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Solitary Man

5.10b, Sport, 5 pitches,  Avg: 2.2 from 10 votes
FA: Dave Bale, Eric Bale, Bill Enger (2019)
Washington > Central-E Casca… > Leavenworth > Icicle Creek > Condor Buttress
Warning Access Issue: Seasonal Raptor Closures DetailsDrop down

Description

P1 (5.9, 35m): From Route Base, head up following bolts over ledges to begin the thin slabbing. Continue up on edges, making mantle moves til you reach the anchor.

P2 (10b, 35m): Continue up and trend leftwards, following bolts up the slab. Encounter the desperately thin crux before entering a dirty corner and making your way up 4th class terrain until you can pull yourself around the arete, and onto the face with two sets of bolted anchors. Pass the first set, and belay at the second.

P3 (5.6, 20m) Short and scrambly pitch. Head directly upwards, passing ledges and juggy smears until you find the next set of anchors above.

P4 (5.8, 35m) Step right up through dirty ledges and blocks till you can reach the first bolt on the arete. Pull around and follow bolts past edging, smears, and finally to a quartzite crack which leads to the next anchors.

P5 (5.6, 30m) Moderate terrain lead past multiple bulges to the summit block! Follow the bolts and you can’t go wrong.

To descend, either rappel Condorphamine Addiction with a 70m rope, or rappel into the gully and scramble off. The scramble took us much less time then rappelling.

Location

Leftmost bolted line on the Condor Buttress. If you are at the base of Condorphamine Addiction head leftwards up a small slab and keep your eye out for the bolts above. If you get to a rotten rock gully, you’ve gone too far.

Protection

Fully Bolted. 12 Quickdraws should be plenty. Alpine draws are extremely helpful for rope drag. 70m rope for rappels, or 60m if you plan to scramble.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Looking up at route from base
[Hide Photo] Looking up at route from base
Yellow is solitary man.  Red is Condorphamine.
[Hide Photo] Yellow is solitary man. Red is Condorphamine.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Jackson Bale
Leavenworth WA
 
[Hide Comment] FA: Dave Bale

Named Solitary Man for the long tedious days spent alone establishing the route Jun 20, 2023
Dave Bale
Leavenworth, WA
[Hide Comment] FA: Dave Bale, Eric Bale, Bill Enger Jun 20, 2023
Tyler Stockdale
Joshua Tree
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] Thanks Y’all! Had been planning to write to Viktor to ask FA info so this saves me a step.

And awesome route Dave! Must have been a mega day out putting that thing up. Please let me know if you have any updates to the grades I’ve listed, or the pitch description. Jun 20, 2023
Dave Bale
Leavenworth, WA
[Hide Comment] It took many days to establish. I posted a roue description on Leavenwoth Climbers Facebook page a few years ago. Jun 20, 2023
Adam Wood
seattle
[Hide Comment] “Long tedious days alone” seems to capture the honest truth of putting up new routes. Especially long ones. Between cleaning, using the stone to the best of its ability, deciding protection plus the rigging, moving equipment and getting established each day to solving the first three questions… it can take weeks or months of labor.

Cool to see more going up here. I always figured the condor buttress had money left on the table. Jun 20, 2023
Tyler Stockdale
Joshua Tree
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] Well said Adam! I, uhh… Definitely misread Jackson’s message above. Was a bit startled to think about putting up a route like that in a day.

Dave - I’ve updated the description to include your grade ratings and a bit of your verbage. Thanks again for the amazing route. Jun 21, 2023
Eric Bale
Leavenworth, wa
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] F.A. summer of 2019 with Dave and some help from Bill! Spent a lot of time hiking up and down that trail. Jun 27, 2023
Jackson Bale
Leavenworth WA
 
[Hide Comment] Crux is definitely harder than C.A. and is really well protected there. The route over all is definitely not pg13 but maybe compared to its neighbor IYKWIM ha Aug 28, 2024
Dan V
  5.10
[Hide Comment] Second Jackson's comments. The hardest climbing is well bolted and safe, but expect runouts on easier ground. On that note, one might consider bringing a piece or two in the .5-1 inch range to protect the dirty corner at the end of P2. It's easy climbing, but a slip or broken hold in the less than perfect rock would be ugly.
Good addition to the Condor Buttress, thanks first ascent team! Sep 21, 2024
tanner jones
leavenworth
  5.10b
[Hide Comment] P2 was mega. Super fun slabcore, exciting but safe. We linked p3 and p4 together with a 70m. Fun early spring route. Mar 22, 2025