We did this route with a rack of just BD .5-2 and a 20m rope in 10.5 hours, descending via the SE ridge and O'Brien Lake, moving fast but taking leisurely breaks. There are plenty of opportunities to make the climbing more exciting, but if you take the easiest lines it might be closer to 5.0. We only took out the rope twice, both times to take steeper lines that could have been easily avoided if we were soloing. Climbers with experience soloing this sort of terrain probably won't have much trouble without a rope.
Descending via SE Ridge / O'Brien Lake is pretty unpleasant for the most part, although it is pretty. If you want to avoid loose shale / scree / bushwacking, consider downclimbing the way you came up.
ski629 - Sep 2, 2022 2:47 pm - Hasn't voted
Overall, a fun moderate routeWe did this route with a rack of just BD .5-2 and a 20m rope in 10.5 hours, descending via the SE ridge and O'Brien Lake, moving fast but taking leisurely breaks. There are plenty of opportunities to make the climbing more exciting, but if you take the easiest lines it might be closer to 5.0. We only took out the rope twice, both times to take steeper lines that could have been easily avoided if we were soloing. Climbers with experience soloing this sort of terrain probably won't have much trouble without a rope.
Descending via SE Ridge / O'Brien Lake is pretty unpleasant for the most part, although it is pretty. If you want to avoid loose shale / scree / bushwacking, consider downclimbing the way you came up.