Roosevelt/Kaleetan to Denny Mtn Traverse????

[nieveparasiempre]

I'm new to the PNW and got up to Snow Lake/Gem Lake yesterday to learn the lay of the land.

 

Wondering if anyone has done a full traverse from Mount Roosevelt moving east to Denny Mountain. This would incorporate hitting Roosevelt, Kaleetan, Chair Pk, Bryant, the Tooth, and Denny Mtn.???

 

If not, who's done parts of it?

 

 

[mountainsloth]

5.2 from roosevelt to kaleetan. one loose section. i assume the rest is mostly scrambling and one long day!

[nieveparasiempre]

Awesome. I saw the 5.2 section in Becky's book. Would any raps be necessary for lowering of Kaleetan, Chair peak, or the Tooth or can these be descended on the west aspects (I only got a look at them from the east).

 

Looks like water would be difficult to find this time of year (without having to drop down to various lakes once on the traverse. Stoked for the area!

Edited September 14, 2009 by nieveparasiempre

[Alpinfox]

Kaleetan is easily ascended/descended ropeless.

 

The Tooth can be descended ropeless via the North ridge, but requires some very exposed 4th class down-climbing (100% fatal if you fall).

 

The one and only time I descended from Chair, I used a rope for (I think) two raps. I don't know if there is a good ropeless option.

 

[Le Piston]

You might consider doing them separately (at least the Tooth and Kaleetan) before doing the traverse to orient yourself if you are new to the area. A midweek foray might help avoid some of the rockfall issues...especially on Chair.

[Rad]

Chair can be ascended/descended ropeless via the chimney route in Beckey. Very exposed 4th class, maybe a move of 5th? I've seen parties rap there, but it's pretty solid, unlike the rest of that choss pile

[ScottP]

I've done a good part of it, in sections, over the years.

The biggest single chunk was in the middle, from Bryant Col to the Tooth. We took a rope but never needed it. We went up the west ridge/side of Bryant from the col. A little loose at first with a weird north side traverse on roots and stuff to the top of Bryant. A scramble down and then hike up through thick trees got us to the top of Hemlock. Down the south side got us to a drop above the notch between Hemlock and the Tooth. We were going to break out the rope to rap into the notch, but Kevin found a 4th class way down to the west. We reached the notch, up the north ridge of the Tooth and then we soloed down the south face.

 

I've traversed from the Tooth along the ridge toward Denny, but dropped into the bowl near Denny and down lower International instead of tagging the summit due to the late hour. This is a fun scramble with no real exposure or technical issues.

 

From the summit of Chair Peak, I have traversed south to a point where I could contour around the backside of the Chair Peak Bowl, ending up dropping down into the entrance to the bowl. This was mostly on snow, but it was never very steep or exposed. As I remember, the extension to Bryant Col from where we turned east looked casual.

 

I'm guessing the crux would be getting from Kaleetan to Chair.