Mt. Washington, East Face

[mattp]

The East face is a class three scramble, with an exciting finish leading directly to the summit. I have taken beginners up it several times and I would recommend it for a climber looking for a little more adventure than a walk up. It is better earlier in the season when some of the debris is covered with snow, but I climbed it this past weekend (late August) and we had a good trip. The route is not in the guidebook, or perhaps it is the route that is listed as the "East Ridge" but is not correctly described (the route never touches the east ridge and there is no chalkstone gully but I have talked to several people who went to climb the East Ridge and ended up on the E. Face headwall). Estimated time: four hours. A short rope might come in handy, and an ice axe is required until at least mid season.

Begin the climb on the Mt. Ellinor/Mt. Washington road, about a quarter mile past the turnoff for the upper Mt. Ellinor trailhead, and a couple hundred yards east of a prominent waterfall in a slot left of a hairpin turn. A climbers path ascends steeply through big timber on a wooded rib, and this can be followed for a thousand feet or so (keep in mind that the path is probably the variation of the standard route which the book says eventually cuts left to rejoin the South Ridge route, whereas the basin below the east face is quite far to the right of the rib). Where the woods begin to get rocky, look for a gully to the right which, after a very little bit of brush, opens up and climbs rightward to a little ridgelet below a rocky tower a couple hundred feet high. Traverse right below that tower, to reach an open basin below a larger tower, several hundred feet high. Scramble up and right, to emerge into the basin below the east face, where there is year 'round snow. This approach to that basin avoids much of the brushy and cliffy terrain that one encounters if they climb from the Jefferson Pass trail. There is a little bush, some scree, and a little scrambling, but nothing truly alarming.

From the basin, the seven hundred foot headwall appears ominous, but a low angled ramp leads from lower right, diagonally up and left to the summit. Scree or snow leads to the ramp, which is probably 30 to 35 degrees and offers a serious sense of exposure but no real technical challenge. Near the top, a horizontal ledge system crosses the ramp and a boot path enters from the left and exits to the right. The easiest route to the summit follows the gully (the final extension of that ramp) for another 100 feet or so to reach the summit blocks. On the descent, the path that came from the left will lead to the standard south ridge route ("route 1" in the Climber's Guide.)

[Fairweather]

mattp,

sounds like you had a good climb! Was there still snow in the big basin below the face? I've looked down the east face from the wide ledge of the normal route many times, but every time I contemplate doing that route I think about standard route climbers kicking loose rocks down the final gully just below the top and hence, down the east face. Was the rock solid on the face? Any problems with rockfall? ...Anyway, it was nice to see an Olympic Mtn. post for the first time in a while. My brother and I are going to do Mount Anderson, Eel Glacier from Hayden Pass a couple weeks from now. I'll be sure to add a trip report here...I don't want "Cascade Climbers" administrators to kill the "Olympic Climbers" section of this site! You do a lot in the Olympics? Love to hear!

[Drederek]

Have done the East Ridge twice. Once ten years ago and again this spring. Routefinding was fairly straightforward, stay on or near the ridge. Both times I went visibility was less than 100 feet. The first time our "guide" knew where the gully with the chockstone was (to reacquire the ridge) and we did some wonderful 4th class scrambling around it. The second time we had no "guide" and went up some other gully which turned into a wonderful 4th class slab, parts of which were fairly stable. One day I hope to do this route when there are no clouds and I can feel the exposure. I found the pictures in the guidebook more useful than the description although the clue about when to detour left and when to detour right seemed accurate. Have only descended east face and was glad to have axe along.

[mattp]

BR -

There was snow in the basin. A climber on the normal route did kick rocks in our direction, but the ramp on the east face headwall runs diagonally and the rockfall dropped into a gully/chiminey system to our left and we were probably in more danger from other climbers while descending the normal route.

I lived in Olympia twenty years ago and climbed in the Olympics then. I am still interested, though.

D -

Thanks for the info on the E. Ridge. It looks as if the rock could be pretty solid and very enjoyable; how was the "approach" on the lower portion of the ridge?

Matt

[Drederek]

From Jefferson pass up onto the ridge is fairly unpleasant. The hillside is pretty loose for the first few hundred yards. Once you hit rock its just fine.

[quikclimber]

anybody want to climb in the olympics, im fairly close and need somone to climb with. ive done washington and the brothers. i really want to do cruiser or constance. i have some free weekends this fall

[climberbro16]

Hey quikclimber. Im close to the olympics. I did Washington, The Brothers, Constance, Ellinor, and Deception, this summer. There all good climbs. I just thought Id tell you incase you needed any beta on Constance or cruiser. I just started climbing this season acually. Im not aasking to join you couse Im young. But I just thought Id say somethin.

 

[quikclimber]

hey im only 17, so if you want to go sometime. i have a few other guys my age to go with occasionally(seems they never can go). let me know about cruiser, im gonna try it as soon as i get time.