mountainmandoug Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 A question that came up recently. What is the technically hardest mountain in the Olympic Range? That would be the peak with hardest standard rout, not the peak with the hardest approach or the hardest rout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Ironically, Cruiser? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 A question that came up recently. What is the technically hardest mountain in the Olympic Range? That would be the peak with hardest standard rout, not the peak with the hardest approach or the hardest rout. How does rock quality enter in to your rankings? There are a lot of class 4s that will kill you there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainmandoug Posted December 9, 2007 Author Share Posted December 9, 2007 I assume terrible rock anywhere in the Olympics, and I was looking for difficulty rather than danger. There are lots of 4x routs in the Olympics (and probably some of them are considered that due to the rock being so poor it wouldn't hold gear). I'm wondering if it isn't probably something in the Needles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Pinnacles or summits? The debate widens. I havent done alot of either in the range, I know a bunch of them are hard to get to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepires Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 the hardest route is the one having the most fun confounding and scaring climbers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndavidjr Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 An entirely separate question would be "what is hardest route in Olympics." I'm not remotely qualified to answer either the original question posed here, nor my question. It seems, however, the hardest rating in guidebook is somewhat obscure route on Mt Constance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicoli11 Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 What about st peters dome...whats up with that thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dannible Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I think St. Peter's is just a steepish snow deal, and isn't that remote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jport Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Cruiser is a good climb. There are several options on the actual summit block. We scoped out the 5.7 variation, but opted for the east face (not sure the actual name?). If I recall, there's a 5.8 variation too. I don't have the guide book in front of me to confirm that, though. The climbing is straight-forward, but protection is difficult to come by. There's lots of downward sloping shelves and not many cracks or pockets for gear... just means a little more run-out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Mt. Anderson West Peak? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremerton_john Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 I like this question, it wasn't something I'd considered before. "The technically hardest standard route." I interpret this as "the peak with the technically hardest, easiest way up it". While there are routes on Constance that are technically harder than the standard routes on everything else in the Olympics, the standard route up Constance is only class 3. Cruiser is a good guess, but it's standard route is rated 5.0. I got to thinking about one's I've been up before and thought maybe Destroyer (5.4) or the Horn (5.5). So then I went through the guidebook and looked at each one, including all pinnacles and peaks, great and small, and discovered the answer to be....Infinity Tower, located on Alphabet ridge rated at 5.6. First free ascent 1985. Go get it boys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlympicMtnBoy Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 You looking for a partner Doug? We should get out some time, it's been a while since we were trekking through swamps in ESAR together. I was up on Cloudy Peak checking out Alphabet Ridge a couple springs ago, didn't have any gear though. I have some ideas for some 5.6+ route FAs too. To add to the debate, aren't there a couple pinnacles where the standard route involved aid (Snifter Tower?). I don't have my guide book near, but there are probably folks out there who would consider A3 harder than 5.6. Hehehehe, I'd love to go repeat those (although I'd bet most are freeable). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Ahem.. What about the Sawtooth Ridge Traverse , as long as you are expanding the debate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bremerton_john Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 OK Wayne, your's wins for "hardest standard traverse route" in the Olympics. I'm making new categories you see. Actually, I did wonder about some of the un-named little spires you guys went up and over: i.e. The Blob. Care to establish a grade on any of those individuals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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