First, follow the
Mt. Lindsey - North Face Route to the 13,150-foot saddle between Iron Nipple and Mt. Lindsey. From the saddle, the northwest ridge is in full view and may look intimidating to some. More than 1/2 way up the ridge a crux wall makes this route more difficult than the standard, north face route -
1 and
2. Finding a Class 3 line around the crux is possible but many climbers simply take a direct, Class 4 line up the brief pitch.
Hike southeast along the ridge on a small trail and near 13,200', where the trail turns east toward the north face, stay right and continue up the northwest ridge -
3. As you climb higher, the terrain becomes more rugged and requires some Class 3 scrambling, especially on the ridge crest -
4. As you scramble toward the crux wall (
5), it's clear that the route is becoming more serious. Scramble across a steep area below the ridge crest, down to a notch and up to the base of the crux wall.
6 and
7 were taken in this area and show some of the rugged terrain features.
8 is a head-on view of the crux wall, showing several options. One way to keep the difficulty at (exposed) Class 3 is to bypass the wall on the left side. If you choose this option, regain the ridge right after the crux wall to avoid loose terrain. If you're comfortable with brief Class 4 climbing, the best option may be just left of the large, vertical crack in the center of the wall -
9. Carefully pick your line and regain the ridge on easier terrain -
10.
Above the crux, continue up the ridge -
11 and
12. As you ascend, the standard route is directly below, so be careful not to tumble rocks off the ridge -
13. Continue to the 14,000-foot false summit on the northwest end of the summit ridge -
14. Hike southeast for nearly 0.2 to reach the summit -
15. Taken from back at the 13,150-foot saddle,
16 is another look at the ridge.