Mt Borah, ID - Chicken Out Ridge

Chicken Out Ridge in October. Mt Borah - Lost River Range, Idaho The standard route climbs the ever steepening ridge to a V-notch that narrowly avoids the steeper rock on the north side of the ridge and then crosses over to the tan band on the south side of the ridge (make sure to note the location of this notch for your descent). Once you reach the black band, stay true to the ridge top until you reach the short steep downclimb to the small saddle on the ridge. Getting across this saddle often includes a short, but level snow crossing that normally doesn't require the use of an ice axe by mid-summer. From the notch, traverse the northwest face staying below the false summit to a large saddle from where there are a number of possible routes up the final summit pyramid. It is possible to avoid Chicken-Out-Ridge all the way to the notch by staying low and traversing around to the south but it involves careful route finding and 4th class climbing on very loose rock. We used this way of descent one time to avoid lightning strikes on the ridge but I would not recommend it otherwise. Click here to see my other route photo with more detail.