Wyoming 13ers Quest

[Eli Boardman]

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Update: the 13er quest was a success! I became the first person to report climbing all 36 Wyoming 13ers in a single year, finishing on August 5, 2020, with a time of 44 days, 5 hours, 22 minutes.
Official FKT Link
Trip Report
News Article

Follow future endeavors and see more pictures:
@eli.boardman on Instagram

Original post below.
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Hey everyone,

It looks like through the chance alignment of schedules, I may have the opportunity this summer to complete a project I've been planning for years. (I attempted and cancelled last year due to other time commitments, namely log cabin construction.)

So, the plan is to climb all 36 (ranked and soft-ranked) Wyoming 13ers unsupported in one summer season. I've heard of various other people who've been interested in a similar undertaking, but to the best of my knowledge, only two people have reported completing this list before: Sarah and Teresa finished together in 2015, climbing the peaks over a number of years. You can read about some of their trips HERE. It's perfectly possible that others could have finished the list in one or more years, but I just haven't heard of any. Several of the most obscure peaks have only been climbed a limited number of times and have original summit registers dating to their first ascent in the '30s (which I will be photographing), so any other claims to completing the list should be easy to verify. It's worth noting that from Peakbagger and LoJ, it seems that two individuals are very close to finishing, albeit not in a single year.

Most of these peaks are located in the northern Wind River Range, adjacent to where I am living this summer (yes, this qualifies as virus-safe-travel). The Grand is obviously in the Tetons; there are two 13ers in the Bighorns, one in the Absarokas, and one in the southern Wind Rivers. In past years, I've climbed a cumulative total of nine WY 13ers and spent weeks and weeks backpacking in the Winds, so I'm familiar with the area.

I'll be starting tomorrow (Monday, June 22) by backpacking into Titcomb Basin. After that, we'll see! Of course, it's far from guaranteed that I'll finish, since most of the peaks requiring a long backpacking approach, significant snow climbing/glacier travel, and semi-technical rock scrambling. My college requires that sophomores enroll for summer term, so I'll generally only be able to climb on weekends (we're doing remote classes, hence this being possible at all). I'll be attempting most of the peaks solo.

I just wanted to announce this on here because I believe it's common with this type of thing. Also, I'll be posting updates and pictures to this thread as I go. See you on the trail!

[Eli Boardman]

This is the list. I'll change any peaks I successfully summit this summer to bold and add the date. Peaks with stars * are ones I have climbed in previous years. Climbers' colloquial names, when applicable, are shown in parentheses.

Gannett Peak--------------------------13804, 7-27-20 *
Grand Teton----------------------------13770, 8-2-20 *
Fremont Peak-----------------------13745, 7-13-20 *
Mount Warren-----------------------13722, 7-12-20
Mount Helen-------------------------13620, 7-12-20
Turret Peak------------------------------13620, 7-26-20
Mount Sacagawea-------------------13569, 7-12-20
Jackson Peak------------------------13517, 7-13-20
Mount Woodrow Wilson------------13502, 6-23-20
Bastion Peak-------------------------13494, 6-27-20
Mount Febbas---------------------------13468, 7-26-20
Sunbeam Peak--------------------------13460, 7-26-20
Flagstone Peak----------------------13450, 6-27-20 *
(Petzoldts) Pinnacle Ridge------------13365, 7-27-20
Downs Mountain---------------------13349, 6-27-20 *
Pedestal Peak------------------------13340, 6-27-20 *
Mount (Theodore) Koven-----------13265, 6-27-20
The Sphinx----------------------------13258, 6-23-20
Spearhead Pinnacle-----------------13220, 7-12-20
American Legion (Butchel) Peak--13205, 7-4-20
UN Point 13198 (Bete Noire)-------13198, 7-19-20
Wind River Peak-------------------------13192, 7-31-20 *
Twin Peaks--------------------------------13185, 7-20-20
UN Point 13180-----------------------13180, 6-27-20
Cloud Peak--------------------------------13167, 8-4-20
Desolation Peak--------------------------13155, 7-20-20
Split Mountain----------------------------13155, 7-20-20
Francs Peak-------------------------------13153, 8-5-20
Henderson Peak----------------------13115, 7-4-20
Klondike Peak-------------------------13114, 6-27-20 *
UN Point 13062 (South Downs)-----13062, 6-27-20 *
Harrower (Ellingwood) Peak------------13052, 7-19-20
Bow Mountain-------------------------13020, 7-4-20
Mount Whitecap--------------------------13020, 7-20-20
Black Tooth Mountain--------------------13005, 8-4-20
Knife Point Mountain---------------------13001, 7-19-20

[nunns]

Best wishes on your endeavor.

Sean Nunn

[SchralpTheGnar]

Have you skied corbets?

[Matt Lemke]

I'll be doing this exact same thing with a friend of mine this summer. My climbing partner for this will be working on completing the Centennials, WY 13ers and MT 12ers all this summer.

I can assure you there have been more than 2 people complete the WY 13ers.

Best of luck out there!

[seano]

Great project! I doubt I'll climb them all, but I hope to tag at least some of the Winds 13ers this summer.

[Jon Frohlich]

The amount of effort it required just to climb Fremont gives me huge respect for anyone completing even a big portion of the Wyoming list. Those peaks are nuts by comparison to ours.

[Eli Boardman]

The west side of the range is still pretty snowy, and contrary to what the Great Outdoor Shop trail report says, the Titcomb Lakes are not iced-off. Thus, it was a lot of postholing from Seneca Lake to the upper basin, and there was only one other set of tracks that made it all the way. In fact, I met mountaineering teams (with pickets and the whole nine yards) who didn't get past Island Lake.

Luckily, I was still able to pull off accents of Woodrow Wilson and the Sphinx. I climbed the former's aesthetic south couloir (50 degree snow to class 5.1 summit ridge). The route was a bit steep/rotten for comfortable downclimbing, so I rappelled the mostly melted north couloir, descended to the Dinwoody Glacier, and climbed back to the Wilson/Sphinx col. From there, the Sphinx was a short 4th-class scramble. I planned on doing more peaks, but I was seeing sun-rollers by 8, sinking to my ankles by 9, and there was ample wet slide evidence, so I bailed for now. All in all, a strenuous and slow start to the quest, but a start nonetheless.

Summit of Woodrow Wilson shortly after sunrise:

20200624_103745.jpg

The Sphinx, showing my route from the Dinwoody:

20200624_103835.jpg

[Matt Lemke]

Thanks Eli! This helps with our trip planning! I think we will hike in around July 20 to start them all.

Nice push getting those two!!

[12ersRule]

Excellent get! Keep up the good work. I put Wyoming 13ers on my bucket list (an actual text file I wrote out on GDrive), but my mountaineering mojo is weak right now. Enjoying watching it vicariously through you guys though.

[yaktoleft13]

I'm watching this from afar as well. Those peaks are awesome! Best of luck hitting your goals and I'm excited to keep tabs on it as you progress. Keep the pics coming!

[SchralpTheGnar]

Those pics are stunning