Peak Nine Route

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Peak Nine Route

Peak Nine Route

Red = route taken and described Green = possible alternative routes (right Class 3+ and center Class 4??) Many other variations exist. Edited: 12/26/12
blueshade
on Sep 27, 2012 2:05 pm
Lat/Lon: 37.66915°N / 107.56062°W
Image ID: 816648

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awilsondc

awilsondc - Sep 27, 2012 3:29 pm - Voted 10/10

Excellent

Nice beta photo for Peak Nine! How is the climb? Class 3? Are there any major difficulties?

blueshade

blueshade - Sep 27, 2012 3:42 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Excellent

Hey awilsondc,
See the route page I just put up.
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=816680&confirm_post=12

I call it Class 3+, but mostly Class 2+.
Let me know if you still have any questions.

Kiefer

Kiefer - Oct 3, 2012 4:04 pm - Hasn't voted

Interesting...

When we climbed it/scrambled it, we choose the grass ramp that runs the whole length lower down than backtracked along the ridge. Some cairns were actually standing still.
Interesting route you took. I'd like to get down there again and poke around.

blueshade

blueshade - Oct 3, 2012 8:53 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Interesting...

That was the first (and only) place that I saw that had access to get on the route. The technical parts were fun and the rest was easy. However, I don't doubt that there are others. Feel free to download the route pic and add your own (or post one separately).

westanimas

westanimas - Dec 26, 2012 1:09 am - Hasn't voted

Route

I thought this approach was fun but I found the rock to be fairly stable for the San Juans. I think it is also possible to come up the spine of the mountain from the Silex/Guardian gulley. What did you think of the Lake Silex pass seen from here?

blueshade

blueshade - Dec 26, 2012 9:50 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Route

I actually originally intended to follow the ridge from Peak Nine to Silex. However, given my tight schedule, I didn't want to risk having to turn back. I still think it's probably doable, although it would only take one spot that has a drop-off or extremely bad rock to stop you in your tracks (not to mention probably a few spots with decent exposure). It may well be possible on the Northeast Face by Storm King, too, though likely steep and committing. I wouldn't mind trying both someday.

Did you do the route I described (or something very similar) or another way?

The Lake Silex Pass looks steep. As I say in a TR I'm about to post, I opted to go around Peak Nine rather than try it (comparable to the Little Finger pass, I would imagine). Really, I thought Silex and the Guardian were rather bland (and far) peaks anyhow, only noteworthy to add to a collection (although Silex would have nice views with clear skies).

Yeah, the rock isn't too bad- but there is a lot of that "kitty litter" gravel overlaying the easier part of the route.

westanimas

westanimas - Dec 30, 2012 11:30 pm - Hasn't voted

Re: Route

I took a very similar route to yours. I think I started at the base in a slightly different place because I was looking for some nice class 4 stuff, but I eventually gained the upper slopes and traversed up and across just as in your photo.

Your choice to go around Peak 9 instead of over the Silex pass was a good one. The Silex pass is doable, but twice I've tried it and I found the material in there to be awful. The northeast face seen from Storm King is nearly a vertical pitch... Impressive from the saddle at Storm King.

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