Everest Ridge 

This looks cool and very long. What about descent options considering avy dangers? Looks like something you could have a lot more fun descending on skis...

AKA The Big Baldy Ridge.

See Wasatch Tours Vol 3.

Craig, yeah there's probably nothing "official" about the name Everest Ridge or Big Baldy Ridge. Everest Ridge is just what locals have called it for many years. Thanks for your comment though.

Tenesmus, the steep faces of Timp are sometimes skied/boarded but not by me. =) The conditions have to be just right. I think the ridge offers the best protection from avalanches. I was on Everest Ridge once when the cloud ceiling dropped and we were hit by a powerful snow storm. With poor visibility, we headed down the ridge to find we were NOT on the ridge we had climbed up. My old yellow GPS (no maps) indicated we were too far north. The white-out was disorienting and the GPS directions didn't make sense. With the storm intensifying and cliff bands below us, we elected not to retrace our steps back up, but to traverse south across the face to try to find Everest Ridge again. The more fresh snow that fell the greater the avalanche danger on the exposed slopes, but the near white-out made it easier to cross the steep slopes without being able to see the huge exposure below. After quickly crossing three ridges and still not reaching Everest Ridge itself we found a way to descend around the cliff bands and glissade back down to better visibility. One more ridge and we would have finally gotten back onto Everest Ridge. Amazing. High on the ridge we somehow had gone down one of off-shoot ridges to the north (see topo photo). Glad we trusted the GPS as we followed it right to camp. Funny thing was, back in the valley the sun was out and it was almost spring-like.

The Utahns on Everest team didn't do the FA of this climb. My dad did this climb in the late 60s or early 70s with some BYU alpine club, so it was definitely climbed even before then.

FA Brimhall, Hardy 1916.

According to Wasatch Tours Vol.3 it was the first winter ascent of the mountain.

Reading that account again, it doesn't say for certain, but it is likely that their "first winter ascent" of Timp was via this ridge.

From LeGrand Hardy's 1954 obituary:
"Always interested in the out-of-doors and any challenge that it presented, he was a member of the small party that was the first to climb Mt. Moran of the Teton range in Wyoming." (Perhaps he was a member of this party in 1941.)

Good to see this route in here -- the best way to summit Timp IMO. The elevation changes are a bit exaggerated here, though: it's more like 6400 vertical ft from Dry Canyon..

SummitPost has an excellent route description as well

The elevation for Dry Canyon was off but is fixed now. Thanks for noticing. The SummitPost link is more clear in the description now as well.

Look for perfect conditions on this route during the next several weeks.

i am thinking of climbing the ridge this weekend, any suggestion on what time to start up the ridge so i can see the sun rise?

also any tips? forwarning?

I did this climb yesterday and it was epic. Going up wasn't too bad, but the snow was really soft on the way down, meaning that I postholed with pretty much every step. Progress down the mountain was excruciating. Oh, and I had diarrhea... Like I said, epic. It took me about 9.5 hours round trip. I started at 3:30 am but should have started earlier to get the best snow conditions.

I didn't have snowshoes and don't think they would have helped. I put away my trekking poles and got out my ice axe and crampons at Baldy Saddle. The traverse right under the step was reasonable and enjoyable. It was easy to stay off the cornices on top and on solid rock.

One note about the trailhead: There are a few trails that leave from the Dry Canyon parking lot. The one you want, the one that actually goes up the canyon to Baldy Saddle, is on the FAR RIGHT of the parking lot. I made the mistake of going up one of the trails that starts at the left and wasted half an hour.

I've got an extended TR and lots of pics on my blog here.

Glad to hear you had diarrhea, I wish everybody would post when they had the runs...

super fun - did it last November of 2009

Anyone done Everest Ridge earlier in the winter (late Jan, early Feb)? Is it doable? I'm considering a run next week. Thursday afternoon to Baldy Pass (camp). Friday morning up Everest Ridge. Ski down.

Anyone have an estimate of time from Baldy to the hut?

This photo is from a climb at the end of January '06. Lots of post-holing. Two weeks later were much better conditions that year. Every season is different though.

Suggest watching the weather the weeks before going for amount of fresh snow fall, temperatures, and amount of sun-baking which will give some indication of the amount of snow consolidation. Sometimes you just have to go up and get on it!

I've heard some other groups heading up the ridge the next two weekends. Maybe they will post the conditions that they find. Really though, look for idea conditions over the next few weeks.

Time from saddle to summit will certainly depend on conditions and fitness.