Possible Entiat Traverse

[Erik Aagaard]

Hey all, I am looking at the Entiat niners for some time this summer and was wondering what you all would think on the viability of a route that I haven't been able to find anything about. I am very familiar with the surrounding area near spider meadows and Holden and have had many trips there. That being said, I have never really looked at the mountains there from the perspective of a climber until I ran up Maude with my dad last summer and got the chance to look over towards Fernow and 7fj. Recently, I was talking to my grandfather about possible trips in the area (he went up on the Ice lakes side many times and has spent many summers at Holden) and he suggested including Dumbell in the trip. I have begun looking into a possible traverse starting by climbing Dumbell from the Phelps basin side and then traversing over on the long ride to the notch between Fernow and 7fj and then continuing as usual (climb Fernow, traverse back to 7fj, then climb it and Maude, and descend the south ridge of Maude to Leroy basin). As mentioned previously, I haven't been able to find any information the southeast ridge off Dumbell. Any information and especially pictures from the top of Dumbell looking down would be greatly appreciated. Attached is a map of the ridge in question.