skook - Aug 31, 2023 10:03 pm Date Climbed: Aug 28, 2023
Thomson East Ridge
A lot more elevation gain than expected. Wish I would have done this one when I was younger. One long day, but a great summit to be on with a clear view.
climberj510 - Oct 16, 2022 8:41 am Date Climbed: Oct 12, 2022
West Ridge
West Ridge was not as expected from Route Descriptions. I read it was 5th class at hardest point so I left the climbing shoes at home and decided my Lone Peak 6's would do the job. To my surprise there were several moves escpecially on the first and second pitch that were probably 5.7
The climb from Basin to Basin including the descent on the East Ridge was 6 hours.
The starting point of the climb was easy to find, scamble up and over the 2 little spires that are between the first notch and the west ridge. The first move on pitch 1 is a big step left onto the north face of the W ridge. The rock was solid and took gear really well. I did not place anything larger than 2 inches, cams from .5 to 2 and a rack of stoppers is all that is needed. Most pitches only took 3 - 4 placements so 6 alpine draws was plenty for us.
kronshage3 - Oct 19, 2018 8:03 pm Date Climbed: Oct 19, 2018
Via East Ridge
Absolutely fantastic weather! Temps in the 50s on the summit! No wind, lots of sun, no snow or ice. Utilized the first shortcut, it was in great shape. The second shortcut looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Trail from PCT to Bumble Bee Pass is pretty easy to spot. The class 4 section had some fun exposure. Free climbed it then rappelled down. Huge thanks to whoever placed the rappel rings. Also spotted a mountain goat just above the notch!
Approached via the Commonwealth Basin trail shortcut, but even so it felt like it took a while to get out to this peak. It's a nice area though. There's not much scrambling to speak of on this route, mostly just hiking scree and dirt until the last 100 feet. From there it's some scrambling and a few slabby moves of class 4 (if you do your routefinding correctly!!) up to the awesome airy summit. The class 4 felt tame but I hauled my rope all the way up there, so I rappelled it. A 30m is plenty, but if you're at all confident on rock downclimbing wouldn't be an issue.
Karl Helser - Sep 17, 2013 5:00 pm Date Climbed: Sep 14, 2013
West Ridge...
Got It...!
awilsondc - Oct 7, 2012 2:38 pm Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2012
Route Climbed: East Ridge Solo
One of my favorite summits of 2012. I love Mount Thomson. I found Josh's lost water bottle at the base of the south face cliffs. Trip report here.
Josh Lewis - Sep 5, 2012 1:53 am Date Climbed: Aug 14, 2012
Fun Scramble
Did this one with Gimpilator. Sad to say I lost one of my water bottles on this one. This is certainly one of the better I-90 peaks.
gimpilator - Aug 15, 2012 12:52 am Date Climbed: Aug 14, 2012
East Ridge
I've wanted to try this peak for a long time. We went to the summit of Kendal Peak to have a look at Thomson on the way. Josh and I scrambled the east ridge to the summit and then we did a rappel past the short Class 4 spot.
RangerMark - Aug 12, 2011 9:43 pm Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2009
Fun climb!
Great climb after camping at Ridge Lake, nice to bag a summit without having to break out the climbing gear.
with supermarmot, below. nice weather, fun climb. didn't make it to work that night; oops.
supermarmot - Sep 12, 2007 1:13 am Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2007
west ridge
awesome day for it! perfect weather and no crowds (had the mountain to ourselves.)
osatrik - Sep 6, 2006 3:43 am Date Climbed: Aug 9, 1998
OSAT 1998 - Scramble Route
We were able to find a couple nice tent spots in the basin east of the mountain. Climbed the talus and scramble route Sunday morning -- a couple of our summiters were glad we brought the short rope and one harness to rap the 20 feet of class 4 near the summit.
