PRINT: Rock Climb Givler's Crack, Central-East Cascades, Wenatchee, & Leavenworth

Givler's Crack

5.7+, Trad, 2 pitches, Grade II,

Avg: 3.1 from 155 votes
FA: Steve Marts 1970s
Washington > Central-E Casca… > Leavenworth > Icicle Creek > Givler's & Magi… > Givler's Dome

Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closures Details

Each year, the USFS monitors for raptor nesting.

A pair of golden eagles regularly nest on Bridge Creek Wall. When in effect, starting January 1, PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB or travel within 1/2 mile of Bridge Creek Wall. As a reference, the climb Condorphamine Addiction is just outside of this 1/2 mile buffer, and is OK to climb still. The closure extends through August 15, but there is active monitoring to determine if the seasonal closure can be lifted earlier.

In 2014, there was an active pair of peregrine falcons at Snow Creek Wall, but no official closure was put in effect due to the location of the falcons. The site will be continually monitored with changes or removal of closures updated as necessary.

Description

Givler's Crack is the prominent 250 foot hand crack on the front of Givler's Dome, surrounded by an obvious white wear streak. The Kramar guidebook calls it "one of the most popular routes" in the area.

It's an okay route, and a decent lead for a 5.7 leader, but it's a long way up there and the good climbing on this one is fairly short. I personally don't think it's worth the approach. There are a handful of other routes in the area, but if you're coming up to lead Givler's, you probably won't be leading them.

P1. Begin in an alcove near a tree. Some tricky moves off the ground lead to an obvious crack heading up and left. Belay on top of the horizontal flake. ~40 feet, 5.7+.

P2. Head straight up the hand crack above you. The initial climbing is fun and interesting 5.7 with good gear, but after 50 feet or so, the angle of the dome begins to fall off and the climbing gets easier and easier and less and less interesting.

To descend, walk off the back of the dome to the left.

Protection

Gear to 3"

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Splitter!

Givler's Dome with Givler's Crack

Looking down from the top of Givler's Crack, great route!

on ledge 45 ft below flake

The first pitch.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Ray Birks

The hike takes over half an hour. The route itself is very fun simply because the crack is consistent and there are lots of gear placements. The beginning is awkward and that's where the 5.7+ comes in. I thought it was harder than that but you can bypass the beginning by walking around to the right and up the ramp. We broke it up into three pitches so we could all lead. I led to the ramp, and then up to the top of the flake, and then up the crack about 3/4 of the way. My wife led the last part of the crack. Apr 27, 2006

Rafe

5.7+

Very nice crack. It's worth the hike if you haven't done it. Bo Derek is also really good..makes the hike even more worth it...once anyways.. May 5, 2009

Scott Matz
Loveland, CO

watch your legs ,Andy had to step over a rattler, just above the ramp. they seem pretty nice, if you leave them a lone Jun 22, 2009

Adam Volwiler
Spokane

If you have a 70 and are willing to build an anchor about 10 feet from the top you can always do it in one pitch. I was having so much fun I just kept going and about 10 feet from the top I ran out of rope. If you bypass the 5.7 start by walking up the ramp to the right you can do the pitch in one long rope stretcher for sure. Jun 20, 2011

Temo Reyna
Sacramento, CA

5.7

Yeah, this route is definitely a rope stretcher. No real crux. 25 minute hike. 15 minute route. 20 min descent. Bring a 70m and a couple hand size pieces. Oct 3, 2011

Jake Douglas

The beginning feels more like 5.8, but is a good challenge and you get a stance to get a solid piece or two in above you to keep you off the ground with a tight belay. I recommend giving it a try.

After traversing left to the base of the "blank" section, a person of about 6 feet can reach up and place a decent 0.4 or 0.5 in the crack above before stepping up, and then another one shortly after before gaining the crack.

From there it's all great jams and even though it looks steeper the climbing just gets easier the higher you go. The long stretch to the top is probably the part that a newer person should lead, as it is the most secure climbing and as well protected as you can get. Oct 16, 2014

Tess Wendel
Seattle, WA

The approach hike meant no leavenworth lines for us even though it was a beautiful sunny weekend day. If you have a new trad leader I definitely recommend pitch 2 for them because it has great easy climbing, beautiful crack with good feet for getting practice placing nuts. Jun 28, 2016

Brian K
Seattle, WA

This is a great route that is made even better by the 30 m hike up--placing you high above the road and giving the climb a more "alpine" feel. As others have mentioned, if you start from the very bottom you can make a belay at the top of the larger flakes ~40-50 ft off the ground. From there a 60m gets you to the top, with a walk off. Apr 23, 2018

Adam Wood
seattle

Lead this in a driving rain storm years ago. I think I got 10 feet off the ground before the deluge. The day ended blurry at October fest. This is a fun little granite sprint and deserves the classic status Oct 20, 2021

Yuval B
Leavenworth, WA

Cannot understand the one star ratings for this route.. . Epic location above the icicle, this is basically the little brother of the outer space splitter that you could do in an afternoon after hitting der town, what's not to love? Sep 10, 2023

Ryan Minton
Leavenworth, WA

Agree with Yuval, this is a classic in my opinion! Really nice climbing, and the position is hard to beat! Apr 16, 2024

bill h

Fun climb, especially as I'm new to leading trad. For beta on the approach, go left when you get to Eagle Feather Buttress. It wasn't quite clear to us at the time, but we tried to reassemble some of the cairns.

Sad note, for the first time in my life, I dropped an ATC and it went right down crack on the flake. You can actually still see it, but it's too deep to get with anything that we had. Jul 12, 2024

Colter M
Everett, WA

5.7

I wanted to note that you can actually top rope solo (most of) this whole route with a 70m. It is super easy to hike around on the west side and find the top of the crack with the boulder next to it. I used some tat around the boulder as my main anchor and then refixed once down the crack to prevent too much stretch. The fall line is super vertical so you barley even need directionals! The 70 got me to the base of the real climbing with make a few meters to spare. Splitter perfect hands for maybe 60-90 feet before the angle lessens! Really enjoyable route in a fantastic setting. Feb 11, 2026