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- Oct 06, 2011
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Fall Rock Climbing in Leavenworth
Early October often provides good weather in the Northwest. MM Guide Ian Nicholson and climber Reid Walker found a window of good weather in Leavenworth long enough to get in a great custom one to one rock trip to introduce Reid into the world of outdoor climbing. Custom trips are not only great for catering to your own personal objectives, but the one on one training you can receive from your guide will push you farther than you expected to go! Ian writes about Reid’s awesome successes on his first climbs on Leavenworth rock.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=9b86e11569536e7a76eacf63ae5a0bd7 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=db46d9b24931fb6fdf2124ff073c5bae 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=53235ffd8f5d462ab707274a5695c61f 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=562adfc1ead268a8a7ffb778a6bc8047 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=e7e1b4b62026d2058ac8a008417a18a5 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=ce6e2998d649fb6c30fbd3f949f2c8ff 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=2347a676d00d3b9c2b5bc45999bf37ff 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=10a73123df514fb2773fa50eb62d45c2 767w)
Placing gear. Ian Nicholson photo
“Reid Walker picked me up at my house in Seattle at 7 am under cloudy skies and light rain. We drove over Stevens Pass where we were greeted by far nice weather in the quaint Bavarian town of Leavenworth. The town was packed with hundreds of people dressed in traditional lederhosen for Oktoberfest.
“We grabbed one of the last available campsites at 8 Mile Campground, then drove over to Barney’s Rubble, and under a small overhang we spent the morning learning knots and about our equipment. Later in the morning the clouds broke and the sun poked out, so we hopped back in the car and drove to the Mountaineer’s Dome, where we went over belaying, rappelling, equipment, placing natural protection and equalizing anchors, among other things. We also rock climbed; this was Reid’s first time ever climbing outside and he did great! So great, in fact, that our next stop of the day was the famous 500-foot tall Icicle Buttress, where we climbed one of the oldest technical rock routes in the state, the 5‑pitch R & D.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=3ad1eb87133781e773f7c996e0610de4 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=3530898094ab594780ec5f4f9b045f1a 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=b65aa9728924acca92f7017f71ba1ee4 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=0c92dd22ee805ea8e88228505cf66ca4 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=97ccd84c694c0f9c9e5b7893064816b7 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=539844aad91dae3dea794a55c4421fa2 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=cc1e69df0511ace525e5a4261934e02e 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock2.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=f95be0021bf2037da03335b686e7a84c 1024w)
Equalized anchor set-up. Ian Nicholson photo
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=6eeff6a27f4e6f6a271e5b334f50923f 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=08b1724e982a83e52501f2af2b21f96d 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=87743daa2c5ed8239a52cf779b931b6c 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=5bb9d1f631aff597ed0fbec04159c174 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=48744ce6a01bc00edb47153bd7f73f76 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=b5c5f2a62b5f27f1ef5e5b2398f622f0 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=985bb0be9e78ecf326039ea8b2622b96 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock3.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=fa9cf471fc1ce1ff3ddaa8cfa155cc05 767w)
The brief chimney section on R&D. Ian Nicholson photo
“After R & D, we went back to our camp and enjoyed a fabulous burrito dinner and some well-earned sleep. In the morning, I made eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. After breakfast we walked across the street and climbed the Tree Route, a popular 4‑pitch 5.6 that finishes on a notorious off-width crack on the third pitch.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=c7466ba1743c7aa38e7513ef8a645fa1 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=a7e14345aa45f399a9ea058c9a905a6c 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=f9481b246d36802d575daf684fb6ad9e 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=f0adf236af07561be1a3aa10a248ee1b 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=8f39f2f3653972fc30e26d20fc36b4c4 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=0c57ddd00586b6463197fc1ce315cd75 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=8134dbf4cd4c87044890ad8d20ca5b18 767w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock4.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=aa52aeea1028ff23068b15cdc456b947 767w)
On top of Icicle Buttress. Ian Nicholson photo
“Reid tweaked his right arm on the approach while stepping over a tree on the way to the climb, so we took it easy for a while in camp after the Tree Route. But Reid’s excitement began to grow, so we headed to the February Buttress and climbed Ground Hog Day: II, 5.7, 3 pitches. His arm was really bothering him so we went back to camp and not 20 minutes later, it began to rain.… HARD.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=5fb27e754ab281ea7dd05dd140b01d28 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=06ac53e25c4a2cf95d18cbb23e91867c 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=de7855b016243dcdfdd60cb02644788a 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=0178a055d92afb6678a08c4d5f1086c3 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=598062a6e7d5869af989d02901aad89d 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=6995141bb3449ad9c84840d7e6f5fffb 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=abc677030e1a988585ea2fc05c14929d 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock6.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=1bd942729f0ca6164d46e0df7b6ca870 1024w)
Some wide crack climbing. Ian Nicholson photo
“Despite the heavy rain, I made a spectacular dinner. Pancakes from scratch in the backcountry. I let the dough rise in my pocket and cooked it over the stove. It rained all night and in the morning we had a wonderful pancake breakfast and covered some new skills, in addition to reviewing others we had gone over the previous day. What a great introduction to rock for Reid, I hope to see him out on the granite again soon!”
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=c9bf8dd8a4e2cfb8582e2653c4bca498 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=daa7e47c710809d9fce05de185205ada 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=065c3799d0f4685133bc3974de39dcb1 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=baf20c62cbeb01780a72e5407a811f82 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=d515096d58cc3917b8d36dfba78dfcab 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=ea1546bdd48d97be9bcf7b9cfef2f580 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=a9deee248fef3962abddb5eeaa3b98aa 1024w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2Fnewswire%2Frock9.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=083357f0c45411ef91e650e790c6c61b 1024w)
Looking down on the Wenatchee River from Groundhog Day. Ian Nicholson photo