larch32 - Jun 6, 2018 10:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 9, 2014
Fun
But terrifyingly soft snow if I remember correctly
wyatt_meyers - Oct 24, 2017 2:00 pm Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2017
Bagged
Found the non-existant summit log. Hadn't been signed since 2011. See if you can find it, it's in a Gatorade bottle. Great summit, brought tear to my eyes. Always wanted to get up this one because it stares at you when you're in Stanely. Went strait up from the start of the basin, didn't go to the ridge in the back, worked out fine.
Super Dave - Sep 10, 2017 6:22 pm Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2017
SW Face
Climbed Williams as one of 9 summits during an amazing 4-day backpacking trip in the Sawtooths. Climbed the SW face from the Williams/Thompson saddle. Loose talus down low, but the ridge was great fun. Trip Report
sjaxon16 - Aug 20, 2016 12:39 pm Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2012
Williams Peak
One of my favs!
derekperc - Jan 22, 2015 8:27 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2014
my first sawtooth summit
got a little confused getting back to the basin- there was a fork in the climbers trail that wasn't mentioned in my reading. going right brought me up toward the east ridge. i worked my way back down. from the basin, i started working my way up a little early (didn't go all the way back near the thompson-williams saddle). it was a fun climb but I wound up on a false summit, which was 2 spires away from the actual summit. it was an exciting class 3 for sure.
ticopeaking - Apr 17, 2014 5:42 am Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2013
first of many
First time peakbagging... greatest feeling to summit with my buddy Jerrod. i am hooked for life.
jafriesen - Aug 6, 2013 8:21 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2013
SW face to ridge
Climbed Williams on the way up to Thompson from the Redfish TH. Had a nice hike to the SW face and picked a line straight to the ridge. After gaining the ridge, had a lot of fun climbing over and under several towers of rock and false summits. Saw 9 mountain goats running along the north ridge and cliffs along the south face. After following the ridge to the summit block, I hesitated for a bit until I found the chute that goes up almost directly west. From there, it was straight to the top after a quick and narrow traverse north to the true summit. What an awesome climb!
markthejock - Feb 18, 2012 7:08 am Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2010
SE slope
Climbed up the SE slopes after setting up camp at the small lake beneath the Williams/Thompson saddle.
mansfieo - Nov 1, 2011 2:56 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2011
SE slopes
This would make a great ski descent! Maybe this spring. Great angle, exposure, and nice perspective on Thompson.
alex - Jul 22, 2010 1:29 am Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2010
Excellent Adventure
Ascended the Southeast ridge until it stopped short of the summit. Saw the goat and tried ascending the Southwest ridge before hitting a larger face than I was prepared to scale solo. After another try, I finally found the correct gulley that led to the last section of the thin Southwest ridge to the summit. An excellent, warm and cloudless day!
Perfect Day. Hiked south slopes close to Thompson saddle to gain the Williams ridge. The summit ridge is definitely interesting. Glad I had the gps with me to pin point the correct summit as many of the pinnacles seem like they are the 'one'. traversed the nrth west side of the ridge to reach the summit, and was greeted by the local mountain goat 100ft from the summit. Apparently he though it was a great day to summit as well!
Took Alpine way from Stanley ranger station dirt road. Into Thompson Lake basin and up snow to Thompson-Williams steep snow/rock headwall. No need to go up headwall and around to dense tree stand on SW side. Just went straight up dirty south slopes to ridgeline. Then some ups and downs on N side of SW ridge. Lost some time in class 4 dead ends on last 2 towers. Finally found way to top on loose west slopes. Top-most ridge is narrow 2ft wide, exciting and beatiful white rock. Great views. Big thunderstorms and got snowed on while on summit and coming down. Back down alpine way to Redfish Lake backpackers lot. Roundtrip time of 7 hours. Excellent day!
