Mount Stuart West Ridge

2024-09-13

A throwback and “free-solo” of my first alpine climb.

stuart-west-ridge-1.jpg First view of big Rainy

stuart-west-ridge-2.jpg Still need to climb Ingalls Peak, which everyone does as their first alpine trad climb lol

stuart-west-ridge-3.jpg Stuart reflected over Lake Ingalls

stuart-west-ridge-4.jpg Amazing how good smartphone cameras have gotten to capture even this level of detail

stuart-west-ridge-5.jpg Sherpa Balanced Rock, another todo

stuart-west-ridge-6.jpg The classic look back as you climb out of cruel Longs Pass

Notes

  • This was probably ~14 miles and ~7600 feet of vertical gain in about 8 hours and change.
  • I always go low and back up to Lake Ingalls since I think it’s faster than countouring around under Fortune Peak.
  • I’ve gone around the east and west side of Lake Ingalls and I don’t think one is particularly better than the other, but I’ll probably stick to west now out of familiarity.
  • Same with staying on the true ridge vs going low to Stuart Pass. Don’t think it matters much but I’ll probably stay high.
  • Stuart itself can be broken up into the following sections (and there is good beta online):
    • Mindless climb up white granite rocks and up to a saddle where you can spot Long John Tower at the top.
    • The climb down and back up a gully feature to the saddle just north of LJT.
      • There is a undercling bypass variation to the left that I did last time which I thought was a bit sketchy with a backpack on. The gully keeps things chill (a bit chimney-like).
    • From LJT, you can go high onto an airy ledge which I did last time, but countoured low this time and found the “tunnel” variation which I’d probably do again in the future since I think it’s faster, don’t have to gain unnecessary vert, and safer. It was pretty easy to spot with a sandy trail too.
    • Then you stay on some ledges until you climb up a south facing gully where the climbing begins on the west face of the summit.
    • The final climb portion of this route is rated 5.6. I had already climbed it before so I knew it was pretty ledge-y and secure, and I knew I could reverse all of the moves if necessary.
  • I’m overexplaining the beta but this would be fun as a group solo next time.