Best Alpine Rock Route Under 5.7

How about Cannon Cliff in New Hampshire?

Classics include the Whitney Gilman Ridge and Moby Grape. These are full-on alpine rock routes and are similar to Tetons rock climbs.

You could then head over to Whitehorse ledge for Standard Route and Sliding Board. These being slightly longer but in a more benign location.

As said before, and I concur, shoot for sometime in mid to late August- Especially if you choose CO.! **do the Prow on Kit carson**, yes, I am biased... :)

Jay Knower wrote:How about Cannon Cliff in New Hampshire? Classics include the Whitney Gilman Ridge and Moby Grape. These are full-on alpine rock routes and are similar to Tetons rock climbs. You could then head over to Whitehorse ledge for Standard Route and Sliding Board. These being slightly longer but in a more benign location.

I'd second the northwest ridge of Mt. Sir Donald. We simulclimbed the thing in about 4 loooong pitches. Trying to do this thing in a day would be brutal, just climbing it in a day and hiking back to the car in the same day was hard enough.

Also this little visited gem is in the area.

Everyone's chimed in with some great advice. I would reiterate the importance of going in July or August because of weather.

The North Ridge of Spearhead was a great route and highly recommended. There are many other objectives in RMNP that are worthwhile and it's a pretty nice place to hang.

The Sierras are filled with great, moderate offerings. Just in Tuolumne alone you can romp up stuff like Cathedral Peak, the Matthes Crest, Mt. Conness, etc. All of those can be done in a day. Then, up and down the east side of the Sierras there are many objectives that are more "alpine" in nature, as in further from the road so you can spend time backpacking in and lounging at great lakes. East Face of Mt. Whitney has been mentioned but also look into the East Buttress of Whitney and Mt. Russell's East Ridge. There are also many things you can do in a day. The Super Topo book does a pretty good job of describing some great moderate offerings in the area.

In the Tetons there are number of great climbs. I've had a great time on the East Ridge of Nez Perce, the CMC route on Mt. Moran and the Upper Exum on the Grand. The Tetons are great but expect longer and more strenuous approaches than stuff in RMNP and the Sierras. However, climbs like the Guides Wall, while not quite as long, are great and pretty easy to do in a day.

The Winds are stellar and an excellent destination. If you go to the Cirque, the East Ridge of Wolfshead is sweet and there's a moderate route on the south face of Pingora. Also, there's a 5.7 or so on Mt. Mitchell that is quite fun, so there may be enough there to keep you busy. Plus, you'll want to leave time for rest, fishing and weather.

One thing to think about is if you want to spend a lot of time hiking and backpacking. Typically my wife and I like spending time in the backcountry so on our annual summer trips we'll take a few days to hike into an area and crank out some routes and enjoy the scenery. Then, we'll hike out and leave the heavy packs behind for a few days and do routes in a day or do some cragging. Hence, we enjoy areas like the Sierras because it's got such a great mix of those things although the same could be said of RMNP and the Tetons.

Also, I've also heard great things about the stuff outside McCall on the slab. My wife and I had a great time on a 5.7-5.8 long route in the Sawtooths on a peak that I think was Warbonnet? My memory is escaping me a bit but it was a great route on a ridge with climbing that my wife described as the best 5.7-5.8 climbing she had ever done. Super secluded and excellent scenery. Taking the boat across the lake is sweet and it's some fun hiking.

Good suggestions on Canada. The Bugs are awesome. Other possibilities there... Kane route on Bugaboo spire, W ridge on Pigeon (5.4 in the book, really closer to 5.6 but uber classic), Lion's Way. Near Rogers Pass there are other excellent and less committing options: SW(?) ridge on Uto Peak (sort of a mini Sir Donald), Mt. Tupper, the Swiss Peaks, The Hermit. That way if you happen to hit the weather just right, you might have a shot at Sir D too.

My list...these are big grin climbs. easy climbing, spectacular days out. Just thinking about all these climbs has me grinning wide.

Bugaboos: Pigeon Spire, W Ridge. The cleanest 4th class line ever. so much fun. Lots to do there at 5.8 or under...you'd have a great trip.

Sierra: Matthes Crest. Go do it. Don't rap partway...go to the end. If you think you'll be solid on it you probably should just ditch the rope. The 5.7 crack crux is only 3 moves long, and you're way more our there on unprotectable moves in other spots.
The moderates on Whitney are ok but the Russell climbs were the real draw for me in that area.

Winds: Ellingwood Arete. Ditto...it is as good as people say. Don't give into the Harrower family propaganda. Send it and call it Ellingwood. I didn't care what the name of the peak was til I read the Harrower family's laminated op-ed in the summit register. Not that Harrower was a bad guy, he can have some other peak. Albert E gets the kudos for this striking line in my book. On to the climbing, the bottom and top are so-so, but the long middle pitches just keep going and going on beautiful stone. All the while with a view north to Fremont and Titcomb. Love it.
Lots of other <5.8 climbing in the area to make a weeklong trip.

Tetons: Buckingham Ridge of the Middle Teton. Camp away from the Lower Saddle/Garnet Canyon hordes, climb by yourself in the sun...snow to fun 4th/3rd scrambling to a beautiful golden headwall (4 pitches of 5.7/8 no matter where you go) then a few more pitches to the top. More fun than the direct exum or irene's. Rangers @ Jenny Lake turned me on to this one and it's sweet. E. Ridge of the Grand is pretty damn fun too but essentially a big scramble. Possibly the tallest Grade III around though?