West Face

Overview

See the description on the Main page for additional beta!!!

This is a great route to introduce anyone to mountaineering in the Sawtooth Range. A good combination of semi-steep snow and rock scrambling, which is never too difficult, but has some exposure and AWESOME views of the heart of the Sawtooth Mountains.

Getting There

From Boise, get to the Grandjean trailhead.
From the trailhead, follow the Baron Creek trail for 3 1/2 miles to the North Fork of Baron Creek crossing. Continue on the main Baron Creek trail for about 1 more mile to the vicinity of Moolack Creek.
Cross country travel begins here, all the gullies lead to the same general point, so if you keep the main peak more or less in front of you (heading Northeast)you will end up in the high basin below the summit pinnacle.

Route Description

Once you are in the high basin below the summit, the route is obvious. Just keep climbing up through the basin with increasingly steeper snow/scree slopes (Depending on time of year) until you reach the summit pinnacle.
Scramble up the last 200 vertical on fractured but mostly solid Class 3 rock to the summit.

You can either downclimb the route or if conditions permit (ie. good snow coverage)downclimb the South Ridge back towards Baron Creek until you get to the second gully and then glissade the snow 3500 feet with a couple of short(10-15 feet)Class 3-4 downclimbs to within 1/4 mile of the trail and about 1 1/2 miles from where you left the trail to begin the cross country climbing.

Essential Gear

Depending on Conditions:

Early Season (April-May):
You may need snowshoes or skies to get up the trail. For the climbing, crampons may be useful, but are usually not necessary.
Ice axe or ski poles.

Mid-Late Season (June-November):
Good shoes and clothes according to the weather.

Images

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