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How the hell do you climb these? Attempted this today by via Salmon Lake and Point 13130 ("Rain Peak"). It was a pretty easy walk up to 13130 but beyond that it was too jagged and class fivey for my blood. Made it across three or four gendarmes but couldn't get all the way through. Once you get to the 13130/Silverthorn col it looks like you're home free, and the traverse over to East Thorn looks no harder than moderate Class 3.

This annoys me because I see East Thorn every day and need to climb it.

From near Gore Lake, http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock ... ow-bm.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Not really helpful regarding an eastern approach; was hoping for info from someone who has actually climbed it. (I had in fact looked at that page earlier when planning my route.) I guess the western approach is the way to go.

To climb Silverthorne and East Thorn from Salmon Lake, it's easiest to bypass "Rain Peak" altogether. Just head west up the drainage from the lake, staying near the creek until you reach the upper headwall. This involves some talus hopping but it's mellow. There are some cliff bands on the headwall but you can traverse grassy ledges--for the most part--up to the gentler slope below Silverthorne. From S'thorne to E. Thorn is a very fun ridge run. Stiff class 3 depending on your route. The final few moves along the ridge to get to the summit are really fun and exposed. Lots of air on that east side.

The ridge from Rain Pk. over to Silverthorne looks tough indeed. I've scoped it from a few different angles and it looks like a rope would be helpful for sure.

I'm very interested in hearing more information about East Thorn.......it looks wicked hard...............You mean it doesn't excede Class 3????

screefieldstevie wrote:You mean it doesn't excede Class 3????

This is correct, if you are careful with your routefinding. There are some exposed moves for sure though, especially right near the summit. Just go with the usual scrambling mantra: If in doubt, backtrack and find a better way. East Thorn is definitely one of my favorite summits. Not only do you have a sweet view of the central Gores and the burly 'Red Diamond' ridge on Red, but the Blue River valley just falls away below you to the east. Pretty incredible spot.

Jesse Peterson wrote:

screefieldstevie wrote:You mean it doesn't excede Class 3????

This is correct, if you are careful with your routefinding. There are some exposed moves for sure though, especially right near the summit. Just go with the usual scrambling mantra: If in doubt, backtrack and find a better way. East Thorn is definitely one of my favorite summits. Not only do you have a sweet view of the central Gores and the burly 'Red Diamond' ridge on Red, but the Blue River valley just falls away below you to the east. Pretty incredible spot.

Im trying to get more comfortable with Class 3.......for the 4th try I'm going to do Kelso tomorrow (no exceptions) with about 100 other people also ......can you compare the Thorn's difficulties to another 14er route??? I would love to give it a go........If I don't make it this summer, it's definitely top notch on my list next summer

Jesse Peterson wrote:

screefieldstevie wrote:You mean it doesn't excede Class 3????

This is correct, if you are careful with your routefinding. There are some exposed moves for sure though, especially right near the summit. Just go with the usual scrambling mantra: If in doubt, backtrack and find a better way. East Thorn is definitely one of my favorite summits. Not only do you have a sweet view of the central Gores and the burly 'Red Diamond' ridge on Red, but the Blue River valley just falls away below you to the east. Pretty incredible spot.

Im trying to get more comfortable with Class 3.......for the 4th try I'm going to do Kelso tomorrow (it's been one thing or another getting it together) with about 100 other people also ......can you compare the Thorn's difficulties to another 14er route??? I would love to give it a go........If I don't make it this summer, it's definitely top notch on my list next summer

The ridge from Rain to Silverthorne is a beauty and I have done it many times, in both directions, both with a rope and, finally today, without a rope. Since my last time was 1998 I had a hard time today remembering the right way around all the towers, but we figured it out. Starting from Rain, one quickly comes to a crux section, but one can get down along the ridgetop to the top of a 5.5 slab and then make a sharp right turn to avoid it via a 4th class descent. Today I missed that and went down the harder slab (little scary), but walking back I saw the easier way for my partner.

After that the towers were confusing and we had some backtracking but eventually figured out that the N side traverse, dropping a little, was the way to go, and it all goes on Class 3 grassy ledges and some Class 3 upclimbing to regain the ridge. Great fun and we were happy to be back at the car by 3:30.

stanwagon wrote:The ridge from Rain to Silverthorne is a beauty and I have done it many times, in both directions, both with a rope and, finally today, without a rope. Since my last time was 1998 I had a hard time today remembering the right way around all the towers, but we figured it out. Starting from Rain, one quickly comes to a crux section, but one can get down along the ridgetop to the top of a 5.5 slab and then make a sharp right turn to avoid it via a 4th class descent. Today I missed that and went down the harder slab (little scary), but walking back I saw the easier way for my partner.

After that the towers were confusing and we had some backtracking but eventually figured out that the N side traverse, dropping a little, was the way to go, and it all goes on Class 3 grassy ledges and some Class 3 upclimbing to regain the ridge. Great fun and we were happy to be back at the car by 3:30.

Ah so that answers the question of those who came before. The ascending crack/ledge at the crux section is quite airy. Kudos on going down that thing - I would've chickened out and begged for a rap. Lordhelmut wrote it up here: http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... ki=Include

The best comparison between East Thorne and a 14er route is probably the final ridge to the Mt. Wilson summit. Not that similar but fairly close. Very fun though and awesome views.

Holy smokes!
Stanwagon is on 14ers.com!
This is huge!
Stanwagon, you are a legend.