kdonaldson - Aug 17, 2008 4:12 pm Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2008
South Slopes
Went up with my friend Brandon and 3 dogs to attempt Willams from the Southern Slopes. Stated class 3 turned out to be more of a route finding problem than expected. Left the redfish trailhead at 6:35. At a leisurely pace - reached the junction to head up into the Thompson/Williams valley after 1.5 hours. No problems until we started heading up the south slopes. It is difficult to figure out which point is the high point from the slopes and I had not committed the image to memory. I was route finding in front with two of the dogs, and we got a little too far to the left and got up into some tricky class 3, which was too challenging for the dogs. Cross back down and to the climbers right until reach a wide drainage almost in the middle of the slope (which is what you should target). With tired dogs, and Brandons leg cramping up, they decided to rest, and were not going to head to the summit. It looked close and I felt good. It was about 11:10 AM. I went up sticking on the class 3 rock over the loose gravel of the gully, and summited in about 40 minutes. 15-20 minutes later I was back down with Brandon and the dogs. Tricky decent, and best to stick to rock where possible. We were back down to the car at about 3:15 pm. Went up and grabbed a swim in redfish lake, and a burger at the lodge.
Great day.
awilsondc - Jun 29, 2006 9:17 pm Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2006
Route Climbed: East Ridge via SE slopes
I just got back into Idaho for a couple weeks and couldn't wait to get up into the mountains. I was worried about snow so I was wondering what I could do with a good class 3/4 climb on a south facing slope. The answer was obvious!.... I had no idea. Thank god for SP! I found this page and it fit what I wanted to do perfectly. I took the fishhook creek and alpine way trails until the trail faded on the SE slope of Williams. From there I traversed west while climbing until I reached the ridge, and then scrambled up to the summit. What an AMAZING scramble!!! Sooooo much fun! There was still plenty of snow in the sawtooths, but it didn't effect the climb up, and made for some good glissading to speed up the descent. Good views from the summit too!
Route Climbed: East Ridge- Class 4 Date Climbed: September 28, 2005
Great trail run, then an exciting scramble up and over many pinnacles and across some steep gullies. Mountain Goats near the ridge and great views of Thompson.
larch32 - Jun 6, 2018 10:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 9, 2014
FunBut terrifyingly soft snow if I remember correctly
wyatt_meyers - Oct 24, 2017 2:00 pm Date Climbed: Jul 24, 2017
BaggedFound the non-existant summit log. Hadn't been signed since 2011. See if you can find it, it's in a Gatorade bottle. Great summit, brought tear to my eyes. Always wanted to get up this one because it stares at you when you're in Stanely. Went strait up from the start of the basin, didn't go to the ridge in the back, worked out fine.
Super Dave - Sep 10, 2017 6:22 pm Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2017
SW FaceClimbed Williams as one of 9 summits during an amazing 4-day backpacking trip in the Sawtooths. Climbed the SW face from the Williams/Thompson saddle. Loose talus down low, but the ridge was great fun. Trip Report
sjaxon16 - Aug 20, 2016 12:39 pm Date Climbed: Sep 9, 2012
Williams PeakOne of my favs!
derekperc - Jan 22, 2015 8:27 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2014
my first sawtooth summitgot a little confused getting back to the basin- there was a fork in the climbers trail that wasn't mentioned in my reading. going right brought me up toward the east ridge. i worked my way back down. from the basin, i started working my way up a little early (didn't go all the way back near the thompson-williams saddle). it was a fun climb but I wound up on a false summit, which was 2 spires away from the actual summit. it was an exciting class 3 for sure.
ticopeaking - Apr 17, 2014 5:42 am Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2013
first of manyFirst time peakbagging... greatest feeling to summit with my buddy Jerrod. i am hooked for life.
jafriesen - Aug 6, 2013 8:21 pm Date Climbed: Jul 16, 2013
SW face to ridgeClimbed Williams on the way up to Thompson from the Redfish TH. Had a nice hike to the SW face and picked a line straight to the ridge. After gaining the ridge, had a lot of fun climbing over and under several towers of rock and false summits. Saw 9 mountain goats running along the north ridge and cliffs along the south face. After following the ridge to the summit block, I hesitated for a bit until I found the chute that goes up almost directly west. From there, it was straight to the top after a quick and narrow traverse north to the true summit. What an awesome climb!
markthejock - Feb 18, 2012 7:08 am Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2010
SE slopeClimbed up the SE slopes after setting up camp at the small lake beneath the Williams/Thompson saddle.
mansfieo - Nov 1, 2011 2:56 pm Date Climbed: Aug 9, 2011
SE slopesThis would make a great ski descent! Maybe this spring. Great angle, exposure, and nice perspective on Thompson.
alex - Jul 22, 2010 1:29 am Date Climbed: Jul 20, 2010
Excellent AdventureAscended the Southeast ridge until it stopped short of the summit. Saw the goat and tried ascending the Southwest ridge before hitting a larger face than I was prepared to scale solo. After another try, I finally found the correct gulley that led to the last section of the thin Southwest ridge to the summit. An excellent, warm and cloudless day!
