Missouri Mountain East Ridge

[crossfitter]

Slappy, are you saying a father and daughter attempted that ridge and did not make it? That is so awful!

They did not die descending the East Ridge, their bodies were found above the main trail. The father was known to intentionally explore off-route and it is believed that either one or both of them fell due to either a slip, cornice collapse, or possibly being blown off the ridge. http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/07/19/i ... kers-died/

[goingup]

I read that story last night, so sad ) :

[antonkrupicka]

I've ascended the East Ridge from Elkhead Pass (exactly a year ago, actually).

The first half lures you in as it's quite moderate and scenic, but then the choss starts. I read Gerry's description beforehand (about going right), but when I was on the ridge I definitely stayed more on the climber's left side of the ridge through the major difficulties. It just looked easier. I definitely don't ever plan on descending it.

On that particular day I was doing an out-and-back from Winfield over Huron, Missouri, Bel/Ox, and traversing the usual scree/talus on Missouri's SE face I went 39min from Missouri to Belford and on the way back going up the East Ridge I went 32min from Belford to Missouri...so, I guess if you pick the right line and don't pull on the wrong holds, it is quicker, at least going up. I wouldn't recommend it, though.

[Scott P]

We are going to go back and do the route we originally planned and try to ascend the east ridge according to Roach's instructions.

However, I think the general consensus is to avoid this route because the rock is so terrible.

He is so solid though and between him and my yoga breathing techniques we were able to make the decision to go back and very carefully climb up 200 feet of the worst rock I have ever experienced. At the time I was so focused on the task at hand. I am now realizing the severity of the situation.

I'm just curious why you would want to go back to the route if it is so bad. I'm not knocking you for wanting to climb it, but just wondering why given the experiences you had with the route?

The only thing I ever hear about it is how nasty it was (I haven't done it). I think you're the only person I've heard of that thought of trying it twice.

Good luck either way.

[goingup]

We were thinking of ascending it. I would never try to descend it again. But after more thinking and talking about it....we most likely are not going to try to ascend it. There are far more solid ridges to traverse out there, Missouri's east ridge is not worth the risk.

[climb4ever]

From my personal experience with the east ridge on Missouri I wouldn't try ascending it or descending it. Last year I did Belford / Oxford and I made it to those summits pretty fast so I figured I'd try ascending the east ridge to get to Missouri, this was a bad idea. I had read some posts of people successfully doing this ascent / descent which is why I tried it. It's loose tallus the whole way up and it only gets worse as you ascend. I made it to within about a hundred feet of the summit of Missouri (if not closer), I could very clearly see the summit. I came to a section though where there was a good 10 to 15 foot gap in the rock and the only way that I saw to get across this gap was to attempt to cross a very narrow bridge that connects the two sides. This bridge was about 1 foot wide and 1 foot in depth and right in the middle of this bridge the rock was fractured from the bottom running about 6 inches up it. It looked like if I tried to step anywhere near the middle it would have broken off and a long fall would follow. Keep in mind this is to the far right (as you're climbing, looking at the summit) of the east ridge. Perhaps it's better if you go left? But I didn't really see a route that way, but I also didn't look too hard as I was staying pretty busy trying to not grab those loose broken dinner plate rocks.

I ended up having to down climb as far as I could, down climbing the way I came up was not an option due to the bottom being a fairly steep narrow gulley that was full of slick snow. When I got to the top of the narrow gulley I started looking for an alternative exit. It wasn't looking too good as all I saw were steep cliffs and it was a long way to the ground. I was able to go far left (as you're looking at the summit) and follow what I can only assume was possibly a mountain goat trail. It skirted along the tops of these cliffs and it led me to slab shelves that I was able to down climb to the ground. Down climbing slab shelves is probably one of my least favorite activities so when I made it to the bottom I was very happy and I proceeded to go to the car with my tail between my legs.

I would stay away from it as it's pretty hideous.

