NMS Snow Creek Wall Climbs

We are one of the few guide services with access to Snow Creek Wall, a short 90-minute hike above Icicle Creek Canyon. Snow Creek Wall offers sustained, multi-pitch climbing on high quality granite. All of the routes are in the 5.8+ to 5.11 range, with the two most popular being Outer Space (5.9) and Orbit (5.8+), both 7-8 pitch routes offering a variety of climbing in a spectacular alpine setting. We can guide these routes at either a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio.

Outer Space is one of the most well-know rock climbs in Washington State. This is a 6-pitch climb and features high-quality climbing on solid granite. The crux is an exposed traverse on the 3rd pitch, which provides access to the stellar 5.7-5.8 hand crack found on pitches 5 and 6. Solid granite, crazy chicken heads, comfortable belays, and fantastic exposure combine to make the headwall pitches on Outer Space some of the most memorable climbing in the area.

Orbit sits to the climber's left of Outer Space and although overshadowed by its popular neighbor, Orbit offers superb, sustained 5.8 climbing on a route requiring a wide variety of climbing techniques. Well-featured granite provides crack climbing, face climbing, and an exposed roof, as well as more of those famous knobs and chicken heads. This 7-pitch climb provides a fun and diverse day of climbing on a classic wall.

In addition to Outer Space and Orbit we occasionally guide other routes on snow creek wall, so feel free to request other routes.

Itinerary

It generally takes about 10 hours from car to car to complete a climb on Snow Creek Wall. Depending on the forecasted temperature for the day we start climbs between 7 am and 9 am and plan to be back at the car no more than 10 hours later. We generally budget 1.5 hours for the approach, 6 hours to climb the route, and another 2.5 hours to get back to the car. Many parties will find that with the guidance of a professional guide, they can climb even faster than this without too much effort. For the descent we either short-rope and rappel the standard Snow Creek Wall descent, or rappel the route.

Qualifications

Very good physical fitness, solid belaying skills, ability to climb 5.8 or 5.9 smoothly, and efficiently.

Additional Notes

These climbs are offered only as a custom program - call to schedule. Under rules laid out by the US Forest Service, guided climbs in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness must occur Monday-Friday, group size is limited to 4 persons including guides.