Hey, great addition, Eric! This is a peak I've been procrastinating climbing for a while.
Regarding Washington's steepest mountain faces based on 1 horizontal mile and one-tenth horizontal mile. Here they are (the first list is only to number 3; I'll fill it in tonight when I get the rest of it). These were determined by Stephen Fry some years ago. I have no comments on the veracity of these lists.
1 MILE HORIZONTAL DISTANCE
#01 Davis Peak (N. Casc.), NE Face [5,381-foot drop]
#02 Whitehorse Mtn., NNE Face [5,185-foot drop]
#03 Johannesburg Mtn., N Face [5,160-foot drop]
1/10th MILE HORIZONTAL DISTANCE
#01 Mt. Index, W Face (2,150 ft = 5,150 ft - 3000 ft)
#02 Baring Mtn., NNE Face (2,000 ft = 6,000 ft - 4,000 ft)
#03 Mt. Index, ENE Face (2,000 ft = 4,760 ft - 2,760 ft)
#04 Hozomeen Mtn. [S. Peak], N Face (1,950 ft = 8,000 ft - 6,050 ft)
#05 Davis Peak, NE Face (1,830 ft = 6,780 ft - 4,950 ft)
#06 Twin Spires [E. Peak], E Face (1,800 ft = 8,200 ft - 6,400 ft)
#07 Bear Mtn., NE Face (1,755 ft = 7,920 ft - 6,165 ft)
#08 Copper Lake Wall, NE Face (1,700 ft = 5,400 ft - 3,700 ft)
#09 Three Fingers, E Face (1,700 ft = 6,600 ft - 4,900 ft)
#10 Garfield Mtn. [N. Peak], NE Face (1,670 ft = 4,560 ft - 2,990 ft)
#11 Booker Mtn., NE Face (1,660 ft = 8,120 ft - 6,460 ft)
#12 Hozomeen Mtn. [SW Peak], N Face (1,660 ft = 7,440 ft - 5,780 ft)
#13 Hozomeen Mtn. [SW Peak], W Face (1,640 ft = 7,200 ft - 5,560 ft)
#14 Mt. Blum, NE Face (1,620 ft = 4,220 ft - 2,600 ft)
#15 Mt. Bullen, NE Face (1,610 ft = 5,410 ft - 3,800 ft)
#16 Mt. Shuksan, N Face (1,610 ft = 7,400 ft - 5,790 ft)
#17 Peak 7895 nr. Mt. Spickard, NW Face (1,600 ft = 7,600 ft - 6,000 ft)
#18 Bonanza Peak [SW Peak], W Face (1,540 ft = 9,140 ft - 7,600 ft)
#19 Hozomeen Mtn. [S. Peak], E Face (1,540 ft = 7,740 ft - 6,200 ft)
#20 Hozomeen Mtn., W Face (1,510 ft = 7,910 ft - 6,400 ft)
Thanks for the corroboration, Paul, and for the additional list. If you want to submit the list as a separate SP object, you can bet I'll link this to it.
Since your comment, I've added photos and a route. What I'm missing is good photos of the overall peak from its neighbors. Do you have anything from Stetattle Ridge or Creek? Or from the highway?
-Eric
"Davis Peak's NE face is the only place in Washington State where the terrain drops more than a vertical mile in less than one horizontal mile"
& a great page!
Thanks Radek. It's still not done, but I've added more photos and our route. Now I want to go back and incorporate some photos into the text of the Mountain page.
Those 1/10th of a mile drops are very cool. Having said that, at a distance that small and for the rough terrain shown, I'm not sure how accurate the topos are. The way the mapmakers draw topos, a lot of the details are kinda sketched in and when you get something that steep over a small area, the potential for error goes way up. I'd tend to favor the 1 mile measurements.
David Metzler might have some interesting things to say on the topic. He's kinda the expert on cliff measure and spire measure. He used to have a list of top 50 spire measure in WA on his old webpage but that has disappeared since it moved to peaklist. I might have the list somewhere in my files, I'll have to look.
Davis Peak comes in at #41 on the lower 48 reduced spire measure list. Reduced Spire Measure though penalizes some summits for not being the highest around and also it measures all faces so isn't reflective of just this one face. A cliff measure list would likely give Davis its due.
I like prominence but if you look at spire measure lists, it probably most correlates with those peaks which make you say "Damn!" when you look at them.
The view of Davis from the tourist overlook across Diablo Lake (under Ruby Mountain) illustrates what you say about spire measure. It's the Pickets that catch your eye, not Davis.
Klenke - Jan 5, 2007 7:27 pm - Voted 10/10
Washington's Steepest Mountain FacesHey, great addition, Eric! This is a peak I've been procrastinating climbing for a while.
Regarding Washington's steepest mountain faces based on 1 horizontal mile and one-tenth horizontal mile. Here they are (the first list is only to number 3; I'll fill it in tonight when I get the rest of it). These were determined by Stephen Fry some years ago. I have no comments on the veracity of these lists.
