Condor Buttress

Route:

Condorphamine Addiction

5.10b, 7p

This multipitch sport climb follows a direct line up the 600+ foot northeast face of the Condor Buttress in Icicle Canyon, offering excellent views of the Stuart Range.

Region: Washington

Elev: ~3,500 ft

Rock type: Diorite

Type:

Trip Report 1:

Date(s): May 28, 2006 (Sun)

Partner(s): Jason Cullum

Trip Report 2:

Date(s): April 2, 2016 (Sat)

Partner(s): Will Surber

Route Overlay

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Trip Report 1 (May 2006)

While climbing at Smith Rock in early May, a fellow climber suggested I climb Condorphamine Addiction, a 10b "alpine sport" route in Leavenworth. This sounded intriguing enough to give it a try. So a couple of weeks after Smith Rock, Jason and I drove four hours down to Leavenworth Friday night, woke up early the next day and climbed Condorphamine Addiction, capped off the day with a couple of routes at Castle Rock, and then drove back home that night. We enjoyed the climb—the two 10b sections were slabby and fun and the route was very well-bolted. However, it reminded me that I enjoy gear climbing much more than sport.

The climbers' path to Condor Buttress is tricky to find. We never did find the trail on the way up, but on the way down we maintained the trail. Here's my beta: Park about 0.25 miles further along the road from Bridge Creek CG; find the trail at the boulder in the photo; after passing the boulder, immediately cut left and follow a path upwards to below Bathtub Dome (I think the confusion here is that some beta suggests cutting left "after Underwear Rock/The Sword" -- the boulder in the photo might be Underwear Rock but The Sword is further back in the trees); then follow the path under the base up and rightward towards Condor Buttress which you can see above. It is about 1500 feet and 1 hour above the road. The map overview page of Viktor Kramer's Leavenworth Rock (pg 209 of 2010 edition) gives a good idea of the route, including how the trail cuts left just after the big roadside boulder.

Trip Report 2 (April 2016)

It had been nearly a decade since either Will or I had climbed this route, and both of us had fond memories of it as a good half-day adventure. Plus, the well-bolted nature of the route makes it nice for an early-season climb. The crux of the day was finding the trail to the route (we never did find it until the way down, a tad embarrassing since both of us had been up there before!) We made quick work on the climb, climbing it in 4 pitches by linking Pitches 1-2, 3-4, and 6-7. We also collected some pets along the way: Me: 24 ticks, Will: 25.