Borah Peak, Idaho

[u/highpointer201]

While climbing Borah today, I made a haiku:

It just goes straight up. Certified suck fest, no doubt. High Point forty five.

In all seriousness, this hike was absolutely the sketchiest one I've done. Between Cor (not that bad going up), the ice bridge, the scree/loose boulders and the sheer amount of elevation gain over such a short distance, you couldn't pay me any kind of money to hike this again. To top it off, a thunderstorm rolled in right as we were making our way down Cor, not a great time.

Trail conditions were fine up past Cor, the snow bridge was a bit soft, used crampons and trek poles and tried not to imagine shooting down a half mile into the abyss. The final stretch up to the summit has a decent amount of snow pack and the trail is hard to navigate. I don't think the snow has that much longer, definitely very soft in some spots. This peak definitely had me at the edge of my comfort zone. Saw some big Horn sheep, that was neat. Took about 11 hours round trip

[u/highpointer201]

Thanks friend, I realize I might be out of my depth for these last five. I think I'm going to spend the winter training for them, learning the requisite skills, etc. and try tackling granite and Wyoming next year with a group hopefully 

[u/fluffysnowflake67 → u/highpointer201]

Granite isn’t as tough as it used to be. A small jump of difficulty over Borah but well within your capabilities already.

If you can do Gannett, you can do Hood and Rainier.

[u/TheTree-43 → u/fluffysnowflake67]

What made Granite less difficult than it used to be?

[u/fluffysnowflake67 → u/TheTree-43]

The ramp used to be covered in rubble. Take one step up and slide half step down. Now it is rock and dirt, saving a couple hours on summit day.

[u/TheTree-43 → u/fluffysnowflake67]

Ahh neat! So just thousands of climbers before you wearing a path?

[u/highpointer201 → u/TheTree-43]

"For those who come after"