Capitol Knife Edge vs Borah Peak

[Scott P]

How does the Chicken Out Ridge on Borah compare to the Knife Edge on Capitol Peak? Kessler and I are climbing Borah this weekend and someone else wants to come, but they don't have any technical experience.

[RobertKay]

The chicken out ridge seemed quite a bit easier to me and I did it with some snow on it. It's sort of a big day; I found my knees and feet hurting on the way back down to the car. Have fun!

[JosephG]

No comparison. The hardest part of Chicken Out Ridge is the first few moves, which are somewhat airy but solid. From there, COR is a "choose your own adventure" of solid scrambling. A lot of TRs and route descriptions describe the crux as as a short 20-30' down climb to the "knife edge" ridge. But I can tell you that down climb is very straightforward with no exposure, and the "knife edge" is more like a butter knife, especially without snow.

Capitol is in a different league. Its knife edge is, by comparison, a razor with the obvious attendant exposure.

Here's my TR from earlier this summer, which should give you a pretty good idea of the difficulties:
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepor ... m=tripmine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And RobertKay is right: the steepness will really do a number on a person's knees on the descent.

[spiderman]

COR is definitely class 3 material by Colorado standards. No exposure and no difficult moves. Some people with minimal hiking experience where bothered by it, just like some people are scared by the keyhole route on Longs.

[Scott P]

Thanks. One more question. I know there is no water, but are there any decent places to camp on the route? We are kind of limited to two half days rather than one full day, so I was thinking a camp might be best.

[goingup]

Thanks. One more question. I know there is no water, but are there any decent places to camp on the route? We are kind of limited to two half days rather than one full day, so I was thinking a camp might be best.

Borah Peak is a short hike with a ton of vertical gain. I camped at the trailhead. There are nice spots there. I would imagine it would be difficult to camp on route. That mountain is STRAIGHT up.

I have never done Capitol but am very comfortable scrambling class 3 alone. I did this mountain solo in the rain. The rock gets really slick when it's wet. I had an Oh s**t moment when I didn't follow what I assume to be the standard route because I was rushing and ended up on the "wrong" side of the ridge, climbing up a steep deep chimney and then having to down climb some overhung highly exposed nightmare. On the return I was able to see where I should have gone to keep it class 3.

This mountain is so much fun and in an absolutely beautiful area.

Have fun!

[RobertKay]

I recall a few flat spots where you could camp; some reasonably early and then more reasonably high up. I can't imagine it being too pleasant hauling camping gear up and down! I did it solo in less than a day and that seemed to be the normal method.

[Scott P]

I did it solo in less than a day and that seemed to be the normal method.

Yes, but unfortunately we do not have a day. We have one afternoon and then the next morning, thus the interest in finding a campsite (if possible). We have to be done by ~noon, but can't start any earlier than afternoon the previous day.

[spiderman]

Logistics are tough because you will be exposed to storms for about five hours with no ability to rapidly bail out if lightning gets nasty. There was a very nice spot about a thousand feet above the trailhead in some trees (8600' 44.137562,-113.818488), and a few spots below COR (10,600' 44.132542,-113.800506) that are flat and sheltered by rock walls.

[spiderman]

There were a few rock shelters in this flatish section below COR:
http://images.summitpost.org/original/30000.jpg

[rockyalps]

Barring any big storms, I'd agree with spiderman that the relatively flat spot below Chicken-Out Ridge would be your best bet for camping. There are a few places where some rock walls should offer some protection from wind, but since you're above tree line you'll want to watch out if any thunderstorms roll in. Starting early the next morning you'll be treated to some nice views of Morrison to the west, and you'll only have about half of the elevation left (and the fun scrambling) left to reach the summit. I did it just over a month ago, and with the snow crossing already completely melted out, you and Kessler shouldn't have any problem guiding a newbie up. A scout troop made it across Chicken-Out Ridge without any problems when we were there:
http://www.summitpost.org/roof-of-idaho ... dge/948553" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ChrisinAZ]

I recall the area around that first saddle well below treeline being flat with potential camping spots. I did the climb in a day, and was booking it though I'm not the fastest hiker. Took 9 hours rt if my memory serves me.

As for comparison, Capitol is definitely harder. I'd describe the general rock quality on COR to be similar to the scrambling sections above RoA saddle on Wilson Peak. The one part I did find a bit tricky was that short descent wall down to the snow bridge. It's tougher downclimbing than climbing (you downclimb it on the way up Borah) and it has a few awkward moves; I'd call it 3+. The rest of the ridge is cake if you've done anything like Kelso Ridge before. Solid rock along the ridge crest, abundant handholds, exposure much milder than on Capitol, and routefinding that should only take a few minutes to figure out.