1 MILE HORIZONTAL DISTANCE
#01 Davis Peak (N. Casc.), NE Face [5,381-foot drop]
#02 Whitehorse Mtn., NNE Face [5,185-foot drop]
#03 Johannesburg Mtn., N Face [5,160-foot drop]
1/10th MILE HORIZONTAL DISTANCE
#01 Mt. Index, W Face (2,150 ft = 5,150 ft - 3000 ft)
#02 Baring Mtn., NNE Face (2,000 ft = 6,000 ft - 4,000 ft)
#03 Mt. Index, ENE Face (2,000 ft = 4,760 ft - 2,760 ft)
#04 Hozomeen Mtn. [S. Peak], N Face (1,950 ft = 8,000 ft - 6,050 ft)
#05 Davis Peak, NE Face (1,830 ft = 6,780 ft - 4,950 ft)
#06 Twin Spires [E. Peak], E Face (1,800 ft = 8,200 ft - 6,400 ft)
#07 Bear Mtn., NE Face (1,755 ft = 7,920 ft - 6,165 ft)
#08 Copper Lake Wall, NE Face (1,700 ft = 5,400 ft - 3,700 ft)
#09 Three Fingers, E Face (1,700 ft = 6,600 ft - 4,900 ft)
#10 Garfield Mtn. [N. Peak], NE Face (1,670 ft = 4,560 ft - 2,990 ft)
#11 Booker Mtn., NE Face (1,660 ft = 8,120 ft - 6,460 ft)
#12 Hozomeen Mtn. [SW Peak], N Face (1,660 ft = 7,440 ft - 5,780 ft)
#13 Hozomeen Mtn. [SW Peak], W Face (1,640 ft = 7,200 ft - 5,560 ft)
#14 Mt. Blum, NE Face (1,620 ft = 4,220 ft - 2,600 ft)
#15 Mt. Bullen, NE Face (1,610 ft = 5,410 ft - 3,800 ft)
#16 Mt. Shuksan, N Face (1,610 ft = 7,400 ft - 5,790 ft)
#17 Peak 7895 nr. Mt. Spickard, NW Face (1,600 ft = 7,600 ft - 6,000 ft)
#18 Bonanza Peak [SW Peak], W Face (1,540 ft = 9,140 ft - 7,600 ft)
#19 Hozomeen Mtn. [S. Peak], E Face (1,540 ft = 7,740 ft - 6,200 ft)
#20 Hozomeen Mtn., W Face (1,510 ft = 7,910 ft - 6,400 ft)
Eric Sandbo - Jan 7, 2007 7:22 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Washington's Steepest Mountain FacesThanks for the corroboration, Paul, and for the additional list. If you want to submit the list as a separate SP object, you can bet I'll link this to it.
Since your comment, I've added photos and a route. What I'm missing is good photos of the overall peak from its neighbors. Do you have anything from Stetattle Ridge or Creek? Or from the highway?
-Eric
rpc - Jan 5, 2007 7:40 pm - Voted 10/10
Fascinating!"Davis Peak's NE face is the only place in Washington State where the terrain drops more than a vertical mile in less than one horizontal mile"
& a great page!
Eric Sandbo - Jan 7, 2007 7:26 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Fascinating!Thanks Radek. It's still not done, but I've added more photos and our route. Now I want to go back and incorporate some photos into the text of the Mountain page.
ericnoel - Jan 7, 2007 3:02 am - Hasn't voted
SteepnessHere's an old message board thread on the steepest faces:
Link
Those 1/10th of a mile drops are very cool. Having said that, at a distance that small and for the rough terrain shown, I'm not sure how accurate the topos are. The way the mapmakers draw topos, a lot of the details are kinda sketched in and when you get something that steep over a small area, the potential for error goes way up. I'd tend to favor the 1 mile measurements.
David Metzler might have some interesting things to say on the topic. He's kinda the expert on cliff measure and spire measure. He used to have a list of top 50 spire measure in WA on his old webpage but that has disappeared since it moved to peaklist. I might have the list somewhere in my files, I'll have to look.
Davis Peak comes in at #41 on the lower 48 reduced spire measure list. Reduced Spire Measure though penalizes some summits for not being the highest around and also it measures all faces so isn't reflective of just this one face. A cliff measure list would likely give Davis its due.
I like prominence but if you look at spire measure lists, it probably most correlates with those peaks which make you say "Damn!" when you look at them.
Eric Sandbo - Jan 7, 2007 7:35 am - Hasn't voted
Re: SteepnessThe view of Davis from the tourist overlook across Diablo Lake (under Ruby Mountain) illustrates what you say about spire measure. It's the Pickets that catch your eye, not Davis.
Derek Franzen - Jan 11, 2007 3:08 am - Voted 10/10
Hey...why doncha write up one of your trip reports about this one?
Derek
Eric Sandbo - Jan 11, 2007 6:48 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Hey...I thought about it, but just about everything I have to say is in the text and captions.