Waterfall Buttress

A modern classic that ascends the prominent rib above Martha's Place. Climbing is a varied mix of bolted face and cracks, mainly thin. The thin flare on pitch 2 is more like something you'd encounter at Index or Yosemite, but quite unusual for Darrington.

The buttress is left of a major slab waterfall and its prominence gives it protection from snow or debris from above. The base of the route is commonly buried under residual avalanche snow for much of the climbing season. Facing east, it gets direct sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. The following pitch descriptions supplement the topo.

1. Boulder/scramble about 50' up to a ledge, then angle up and left with occasional gear to the first bolt, another 50' up. Follow the rounded rib past 6 bolts to the bolted belay. 5.8+

2. Head up and a bit right to gain a lower angle slab to reach a prominent finger crack heading up the steeper wall on the right. Climb the crack/flare with some tricky thin gear placements. 5.9

3. From the belay, angle slightly left up the buttress past 5 bolts to an obvious cedar bush. Launch up the flaring slot on the right (dirty and awkward bit) and when it arches over, break onto the face above and easier climbing. 5.9+

4. Easy blocky pitch up lower-angled section of the rib. Avoid the large loose block near the start on either side. 5.4

5. A challenging pitch that heads up and over the crest (4 bolts) to a steeper face with a thin crack up the middle. This airy section protects with thin gear. 5.9+

6. Continue slightly left of the crest for a short pitch of nondescript climbing. Find the final bolted anchor behind a cedar tree. 5.7, optional pitch.

Rappel the route with 2 x 60 m ropes. When you descend the lower angle part of pitch 4, stay ‘skiers right’ to avoid getting pulled left toward the gully. Careful not to dunk your rope in the creek at the bottom!

Pitch 3 has a stunning thin crack variation to the right that goes at 5.10d.

The description and topo draw many details from the Rattle and Slime CD guidebook (2nd edition) by Dave Whitelaw, supplemented by subsequent ascents.

From Martha’s Place, hike directly up talus to the buttress toe. From the lower right corner, continue ~200’ leftward up the boulder stream along the base. The real climbing starts on a ledge around 50’ up, which is reached by a bit of mid-fifth bouldering and some scrambling.

Medium rack of cams and nuts to 2", with extras smaller than 1". All belays/rappels are bolted.