Superior South Ridge to Superior Peak and Monte Crisco
Freaking Wasatch. I love it.
You know that place in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books where Elrond and the elves live, Rivendell? It is a place of safety, comfort, relaxation and mountainous beauty. To me, Snowbird is Rivendell. Every year I like to take my fambly up Little Cottonwood Canyon to stay a few nights at Snowbird .
Right across the skreet from Snowbird is Mt. Superior, a giant, red rock mountain that is the high point on the Eastern end of the Cottonwood Ridge. Straight up from Snowbird is the South Ridge, a line of lighter-colored jagged quartzite that sways up a couple thousand feet from the road to the summit.
This morning at 4:30 I met Scott and Craig at the LCC park & ride where we jumped into Craig's vehicle for the drive up to Snowbird. It was cold to start and I was wishing I had brought my light jacket. We worked our way up to the base of the ridge, hiking an old (and mean old! Probaly a 100 year old) mining road. The higher we climbed I warmed sufficiently to forget the cold. Most of the route is class 4 (using hands) and low class 5 climbing. It gets very vertical just a few hundred feet above the road. The next mile is a continuous knife-edge ridge scramble with terrific exposure. To the left: death. To the right: death. Hang on. The three of us enjoyed the climbing and it is no exaggeration to proclaim the South Ridge as the best ridge scramble in the Wasatch.
When the sun cleared the Eastern skyline the mountain lit brilliantly and the boys captured many good photos of the climb. The waning moon was still up over the Pfeifferhorn and the Alpine Ridge across the canyon. I had my new GoPro HD rolling and I hope I got some good footage.
Freaking Wasatch.
Craig got ahead after I stopped for a break and when I hiked further up he came into view. He was, it seemed, stretched out on a vertical wall with a serious drop directly under him. He was at the crux. It would have been a fantastic photo but I don't believe Scott was able to get one. I always by-pass the crux and walk around to the West. No need to push my limited rock climbing skils.
On the last segment of the climb the rock quality of the ridge shifts to darkly red-tinted and coffee colored boulders. Craig and I made a dash up to the summit and looking back down the ridge did not see Scott. We decided to make another dash over to Monte Cristo (Crisco) because I cannot stand tagging Superior without completing with Monte Cristo. I estimated 7 minutes each way for a RT of 14 minutes. We took off over hard snow cornices and slippery smooth rock and ran to the summit of Crisco in six and a half minutes. The run back was about the same and Scott had reached the summit of Superior just as we came back.
The East ridge of Superior in not a pleasant hike. Loose and sharp rock all the way. I went down as fast as I could to get it behind me. Once the trail became consistent Craig and I ran until we summited a small sub peak above Cardiff Pass. We took another break and waited for Scott, then we all took off down the trail to Alta, then ran another mile and a half down the road to Craig's car at Snowbird.
Only a slight over 5 miles but those were quality miles. Smooth up in ya. | 