The Cottonwood Traverse 5.6
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| Type: | Trad, Alpine, 25000 feet, Grade IV |
| Consensus: | 5.1 [details] |
| FA: | unknown |
| Submitted By: | notmyname on Sep 27, 2009 |
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BETA PHOTO: From the summit of Monte Cristo looking ahead - th...
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Description This is a lot of fun!
The climb starts on the S. Ridge of Superior. Start at the lowest point on the ridge at the most open spot to avoid bushwacking. 3,000' 5.6 (easier or harder depending on how many boulder problems you decide to do)
Cross over to Monte Cristo easily. Drop down off Monte Cristo (be careful, this is the crux although it's easy 4th)
Now it's up n' down and up again for a long long time until you clamber up Dromedary Peak (don't cheat stay on the ridge).
A heatbreaking descent down, and not as bad as it looks back up to Sunrise (O'Sullivan) Peak.
Down and up again to the summit of the Twins.
From here there are options:
-Head down into Broads Fork. Take the ridge or backtrack to the saddle to Sunrise. The slabs straight down are fun, but can be deadly.
-Keep on Truckin to Storm Mtn and go down Deaf Smith or Furgison Cyn. Way more fun and scenic!
-Try and stay on the ridge of LCC the whole way down (epic) from the Twins
From Alta to the Twin it's about 4-6 miles of ridge climbing
Location The ridge the separates LCC and BCC starting in Alta.
Protection if you need gear for this, you will need sleeping bags too since you'll be spending the night.
| Comments on The Cottonwood Traverse |
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By James Garrett
Sep 28, 2009
| Jim Dockery used to call this "The Ridge Run" and I know it was once quite popular...often done in winter. Franziska and I once joined two other friends and did it in January from the entire SE Ridge of Superior past Dromedary and over into the Salt Lake Valley with one bivouac enroute mid ridge. Another similar traverse is the 13 mile (it felt long!) complete traverse of Timp starting with the North Face of the North Peak out of AF and descending down into Provo Canyon. |
By notmyname
From: Salt Lake City, UT
Sep 29, 2009
| Sounds like a good winter tour James! That timp traverse sounds pretty fun too - I'll have to try it. |
By Arie
From: Smog Lake City, Utah
Sep 30, 2009
| Definitely classic- the section just after Monte Cristo is wild and the traverse above the LCC north side chutes is amazing- above some of the most rugged area in the Wasatch. Reverse the route (minus the SE Sup Ridge) and continue on around the LCC watershed (Flagstaff> Wolverine> Devil's Castle> Bullion Divide> Pfeif> Beatout> Lone Peak) and you have the WURL - perhaps the premier Wasatch ridge run. Occasionally contemplated, rarely completed. (Kudos Jared). |
By Mark P Thomas
From: Oakland
Dec 24, 2010
rating: 4th
| The WURL is on my list. So is doing this ridge as a 2-3 day winter ascent via the valley. What a great ridge run in summer, eh?! More like III in summer if you're reasonably fit for mountaineering, though I could see it being IV for others. Mostly cl. 2-3, with one cl. 4 crux near Monte Cristo. |
By OldManRiver
From: Cottonwood Heights, UT
Apr 28, 2013
| Curious how many splitboarders/groups have done this in spring (snow) conditions. Not really sure if this is a dumb question or a thing splitters haven't really thought of. |
By Greg G
From: SLC, UT
2 days ago
| I counted 14 Summits, and unique ridge line high points on this thing yesterday. A fantastic way to spend a day in the mountains! |
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