Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

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jibler
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Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by jibler »

Help me out 14ers

its snowy all around up here - but that south face of Wichita looks open for business

but all I see on the webs is talk of people rock climbing there.

can i just bust my way up in a non-technical fashion? i don't mind a little bouldering - but no ropes

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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by jibler »

probably should have made this thread last night

leaving in like 30mins. but a signoff from 14ers would help me feel more confident.

come on 14s!
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by Chicago Transplant »

Might be too late, but if anyone else was interested... I have not done Wichita from the south (I70), as noted there are a couple of climbing areas there. The best option from the south seems to be park at White Cliff and go around it to the left? The upper SW side of Wichita looks mellow enough.

I did it from the NE starting at the Main Street Frisco exit and taking a ridge on the right side of that face (3rd class) and down a steep, and at the time muddy, gully that splits it (2+). A better way is probably go up trail more and bushwhack up the northwest side of the peak. Not sure how bad that bushwhacking is, but might be better than sliding down the muddy gully I used!
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by Kiefer »

jibler wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 9:11 am probably should have made this thread last night

leaving in like 30mins. but a signoff from 14ers would help me feel more confident.

come on 14s!
I did Wichita along its East Ridge while waiting for auto work to get done. Easy 3+ scrambling and rather short. Descended the north slopes following game trails through the forest back to the trailhead there off I-70.
No ropes, definitely some exposure but pretty good I thought. 3/5 on rock quality.
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by jibler »

that was fun!

i started at the 'white rock' trailhead - but isn't there one that says "Wichita" on it?


either way i busted up a little seam on the white rock to get a quick boost up - but from there it was fairly steep crap terrain for a bit until i took that final segment from the east yes.

that was pretty rocky - and interesting with a fresh storm bearing down. truth be told i couldnt' make that last segment to the true top - both because of the storm blasting in but also the last bit there was snow filled and could have been difficult in without any snow!

possible trip report to follow this one after all - I wonder how my random experience compares with people who have been before

and yes Witchy Woman was in my head the whole time
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by aholle88 »

jibler wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 5:10 pm possible trip report to follow this one after all - I wonder how my random experience compares with people who have been before
Nice work man but I don’t think the summit locals would appreciate this one getting blasted too much. It’s one of those nice roadside attractions that actually isn’t too highly populated, would be nice to keep it that way!
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by jibler »

Heaven Forbid anyone upset the locals!

i actually have known about this place for about 20 years from seeing all those cars on the side of the interstate. The secret was out a long time ago.
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by Jorts »

jibler wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 5:10 pm possible trip report to follow this one after all - I wonder how my random experience compares with people who have been before
aholle88 wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 5:14 pm Nice work man but I don’t think the summit locals would appreciate this one getting blasted too much. It’s one of those nice roadside attractions that actually isn’t too highly populated, would be nice to keep it that way!
jibler wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 6:32 pm Heaven Forbid anyone upset the locals!

i actually have known about this place for about 20 years from seeing all those cars on the side of the interstate. The secret was out a long time ago.
Most people park at N10mi TH to do the south ridge, AKA Falcon Ridge. Wichita Wall is the technical climbing to the west where cars are parked off the highway. It's a quality, short route with one 4th class move on "Falcon Point" near the top and requiring a little route finding to get up to the fun scrambling. Surprising views for a 10er. You can either double back from the top or make it a loop with a steep hike down game trails, cross the creek, and run out N10mi.

Maybe don't do a trip report? Or if you decide to do one, be somewhat vague in the Gore style? It's fairly straightforward and it'd be regrettable if it became a popular objective. The parking along the highway is for the technical climbing of White Cliff, Hidden Wall, and Wichita Wall... not Falcon Ridge.

Here's a shot of falcon point. And a couple shots of Stully Gully, the ski descent off the summit.
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by jibler »

thanks for filling in the missing blanks Jorts

yes that first pic you posted- that was what turned me on to this thing - I didn't realize it got so rocky towards the top there until i saw that pic a year or two ago.

in general - if there's one thing you don't to do it is tell Jibler not to publish about a place - but in this instance i was already getting towards maybe not anyway because

- didn't actually top out

- came up from that white rock just bushwhacking up very steep slope stuff until i hit the south and east face junction where the rock begins. i.e. don't take my way

- my photos - while pretty epic at times, don't seem conclusive either - especially because when was at my top - the whole west view was a wall of grapple clouds coming straight at me!




BUT

I think there's a case out there for getting some info published to keep people safe. I had a bit of a time with the weather and was mad exposed up there - more than you'd think for being below treeline. between that and general navigational issues - it might be nice to steer people towards some kind of correct path.


and i had been thinking of going from that trailhead but the east face of it all is still very snow. that's what was funny about that south/east junction along the rocks because it was night and day for the snow factors. I could see coming up from that way being more simple and straightforward in better times.



FUNNY TIDBIT from yesterday - that was also not so funny --- on the way down it had mainly been some small grapple and no real rain and no thunder/lightning.

then the grapple started to increase in size - from tiny specks to more like large pea size.

and just when I started to think to myself "boy i wonder if that indicates more variability and energy up in the atmosphere?" there's this huge crack of thunder and flash of lightning - just about fell off this rock i was scooting down on. that's when rain picked up - and that was not so hot the rest of the way because it much more wet and slick from then on.



for those interested - i may yet publish on my alternate go-to msg board phish.net under my "Hiking Playlist" thread. I like being a big fish in a small pond over there for mtn stuff anyway.

because i did get some cool shots of the storm rolling thru. reminded me of Hellgate canyon east of missoula at that time actually.
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Re: Wichita Mountain - Frisco area - non-technical routes up?

Post by Jorts »

jibler wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 11:03 am
BUT

I think there's a case out there for getting some info published to keep people safe.
Yeah, I get that. There are a lot of cliff bands to navigate just to make the ridge. I was just suggesting some discretion in publicizing the route in overt detail. There’s a bit of an unspoken ethos against oversharing beta about the Gore (which includes Wichita). Having said that, not as if I keep the routes I run in the Gore secret.

Here’s the route you wanted. Thanks for giving me the thought to go up there this morning. It was still snowy in spots.
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