hkutuk - Jul 24, 2006 3:38 am Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2006
Thomson, W. Ridge
I had attempted to climb this peak last year but the weather never cleared and I turned back at Bumblebee Pass. Knowing the long approach, we were relying on finding the super secret shortcut but the forest road has been blocked and is no longer drivable. So we drove back to PCT but missed the exit and by the time we got to the trail head it was 9:30 and we knew we were in for a long day. Armed with the SP description of two shortcuts we started hiking. The first shortcut follows Commonwealth trail and is nice but the second one is a complete bushwhack and not recommended. This shortcut not only did not save any time it also wasted us. Pretty dissapointed with our progress we continued up to Bumblebee Pass. After a short lunch break at the pass we climbed the nasty scree to the notch and started the technical climbing at 2:30pm and summited at 4:45pm after 5 pitches. We spend hardly any time on the summit. In hopes of saving time we downclimbed the sometimes gravelly slabs and steep sections, more scree and loose rocks followed until we got into the basin and up the pass. We cruised down the PCT despite sore feet and made it back to the car at 9:30pm. We left Portland at 5am and were back at 2am next day, I call this "good use" of the day. Nice climb, great effort Jim.
Route Climbed: Scramble route Date Climbed: 8/21/04
The right gully was easy choss and scree leading to the east ridge. Great views at the top with my first peek at Iceburg Lake. Got off route on the way down and had a little trouble in the cliff bands.
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: August 17, 2003
Fun route!
After being rained off on our NE Ridge of Triumph attempt on Saturday, Shirley and I decided to head south to Snoqualmie Pass to try Thomson (got rained out off of this one one month prior). Having done the hike in before, we thought that an early start was not needed. Well, we did not realize how popular this route gets - at least 3 or 4 parties jamming up the route when we got there. The climbing is easy - mostly low 5th with a few 5.6 moves (one somewhere on pitch two involves pulling over a bulge on moving handholds). After all was said and done, we summitted by 5:30pm and after some hairy downclimbs down the East Ridge we got back to the TH at 11:15pm. Not a fun drive back to Portland knowing that we have to get up for work at 7.
skook - Aug 31, 2023 10:03 pm Date Climbed: Aug 28, 2023
Thomson East RidgeA lot more elevation gain than expected. Wish I would have done this one when I was younger. One long day, but a great summit to be on with a clear view.
climberj510 - Oct 16, 2022 8:41 am Date Climbed: Oct 12, 2022
West RidgeWest Ridge was not as expected from Route Descriptions. I read it was 5th class at hardest point so I left the climbing shoes at home and decided my Lone Peak 6's would do the job. To my surprise there were several moves escpecially on the first and second pitch that were probably 5.7
The climb from Basin to Basin including the descent on the East Ridge was 6 hours.
The starting point of the climb was easy to find, scamble up and over the 2 little spires that are between the first notch and the west ridge. The first move on pitch 1 is a big step left onto the north face of the W ridge. The rock was solid and took gear really well. I did not place anything larger than 2 inches, cams from .5 to 2 and a rack of stoppers is all that is needed. Most pitches only took 3 - 4 placements so 6 alpine draws was plenty for us.
kronshage3 - Oct 19, 2018 8:03 pm Date Climbed: Oct 19, 2018
Via East RidgeAbsolutely fantastic weather! Temps in the 50s on the summit! No wind, lots of sun, no snow or ice. Utilized the first shortcut, it was in great shape. The second shortcut looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Trail from PCT to Bumble Bee Pass is pretty easy to spot. The class 4 section had some fun exposure. Free climbed it then rappelled down. Huge thanks to whoever placed the rappel rings. Also spotted a mountain goat just above the notch!
Jake Robinson - Sep 15, 2016 11:24 pm Date Climbed: Sep 15, 2016
East ridge scrambleApproached via the Commonwealth Basin trail shortcut, but even so it felt like it took a while to get out to this peak. It's a nice area though. There's not much scrambling to speak of on this route, mostly just hiking scree and dirt until the last 100 feet. From there it's some scrambling and a few slabby moves of class 4 (if you do your routefinding correctly!!) up to the awesome airy summit. The class 4 felt tame but I hauled my rope all the way up there, so I rappelled it. A 30m is plenty, but if you're at all confident on rock downclimbing wouldn't be an issue.
Karl Helser - Sep 17, 2013 5:00 pm Date Climbed: Sep 14, 2013
West Ridge...Got It...!
awilsondc - Oct 7, 2012 2:38 pm Date Climbed: Oct 4, 2012
Route Climbed: East Ridge SoloOne of my favorite summits of 2012. I love Mount Thomson. I found Josh's lost water bottle at the base of the south face cliffs. Trip report here.
