Pitch-by-Pitch
Start: Orbit begins on the left side of Snow Creek Wall. Once you follow the main climber’s trail to the base of the wall, follow a trail to the left traversing under the wall. To find Orbit, we looked for the "S-shaped" tree marking the beginning of the route as well as the prominent Mary Jane Dihedral in line with the start of the route.
Pitch 1: 5.6, 180 ft. Scramble up to the large tree with rap slings on it. Move left and enter a 4th class gully. Follow gully up toward the large tree at the top of it.
Pitch 2: 5.8, 90 ft. Move up the slabs and cracks directly above the belay ledge. Enter a dihedral which becomes progressively more difficult. Crux move is pulling onto an upper ledge using a stemming/chimneying move to bypass a small "roof". You're now about 30 ft below MJ Dihedral.
Pitch 3: 5.8, 150 ft. Climb up to the base of the MJ Dihedral (low 5th) and head up a ramp to the left (low 5th) for 50 ft to the base of the 5.8 finger crack system (c. 30 feet of it). Climb the thin finger cracks (left crack easier, right crack with fixed cam is harder) moving slightly left near the top. Gain a small ledge with a mid-sized bush just above it. This is a fun pitch!
Pitch 4: 5.8, 150 ft. Move up and right from belay ledge to gain the low angle slab with a thin finger crack down its center. Climb up the slab (thin cams) past a one good bolt + one "nail". The slab bypasses minor roofs on the right. About 10 ft above the bolt, move right around the arete. Climb up the face on the right side of arete (thin cams). Clip a piton and climb 10 more feet to gain a narrow stance that is to be your belay station. The stance comes equipped with two rusty, old, thin bolts. (I seem to remember that just about 10 ft above this was a much nicer ledge you can belay from if you have enough rope).
Pitch 5: 5.8, 100 ft. From belay, climb straight up the easy dihedral (5.6). The dihedral becomes thin (5.8) after about 40 ft. Move right to gain the knobby face. Continue up the face. Pull over an easy "roof" (maybe 5.7) and continue up the chicken head studded face (sparse pro, easy climbing) to gain a large ledge below a large roof. Belay.
Pitch 6: 5.6, 200 ft. From belay, move right and up bypassing the large roof on its right side. Climbing goes on easy chicken heads but pro is sparse. Run out the rope generally bearing up and left (follow easiest line). Belay when you're out of rope (should be enough to reach 3rd class ledges up top).
Pitch 7: low 5th, 150 ft. More chickenhead climbing on low angle (but exposed) terrain brings you to the sandy summit area of Snow Creek Wall.
Brief Trip Reports
• First time I climbed Orbit
Date: May 14, 2006 (Sun); Partner: 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 I climbed Orbit
Date: October 14, 2007 (Sun); Partner: 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 I climbed Orbit
Date: April 27, 2013 (Sat); Partner: Jenny Abegg
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.
• Fourth time I climbed Orbit
Date: May 16, 2015 (Sat); Partners: John Plotz, Loren Foss
Brief trip report: After climbing Iconoclast, we decided to run up Orbit. Still, even my fourth time up, the climbing on Orbit never seems as trivial as its grade. It was a great way to end another fun day of climbing on Snow Creek Wall!
A Few Photos
Loren climbing up the twin cracks of Pitch 3 of Orbit, May 2015. Fun climbing, and no gimmie 5.8 either.
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.