Hey everybody,

My friend and I did the North Ridge of Conness last year and had a blast. We're looking for something similar but a little harder to do this August. I'm very experienced but he's not, so I don't want to take him up anything too hard.

Do you have any suggestions? I've been poring over my guidebooks but I'd love to hear some ideas - maybe I'm missing something.

Thanks,
Chris

Hi Chris,

I noticed you are living in Alexandria, VA. I went to H.S. in Northern Va and spent my first summer in Alexandria. Anywhoo, have you considered a trip to the Washington Cascades? In August the weather is generally stable and reliable, no afternoon thunder storms to worry about, and super long days.

If you want to do alpine rock, the North Ridge of Stuart is one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America, pioneered by Fred Beckey and co. It is part of the Mt Stuart batholith which USGS geologist Isiah Russel called the largest granitic batholith in North America.

The entire ridge is ~3,000 ft long requiring ~30 pitches up to easy 5.10, however, there are a number of variations. You can skip the lower ridge and access the upper half of the ridge by crossing the Stuart Glacier (just a pocket glacier, not crevassed but you will want at least aluminum crampons on sturdy approach shoes and a light axe ). This variation goes at 5.4 to 5.7 depending upon if you stick to the crest or bypass harder sections by climbing on the west side of the ridge. One can also skip the Great Gendarme (5.9 offwidth) by making a rappel and then climbing low 5th and 4th class rock to the summit.

The North Side of Stuart is impressive, way more alpine feeling than even the North Face of Grand Teton, Longs Peak, of the East Face of Whitney. If you haven't been to the Cascades, you really owe yourself a visit. Just a thought.





EB

Southwest Face of Mt. Starr King. The hike in from Mono Meadows is about 5 miles. Could be done in a long day. Quickest is to descend the Northeast side. No rap stations, down climb or down protect and belay easy fifth class. Alternate would be to rap the Southeast Saddle but the hike out is longer and doesn't take you anywhere near the start of the climb if you drop gear.

chrisferro wrote:Hey everybody,

My friend and I did the North Ridge of Conness last year and had a blast. We're looking for something similar but a little harder to do this August. I'm very experienced but he's not, so I don't want to take him up anything too hard.

Do you have any suggestions? I've been poring over my guidebooks but I'd love to hear some ideas - maybe I'm missing something.

Thanks,
Chris

Shoot these guys a PM, they'll have great advice for you.

Viatliy M
Bob Burd
SKI
Fatdad

And Steve1215