SawtoothExplorer - Jul 19, 2009 6:43 pm Date Climbed: Jul 18, 2009
South Slopes - SW RidgePerfect Day. Hiked south slopes close to Thompson saddle to gain the Williams ridge. The summit ridge is definitely interesting. Glad I had the gps with me to pin point the correct summit as many of the pinnacles seem like they are the 'one'. traversed the nrth west side of the ridge to reach the summit, and was greeted by the local mountain goat 100ft from the summit. Apparently he though it was a great day to summit as well!
sprosseda - Jul 9, 2009 5:50 pm Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2009
South Slope to SW ridgeTook Alpine way from Stanley ranger station dirt road. Into Thompson Lake basin and up snow to Thompson-Williams steep snow/rock headwall. No need to go up headwall and around to dense tree stand on SW side. Just went straight up dirty south slopes to ridgeline. Then some ups and downs on N side of SW ridge. Lost some time in class 4 dead ends on last 2 towers. Finally found way to top on loose west slopes. Top-most ridge is narrow 2ft wide, exciting and beatiful white rock. Great views. Big thunderstorms and got snowed on while on summit and coming down. Back down alpine way to Redfish Lake backpackers lot. Roundtrip time of 7 hours. Excellent day!
kdonaldson - Aug 17, 2008 4:12 pm Date Climbed: Aug 16, 2008
South SlopesWent up with my friend Brandon and 3 dogs to attempt Willams from the Southern Slopes. Stated class 3 turned out to be more of a route finding problem than expected. Left the redfish trailhead at 6:35. At a leisurely pace - reached the junction to head up into the Thompson/Williams valley after 1.5 hours. No problems until we started heading up the south slopes. It is difficult to figure out which point is the high point from the slopes and I had not committed the image to memory. I was route finding in front with two of the dogs, and we got a little too far to the left and got up into some tricky class 3, which was too challenging for the dogs. Cross back down and to the climbers right until reach a wide drainage almost in the middle of the slope (which is what you should target). With tired dogs, and Brandons leg cramping up, they decided to rest, and were not going to head to the summit. It looked close and I felt good. It was about 11:10 AM. I went up sticking on the class 3 rock over the loose gravel of the gully, and summited in about 40 minutes. 15-20 minutes later I was back down with Brandon and the dogs. Tricky decent, and best to stick to rock where possible. We were back down to the car at about 3:15 pm. Went up and grabbed a swim in redfish lake, and a burger at the lodge.
Great day.
awilsondc - Jun 29, 2006 9:17 pm Date Climbed: Jun 28, 2006
Route Climbed: East Ridge via SE slopesI just got back into Idaho for a couple weeks and couldn't wait to get up into the mountains. I was worried about snow so I was wondering what I could do with a good class 3/4 climb on a south facing slope. The answer was obvious!.... I had no idea. Thank god for SP! I found this page and it fit what I wanted to do perfectly. I took the fishhook creek and alpine way trails until the trail faded on the SE slope of Williams. From there I traversed west while climbing until I reached the ridge, and then scrambled up to the summit. What an AMAZING scramble!!! Sooooo much fun! There was still plenty of snow in the sawtooths, but it didn't effect the climb up, and made for some good glissading to speed up the descent. Good views from the summit too!
SawtoothSean - Jan 4, 2006 7:05 pm
Route Climbed: East Ridge- Class 4 Date Climbed: September 28, 2005Great trail run, then an exciting scramble up and over many pinnacles and across some steep gullies. Mountain Goats near the ridge and great views of Thompson.