White Pine TH - 7,704'
Take the 6200 South exit (exit #6) off I-215 and follow highway 190 south-east approximately 2 miles to the intersection with Big Cottonwood Canyon road. Continue straight through the stoplight and follow the road another 4 miles to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, where an electronic billboard on the right provides current road and/or weather conditions.

Drive 5.5 miles up Little Cottonwood Canyon (0.7 miles before Snowbird Ski Resort) approximately 30 min from Salt Lake City. There are signs marking the turnoff on the south side of the road for the trailhead parking lot. The turnoff is just past a turn in the road and is easy to miss. The turnoff for the Tanner's Flat campground is passed first, and then begin slowing down once you see the "White Pine Slide Area" sign.

Approach Stats
Distance: 2.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,400'

Take the White Pine trail across the river, and follow the old dirt road/trail as it traverses west before arcing up into White Pine Canyon. At the first switchback (1 mile) there is a more faint but still well-used trail crossing White Pine Canyon stream.

Take this trail to reach Red Pine Canyon. This trail climbs out of White Pine Canyon and continues traversing west before arcing up Red Pine Canyon. Just as the trail reaches the Red Pine Canyon stream (elev. 9,100') and the terrain flattens, there is an even more faint trail crossing the stream (2.5 miles). This trail heads into Maybird Gulch. Beware, this turnoff is easy to miss, especially in the winter when the sign and the bridge are covered in snow. From here there are three options to climbing the East Ridge. One is to gain the ridge by climbing the headwall of Maybird Fork, another is to scramble along the ridge dividing Maybird Fork from Red Pine Fork, and the most common way is to head up Red Pine Fork. The respective routes are discussed below.

Stats

General Route Stats(includes approach)
Distance:9 miles RT
Elevation Gain: 3700 ft

These stats are specifically for the Red Pine variation, but only a slight change in distance can be quantified for differences in route stats.

via Red Pine (cl. 2-3)

Continue heading up the Red Pine trail until you reach Red Pine Lake, which is 2.34 miles from the White Pine Trail.
At Red Pine Lake the rail fades, but remains slightly visible for the remainder of the hike. Keep hiking up towards the higher lake. At that lake a small ridge should be visible projecting out from the southwest end of the canyon headwall (its more apparent closer to the lake). Scramble up this small ridge to gain the skyline (class 2, moderate snow). This moderate ridge is one of two points along the route prone to avalanche danger and is sometimes corniced at the top. From here it is a relatively flat hike along a more obvious trail towards the east side of the Pfeifferhorn along the divide between Maybird Gulch and Dry Creek Canyon.

Before reaching the peak, the trail becomes more faint again as you scramble along a mildly exposed ridgeline (class 2-3), mostly follwing ledges on the north side of the ridge above Maybird Gulch. Beyond the scrambling the trail reappears and switchbacks up the east side of the peak (which can have some danger of avalanching), gaining the summit. One can also opt for a more direct and steeper line by following the ridgeline straight up to the summit from the lower ridge scramble.

via Maybird Gulch (cl. 2-3)

This route involves significant boulder-hopping when snow isn't present.

The trail arcs around the rugged ridgeline dividing Red Pine Canyon and Maybird Gulch and heads up the eastern side of the Gulch. From here one is treated with the first views of the Pfeifferhorn. To the right is pt. 10,516, which has a rather interesting summit block spire. To the left is a dramatic rock feature I've dubbed the Maybird Palisades. These offer some possible fun top-roping crack and dihedral climbs. There are three small lakes a little ways off trail to the right (west). These lakes provide your last chance to refill water.
Soon once reaches the open bowl at the top of Maybird Gulch. From here, cross the bowl (a long boulder-hop when there is no snow) and follow the line of least resistance up the steep slope. A more interesting line is to ascend right along the base of the northeast face of the Pfeifferhorn. Once the cirque headwall is gained, scramble directly up the rocky ridge to the summit, or ascend the more moderate trail that switchbacks up a subtle chute to the south (this chute may have some danger of avalanching).

via Maybird Palisades (cl. 3-4)

This is probably the slowest variation up the Pfeifferhorn, but for the scrambler, it is also probably the most fun. It is also the most safe from avalanching. It has more exposure than the other variations, with a lot of class 3-4 scrambling.

Take the trail described earlier that branches off from Red Pine and heads into Maybird Gulch. As you round the corner to the gulch, pick your way up to the dividing ridge via the easiest line possible. This end of the ridge is fairly moderate.

As you work farther on the ridge, the ridge narrows, with the west side becoming more sheer than the east side. Eventually you will be climbing up and down around many gendarmes, with an exposed dropoff to the west.

Once on the ridge, follow it all the way to pt. 10,897 and follow the cirque headwall of Maybird Gulch via the remainder of the route described in the Red Pine variation.

WARNING: I have not yet done this ridge, and I haven't seen it described in guidebooks. I'm planning on attempting it as a descent route later this year, and I determined a difficulty range by how it looked from different angles. Until I can climb it to get confirmation, the difficulty ratings might actually be different.

Essential Gear

Summer:
10 Essentials and good hiking boots. Water can be refilled at the Red Pine and Maybird Lakes, so little is needed. A helmet is recommended for the Maybird variation.

Winter:
Skis/Snowshoes are can be helpful. Avalanche beacons and rescue gear are a must for ascending the East Ridge as there is mildto severe exposure to avalanche danger depending on the route chosen.

Miscellaneous Info

If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.

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