Favorite 13er Scrambles

[Veory]

Not quite 13er, but I thought the traverse from Richthofen to Lead Mountain had some really fantastic class 3 scrambling. I thought the section from the saddle to where the ridge flattens out on Lead was more fun than Snowmass S ridge with very similar feeling rock. More knife edge like, but less long. I wrote a page on SP for it a little while back

[Jorts]

Wichita's Falcon (East) Ridge

[Ryan987]

Not quite 13er, but I thought the traverse from Richthofen to Lead Mountain had some really fantastic class 3 scrambling. I thought the section from the saddle to where the ridge flattens out on Lead was more fun than Snowmass S ridge with very similar feeling rock. More knife edge like, but less long. I wrote a page on SP for it a little while back

I haven't done it yet but static mountain next door via the ridge from snow lake is supposed to be a really fun one. Been wanting to go after that one

[sarahmariekirk]

After finishing the 14ers last year, I have really enjoyed climbing the 13ers… Sooo many great scrambles so really fun to read this thread.

For me, this is my top ten so far (in no particular order).

1. Queen’s Way couloir via Apache -> Navajo Peak (down airplane gully)
2. Hagar Mountain (from Golden Bear)
3. South Arapaho -> North Arapaho Peak
4. Father Dyer from Mount Helen (also fun to add on Crystal Peak and Peak 10 from this route!)
5. Wheeler Peak (from Clinton/McNamee/Traver)
6. Fletcher -> Drift Traverse
7. US Grant & V4
8. Pacific -> Atlantic Peak (did the West Ridge of Pacific over to Atlantic in the winter - very spicy).
9. Ice Mountain -> North Apostle
10. North Traverse Peak to Grand Traverse Peak

Honorable mentions:
— Mount Oklahoma to the Tour de Massive group; super fun line with some exposure and really solid scrambling
— Vermilion Peak (from Fuller)
— Mount Meeker via the Loft

[Veory]

Not quite 13er, but I thought the traverse from Richthofen to Lead Mountain had some really fantastic class 3 scrambling. I thought the section from the saddle to where the ridge flattens out on Lead was more fun than Snowmass S ridge with very similar feeling rock. More knife edge like, but less long. I wrote a page on SP for it a little while back

I haven't done it yet but static mountain next door via the ridge from snow lake is supposed to be a really fun one. Been wanting to go after that one

It was really fun, that's how I got to Richthofen. Really aesthetic. I thought the electrode was kinda fun too but not a scramble.

[Dobsons]

Fun thread to resurrect! So many wonderful outings listed already. Will just add a few that I didn't see with my quick scan that I really enjoyed
- West Partner to Peak P or the Rockinghorse traverse in the Gore
- East Partner to Peak W
- QRST
- Gold dust to Pika in the Holy Cross Wilderness
- Finnegan (it gets so much hate due to the 2000 foot scree field up from New York lake) but if climbed from Middle Lake the ridge from unranked 13,092 and upper face of Finnegan are a really enjoyable scramble
- The billy Traverse especially the meat in the middle with South Williams B and Williams being the meat of it

[Jorts]

West Babcock to Spiller was tops. The approach to Babcock was a bit tedious though.

[Mtnman200]

West Babcock to Spiller was tops. The approach to Babcock was a bit tedious though.

Babcock Peak was one of my two favorite climbs of 2023. (The other was Music Mtn.)

[Kbrown321]

Haven't done a ton, but some favorites below. Would absolutely repeat any of them.
-Eagle N Ridge (HCW) - 0.75mi of solid rock class 3, would love to combo with Fools next time
-Little Agnes Mountain NE Ridge (12er)
-Outpost N Ridge (12er, Gore) - Grassy but fun routefinding, can combine with W Partner for a longer run
-And some of the ones mentioned frequently earlier
-Helen-FD (just so easy access, scramble quality:approach BS ratio is one of the best close to Denver)
-Tenmile 2-4
-Arrow & Trinities

So much more out there. Fools NR, Milwaukee Aislado, Kit NR, C, and stuff in Glacier Gorge all look really interesting

[bdloftin77]

Haven't done a ton, but some favorites below. Would absolutely repeat any of them.
-Eagle N Ridge (HCW) - 0.75mi of solid rock class 3, would love to combo with Fools next time
-Little Agnes Mountain NE Ridge (12er)
-Outpost N Ridge (12er, Gore) - Grassy but fun routefinding, can combine with W Partner for a longer run
-And some of the ones mentioned frequently earlier
-Helen-FD (just so easy access, scramble quality:approach BS ratio is one of the best close to Denver)
-Tenmile 2-4
-Arrow & Trinities

So much more out there. Fools NR, Milwaukee Aislado, Kit NR, C, and stuff in Glacier Gorge all look really interesting

14ers, but I can second Kit Carson N Ridge. Super cool. Did Capitol's Ridge Direct (from Daly saddle) route last weekend, and that was a blast! Definitely not a slight letdown like Capitol's standard route.

13ers - Though I haven't done some of the others, some of the Ice Lake 13ers are still my favorites. Great views and scrambles. Especially Pilot Knob. US Grant was fun, too. For Pilot Knob, I avoided ascending all the scree by doing Golden Horn first, then traversing below/W of Golden Horn to Pilot Knob. Golden Horn and Vermilion are also pretty cool, though less scrambling. Love that area. Hoping to get down and do Arrow, Vestal, and Trinities at some point.