[goingup]

^^^^ agreed

[nesiha3]

Hi,
I actually climbed the E ridge today. I had tried it last winter and we got really sketched and turned back. I encountered the choss you speak of, especially that very shale-like section that gets narrow (a 1 foot wide block/ramp). At that point, I actually climbed down and to the RIGHT of that choss, and ascended the headwall directly, which is much less chossy and has a beautiful handcrack in it. You can't miss it as it stares you right in the face. There are a lot of good feet, solid too. Not sure what I'd call it, maybe 5.2 at the hardest section? But anyway its the cleanest, and best line. I rather enjoyed the route and stayed off choss as much as possible. : )

[andrewhamilton]

Hi, I have ascended and descended that route. I have to say that I think Roach's description really gets people into trouble on this one. The easiest route from elkhead pass is definitely not to stay near the ridge. In fact, if you go the right direction then it should never feel much worse than Pyramid. I have included some instructions from a different thread (http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 72#p491972)that aren't mine, but I thought they did a pretty good job of describing a better way to the summit than that suggested by Roach:

[From Monster5]

From Belford (fastest way to do it if you don't mind class 3 and route-finding):

1) Descend towards Elkshead Pass (easy).
2) Near the saddle, do some minor scrambling (2+, bypasses left) through a couple baby notches to a large, obvious headwall/notch.
3) From the big honker of a notch, maintain elevation (perhaps a slight drop) and contour left. Seek out the sweet spot between big ol' cliffs on right and loose talus crap on left. Marginally cairned.
4) As the cliffs on right relent, begin an ascending traverse on solid class 3, climbing up where possible and convenient. Traverse too far, you'll hit a ball bearing class 2 gully (if this is the case, it is okay to just go straight up). Luckily, the "start-scrambling" section is fairly obvious.
5) Once you hit the ridge (probably at the notch above the ball-bearing gully, with any semblance of route-finding sense), hook a left for a brief walk to the summit.

[goingup]

Hi, I have ascended and descended that route. I have to say that I think Roach's description really gets people into trouble on this one. The easiest route from elkhead pass is definitely not to stay near the ridge. In fact, if you go the right direction then it should never feel much worse than Pyramid. I have included some instructions from a different thread (http://www.14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 72#p491972)that aren't mine, but I thought they did a pretty good job of describing a better way to the summit than that suggested by Roach:

[From Monster5]

From Belford (fastest way to do it if you don't mind class 3 and route-finding):

1) Descend towards Elkshead Pass (easy).
2) Near the saddle, do some minor scrambling (2+, bypasses left) through a couple baby notches to a large, obvious headwall/notch.
3) From the big honker of a notch, maintain elevation (perhaps a slight drop) and contour left. Seek out the sweet spot between big ol' cliffs on right and loose talus crap on left. Marginally cairned.
4) As the cliffs on right relent, begin an ascending traverse on solid class 3, climbing up where possible and convenient. Traverse too far, you'll hit a ball bearing class 2 gully (if this is the case, it is okay to just go straight up). Luckily, the "start-scrambling" section is fairly obvious.
5) Once you hit the ridge (probably at the notch above the ball-bearing gully, with any semblance of route-finding sense), hook a left for a brief walk to the summit.

I feel I could ascend this route (although with all the good advice on here I probably won't, there are so many ridges out there begging to be traversed). How did you descend this? That is where we ran into trouble. Perhaps we needed to drop down much much lower. We were totally cliffed out.

*Edit* After following a trail of information in some old threads I realize we tried to stay true to the ridge and that is not the way to tackle this beast.

[andrewhamilton]

I realize we tried to stay true to the ridge and that is not the way to tackle this beast.

I think that is absolutely correct.

You may have found this thread already (https://14ers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22917" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) but in it is a great picture with the route drawn on it. I know most people here are suggesting not to touch the route, but I really think that if you are comfortable with stuff like you find on Eolus or Pyramid (class 3 or 4 with loose stuff on ledges) then you would probably not mind this route.

[bohlsen]

If you're looking for a way to avoid the crowds/switchbacks on the standard route and the s***y rocks/death on the east ridge, consider the south ridge its got solid rock and is pretty straightforward. I only used it as a way to bag Iowa and Emerald while still using the Missouri standard route but you could easily get there from Elkhead Pass with minimal elevation loss traversing across a decent looking slope. Or you could hike in that basin between Oxford and Harvard (don't remember the name, Pine Creek maybe?) and camp in Missouri Basin to the south which is absolutely gorgeous and a good place to avoid the crowds.