Leavenworth 2025 | Mostly Rocks

I went to seven weddings, two funerals, and my dad’s birthday this summer, but I still managed to have some awesome days of climbing at home! I spent fun days out with friends this spring, sent some projects, and had some alpine adventures this summer. I love living here!

Early Season

Nothing beats Leavenworth spring! Blooming wildflowers, gushing rivers, icy peaks, and, best of all, great friends! I was most proud of sending No Such Thing As Free Lunge this spring. I spent a few sessions working the route and walked it on my first redpoint attempt — then redpointed Das Musak on my first attempt not 1 hour later. It just goes to show that you can easily climb above your grade if you take the time to project!

West Face of North Early Winters Spire

I think this was my 5th time climbing this route but the company was better than ever. Still, we were a bit early and I ended up climbing the entire damn thing in my fingerless gloves while it snowed sideways! It's good to be psyched, sometimes it's also good to reign it in... I think it's usually worth finding out though!

The Hitchhiker

My 2nd time climbing this route and a much better experience! I convinced Max to let me lead all the cruxes and was pleased to send the entire route with ease! Never before have I seen such measurable gains in rock climbing than flailing my way up this route 3 years ago and returning to walk it. Speaking of walking, we botched the approach by coming up from the hairpin. Turns out it's way more efficient to come up from Blue Lake Trailhead and stash packs below the rappel. Lesson learned! Great day.

The Tempest

When Jimmy and I got beta from Stuart and Chris that climbing Miracle Whip into the tempest was a type 1 blast, I expected another Dragons of Eden. I critically erred by forgetting that those two can be dirty sandbaggers! While we didn't have trouble with the climbing per se, we encountered some massive, sketchy flakes getting into P2 of Miracle Whip (which was awesome higher up but probably not worth it) and dirty, kitty litter conditions throughout the Tempest headwall. While it was fun to be out on CBR I would climb the trade routes on CBR (not to mention Dragons) a few more times before even considering this again.

Liberty Crack

A few days after getting back from Europe I joined up with Jimmy and Willy to climb Liberty Crack. I had a major advantage from the time change and was wide awake by 4am! This backfired severaly on my way home when I had to pull over and sleep in a park near Orondo for 3 hours — whoops. Fun day, fun route — I think I prefer the Hitchhiker because it's cleaner and less thuggy.