the OS+O total for us was 6.5 hours on the wall, an average of 30 min per pitch). Orbit is a stiff and satisfying route for its rating. Pitch-by-pitch:
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ICONOCLAST, Snow Creek Wall, Leavenworth, WA Trip Report #: 41 |
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![]() Iconoclast route overlay on Snow Creek Wall. |
Date/partner: April 28, 2007 with Ross Peritore Brief trip report: Our search for warmer, drier weather led us to Leavenworth. Ross and I had devised a cool linkup on Snow Creek Wall involving beginning with Remorse, climbing the 5.11a Psychopath pitch to the Iconoclast corner (5.10c), and then traversing from the corner to the last classic handcrack pitch of Outer Space. This turned out to be a great linkup with super fun and mixed climbing on all the pitches. Highly recommended! Pitch-by-pitch:
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MARY JANE DIHEDRAL, Snow Creek Wall, Leavenworth, WA Trip Report #: 42 |
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Mary Jane Dihedral route overlay on Snow Creek Wall. |
Route: 5.9, 6 pitches Date/partner: April 29, 2007 with Ross Peritore Brief trip report: Ross and I had so much fun the previous day on Iconoclast that we decided to return to Snow Creek Wall for another day of multipitch. We decided to try out the Mary Jane Dihedral route to the right of the popular Orbit. This route shares its first pitch and a half with Orbit, then splits off to the right to follow the obvious dihedral for a few pitches, and then ends on the last pitch of Orbit. It was a fun climb, but seemed to be rarely travelled due to the high density of moss and dirt in the dihedral. |
CONDORPHAMINE ADDICTION, Condor Buttress, Leavenworth, WA (not on Snow Creek Wall)Trip Report #: 23 |
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Looking down after one of the "crux" 10b sections of Condorphamine Addiction. |
Route: 5.10b, 6 pitches. The route follows a direct line up the 600 foot northeast face of the Condor Buttress in Icicle Canyon. See summitpost page for approach and pitch-by-pitch details. Date/partner: May 28, 2006 with Jason Cullum Brief trip report: While climbing Monkey Face in Smith Rock earlier in May, we met someone who was raving about Condorphamine Addiction, an "alpine sport" 10b route in Leavenworth. So we decided to drive 4 hours down to Leavenworth Friday night, wake up early Saturday and climb Condorphamine Addiction, and then climb a few crags in the area in the afternoon, and then drive back home that night. Although Condorphamine Addiction was a fun route, it made me realize that I enjoy gear climbing much more. The entire route was very heavily bolted, and at times I only clipped every other bolt. The two 10b sections of the route were slabby and fun, and not too difficult. |

Every Christmas I make a calendar for my friends and family. This year the theme of the calendar is "Aerial North Cascades," containing 13 carefully selected high-quality aerial images of Washington's rugged and beautiful glaciated North Cascades. Each month is represented by an aerial photo taken during that month. Here is a 
SNOW CREEK WALL Climbs









