Virginia Peak East Face, Sept 29,2022
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 11:21 pm
I have long admired Virginia, or "Red" Peak, and have always wanted to climb it. A couple years ago, on a cold November day, my friend Frank and I bailed off of the craggy south ridge, which Roper calls class 3. From where we had gotten ourselves, it looked like we would have to search hard to make it that easy. (That route is on the left skyline in the photo below.)
Virginia Peak is a dramatic and inspiring mountain. The morning sun catches it beautifully, and I have been here many times to see it, both in winter and summer.
This September, I was back with Lizzie and Carleton, and I got another chance to climb it. This is a mountain on which I really wanted to climb the real rock, rather than just ambling up the boulders of the backside. The east face has always tempted me. It seems steep, but broken enough to provide holds for safe scrambling. I looked at it long and hard with binos, and though the uppermost section looked uncomfortably steep, I decided to give it a try. I left before 7 AM to give myself enough time to retreat and circle around to the easy western slope if necessary. The following photo shows the east face, and the route I took.
The blue circle shows the approximate area of easy class 3. The red line is the route I chose, and the blue dots show that it is a mix of class 3 and 4. The green line is the standard east face route, that Bob Burd calls class 3. The dotted yellow line shows where Frank and I went years ago, before deciding to turn back.
There is a broad, V-shaped couloir between the right side of the face, and the first of the two gray pillars. I moved into this couloir from about one-third of the way up the White Pine slope. It is nice class 2-3, and you can make it more enjoyable by staying on the semi-solid bedrock to the right.
Below are two photos showing views of first, the class 3, and then the class 4 rock you can choose to climb.
As you can see here in the second photo below, from within the couloir, you can climb the thin holds and friction to the left, and if you need to, you can move onto easier rock to the right.
The climbing lower down in the couloir can be as hard as you like, within reason, with little exposure, and surprisingly solid rock. This is reversed higher up the face, with pretty chossy rock and truly impressive exposure, which often cannot be avoided.
Here I am at the end of the class 3 area, entering into the class 4. I chose to keep to the bedrock, and avoid the broken bits. On this day at least, I preferred more solid rock and exposure, to choss piles.
I am in the lower left of this photo. Carleton was trying to capture images from a great distance by aligning his I-phone camera with his binos.
Here my friend's system failed, but this blurry image of me near the top captures the scary exposure. I looked down a few times to see what I might do should I come off, and I decided there must be no falling on this climb. At one stage, I reached a place where I would need to use just friction climbing to proceed up, and with hiking boots on, I decided to reverse it instead. I had to down-climb pretty delicate moves for about 30 feet; which was satisfying to complete without difficulty, and that gave me the confidence to carry on up an easier section. I became nicely focused in, and kept telling myself "Its easy climbing, just take it one move at a time," and the next thing I knew, I was surprised to find I was nearly at the top. I never hoot on summits, but when I was finally clear at the top, I did exhale an involuntary sigh of relief, and may have used some appropriate profanity in my happiness.
From this small drama, as I've written it above, I reckon it's obvious that I found this route pretty challenging. It feels a lot like the class 3-4 east face of Clyde Minaret, only with less secure rock. The similarity is in the very long and relentless face. However, unlike the Clyde summit arete, the top of Virginia is safe as houses, and there is a very easy way down.
Looking down from the top, I do think that to the left of my route, there is a broad gully that would lead to safer, and easier climbing. After returning home, I read up on the route a bit, and found that Bob Burd had enjoyed what he called a class 3 east face route. I detailed his route in the first photo. I made my own way, and had a blast.
Here is a view from the summit: The view is southwest, with Mt. Stanton in the foreground. You can see a tiny Half Dome to the right of center, below and left of Mt. Hoffman, which is the dark peak on the skyline just above Stanton. We all climbed Mt. Stanton, and I also raced up the easy Camiaca from Summit Lake.
Virginia Peak is a dramatic and inspiring mountain. The morning sun catches it beautifully, and I have been here many times to see it, both in winter and summer.
This September, I was back with Lizzie and Carleton, and I got another chance to climb it. This is a mountain on which I really wanted to climb the real rock, rather than just ambling up the boulders of the backside. The east face has always tempted me. It seems steep, but broken enough to provide holds for safe scrambling. I looked at it long and hard with binos, and though the uppermost section looked uncomfortably steep, I decided to give it a try. I left before 7 AM to give myself enough time to retreat and circle around to the easy western slope if necessary. The following photo shows the east face, and the route I took.
The blue circle shows the approximate area of easy class 3. The red line is the route I chose, and the blue dots show that it is a mix of class 3 and 4. The green line is the standard east face route, that Bob Burd calls class 3. The dotted yellow line shows where Frank and I went years ago, before deciding to turn back.
There is a broad, V-shaped couloir between the right side of the face, and the first of the two gray pillars. I moved into this couloir from about one-third of the way up the White Pine slope. It is nice class 2-3, and you can make it more enjoyable by staying on the semi-solid bedrock to the right.
Below are two photos showing views of first, the class 3, and then the class 4 rock you can choose to climb.
As you can see here in the second photo below, from within the couloir, you can climb the thin holds and friction to the left, and if you need to, you can move onto easier rock to the right.
The climbing lower down in the couloir can be as hard as you like, within reason, with little exposure, and surprisingly solid rock. This is reversed higher up the face, with pretty chossy rock and truly impressive exposure, which often cannot be avoided.
Here I am at the end of the class 3 area, entering into the class 4. I chose to keep to the bedrock, and avoid the broken bits. On this day at least, I preferred more solid rock and exposure, to choss piles.
I am in the lower left of this photo. Carleton was trying to capture images from a great distance by aligning his I-phone camera with his binos.
Here my friend's system failed, but this blurry image of me near the top captures the scary exposure. I looked down a few times to see what I might do should I come off, and I decided there must be no falling on this climb. At one stage, I reached a place where I would need to use just friction climbing to proceed up, and with hiking boots on, I decided to reverse it instead. I had to down-climb pretty delicate moves for about 30 feet; which was satisfying to complete without difficulty, and that gave me the confidence to carry on up an easier section. I became nicely focused in, and kept telling myself "Its easy climbing, just take it one move at a time," and the next thing I knew, I was surprised to find I was nearly at the top. I never hoot on summits, but when I was finally clear at the top, I did exhale an involuntary sigh of relief, and may have used some appropriate profanity in my happiness.
From this small drama, as I've written it above, I reckon it's obvious that I found this route pretty challenging. It feels a lot like the class 3-4 east face of Clyde Minaret, only with less secure rock. The similarity is in the very long and relentless face. However, unlike the Clyde summit arete, the top of Virginia is safe as houses, and there is a very easy way down.
Looking down from the top, I do think that to the left of my route, there is a broad gully that would lead to safer, and easier climbing. After returning home, I read up on the route a bit, and found that Bob Burd had enjoyed what he called a class 3 east face route. I detailed his route in the first photo. I made my own way, and had a blast.
Here is a view from the summit: The view is southwest, with Mt. Stanton in the foreground. You can see a tiny Half Dome to the right of center, below and left of Mt. Hoffman, which is the dark peak on the skyline just above Stanton. We all climbed Mt. Stanton, and I also raced up the easy Camiaca from Summit Lake.