Josh Lewis - Sep 5, 2012 1:53 am Date Climbed: Aug 14, 2012
Fun ScrambleDid this one with Gimpilator. Sad to say I lost one of my water bottles on this one. This is certainly one of the better I-90 peaks.
gimpilator - Aug 15, 2012 12:52 am Date Climbed: Aug 14, 2012
East RidgeI've wanted to try this peak for a long time. We went to the summit of Kendal Peak to have a look at Thomson on the way. Josh and I scrambled the east ridge to the summit and then we did a rappel past the short Class 4 spot.
RangerMark - Aug 12, 2011 9:43 pm Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2009
Fun climb!Great climb after camping at Ridge Lake, nice to bag a summit without having to break out the climbing gear.
ExcitableBoy - Dec 28, 2010 9:32 am
West RidgeLong hike to climb a dirty version of The Tooth.
joepa - Aug 22, 2008 10:18 pm Date Climbed: Jul 28, 2005
West RidgeFun climb. Never even broke out the rope.
agreenstreet - Sep 13, 2007 4:02 am
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: 9-11-2007with supermarmot, below. nice weather, fun climb. didn't make it to work that night; oops.
supermarmot - Sep 12, 2007 1:13 am Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2007
west ridgeawesome day for it! perfect weather and no crowds (had the mountain to ourselves.)
osatrik - Sep 6, 2006 3:43 am Date Climbed: Aug 9, 1998
OSAT 1998 - Scramble RouteWe were able to find a couple nice tent spots in the basin east of the mountain. Climbed the talus and scramble route Sunday morning -- a couple of our summiters were glad we brought the short rope and one harness to rap the 20 feet of class 4 near the summit.
hkutuk - Jul 24, 2006 3:38 am Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2006
Thomson, W. RidgeI had attempted to climb this peak last year but the weather never cleared and I turned back at Bumblebee Pass. Knowing the long approach, we were relying on finding the super secret shortcut but the forest road has been blocked and is no longer drivable. So we drove back to PCT but missed the exit and by the time we got to the trail head it was 9:30 and we knew we were in for a long day. Armed with the SP description of two shortcuts we started hiking. The first shortcut follows Commonwealth trail and is nice but the second one is a complete bushwhack and not recommended. This shortcut not only did not save any time it also wasted us. Pretty dissapointed with our progress we continued up to Bumblebee Pass. After a short lunch break at the pass we climbed the nasty scree to the notch and started the technical climbing at 2:30pm and summited at 4:45pm after 5 pitches. We spend hardly any time on the summit. In hopes of saving time we downclimbed the sometimes gravelly slabs and steep sections, more scree and loose rocks followed until we got into the basin and up the pass. We cruised down the PCT despite sore feet and made it back to the car at 9:30pm. We left Portland at 5am and were back at 2am next day, I call this "good use" of the day. Nice climb, great effort Jim.
ren - Jan 12, 2006 8:55 am
Route Climbed: Scramble route Date Climbed: 8/21/04The right gully was easy choss and scree leading to the east ridge. Great views at the top with my first peek at Iceburg Lake. Got off route on the way down and had a little trouble in the cliff bands.
Dan Winter - Mar 18, 2005 3:26 pm
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: 6/15/04-6/16/04Fun climb.
scot'teryx - Aug 26, 2003 2:01 pm
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: July 12, 2003One day ascent via secret approach, only 13 miles RT
Perfect weather and noone else encountered on route
Trip Report, Images, and a movie at : http://www.nwog.org/reports/071203thompson.htm
Fun route, much better alternative to Das Toof!
rpc - Aug 18, 2003 11:17 am
Route Climbed: West Ridge Date Climbed: August 17, 2003Fun route!
After being rained off on our NE Ridge of Triumph attempt on Saturday, Shirley and I decided to head south to Snoqualmie Pass to try Thomson (got rained out off of this one one month prior). Having done the hike in before, we thought that an early start was not needed. Well, we did not realize how popular this route gets - at least 3 or 4 parties jamming up the route when we got there. The climbing is easy - mostly low 5th with a few 5.6 moves (one somewhere on pitch two involves pulling over a bulge on moving handholds). After all was said and done, we summitted by 5:30pm and after some hairy downclimbs down the East Ridge we got back to the TH at 11:15pm. Not a fun drive back to Portland knowing that we have to get up for work at 7.