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Peak(s)  Mt. Yale  -  14,200 feet
Date Posted  04/28/2025
Date Climbed   04/26/2025
Author  Splitboard14ers
 Mt. Yale - Southwest Ridge/East Face Ride   

I started at 5:10am from the Denny Creek trailhead and walked on bare ground for at least the first mile and half. Finally encountered snow but stayed in boots as it was firm enough to walk on without sinking in. I remained on snow and followed the Summer route which had been hiked on and remained firm. Once I started climbing up onto the Southwest Ridge the snow became a little more slush collapse and I sank in a few times, but quickly cleared snow line and on the ridge was on bare ground. When I encountered snow again through the West face it was firm. I climbed still in boots and reached the saddle. It was a quick hike to the Summit, and I stood on Summit at 10:09 *(4:59 from trailhead to Summit). My plan was to drop the South facing couloir, but it held no snow off Summit. The East face and bowl were holding snow from Summit. So I changed plans and dropped the East face. The top few turns were exciting as it was steep and had some features, so almost felt like a chute. The rest of the line was mildly low angled, and I reached the end of the snow by the bottom of the bowl. I transitioned and climbed back up over from the East face to the saddle in boots. From the saddle I climbed down about 200 feet and then strapped in again for the West face, which connected back to the South West ridge. I rode continuously, only having to unstrap for one rock section about 20 feet across. I strapped in and rode down the South West ridge till I got into the gulch and reached Denny Creek. I transitioned and hiked up about 100'ft. in very wet slush until I regained the Denny Creek trail. I had skipped a significant portion of the trail by riding as far over as I did, so there was only a rather short hike back out. What snow I found on the trail was still firm and I didn't sink in at all. I arrived back at the trailhead by 1:10pm, for what felt like a very quick 8 hours roundtrip. 9.34 miles, 5000 vertical.




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