Mt Fiske Northeast Ridge

[Baxpix]

Hello HST friends! Long time reader but new to posting. First, thanks to everyone who has shared so much incredible beta on this forum. It's been invaluable and I'm honestly eternally grateful! I promise to start posting some trip beta to chip in!

I'm looking for a little help closing a loop I have in mind for mid-September. Summitpost and Secor briefly mention a Northeast Ridge on Fiske coming from the basin just west of Wallace. I'd like to climb that route to the summit of Fiske before descending the east slope to Echo Col and back to Lake Sabrina. Has anyone laid eyes on this route or have any specific beta on it? Class 2-3 sounds fine but I'm curious if I'll find any surprises on the way up. This will be the last day of the trip and I don't want to be stuck with Wallace Col as my only backup.

Thanks in advance!

Baxpix

[Harlen]

Hey Baxpix, welcome, and good luck on your climb of Fiske. I will check out the HST Map in the Resources section to clarify my old memory. I know I had a bit of an adventure coming down off of Fiske. I climbed it via the west ridge beginning at the saddle between Fiske and Huxley (?)...(actually, the saddle is between Fiske and Mt Warlow). I carried on along what I believe must have been the north-eastern ridge you speak of, and I had more than one sketchy moment dancing around on very loose stuff. It was not so much big loose boulders, but steep, loose scree. It was done while racing an oncoming thunderstorm, which dumped very thick hail on me, and on the beautiful, turquoise blue lake in the basin to the north of the ridge. I started and ended this hike/climb at Sapphire Lake.

I look forward to hearing how your trip and climb goes. I think you too will be amazed by the rare color of that lake (which I see now is Lake 12021'). Take care to choose a safe route as you wend your way along that tricky northeast ridge. Cheers, Harlen.

[Harlen]

Okay, after checking the map, I see that for ridges, the double-peaked Mt Fiske has two north ridges, one on either side of the "Fiske Glacier." Then there is the SW Ridge I went up, and finally, the long, sharp NE Ridge that you speak of climbing, and which I moved along with some difficulty. You say that you plan to begin your climb in the basin west of Mt Wallace; you might want to consider ascending the slopes closer to the eastern peak of Fiske; that way you would avoid some of the sketchy, thin section of the NE Ridge. I cannot recall how that slope looked, possibly it was unstable, since I chose to continue all the way along the NE Ridge before descending. If you do climb along the whole NE Ridge, you will then know how it feels to you Baxpix, and that will help you decide if you want to cross over it again on your way down, and off to Echo Col, or if you might instead try to descend the southerh slope nearer to the East Peak of Fiske.

I hope that helps, sorry that I have no photos of any of of this Baxpix. Good Luck out there!
* And please do let us know how it goes.

[Baxpix]

Thanks for the beta Herlan, I appreciate the help. I just returned from the trip and sadly, we did not take the planned exit route over Fiske. After spending too much time climbing McGee the day before, we fell behind and decided to take an easier route on the last day which took us over Lamrack and back to Sabrina. It was an epic adventure out there, went over Echo Col to Ionian Basin and climbed Charybdis and Scylla, carried packs over Goddard and down the Starr Route, and then climbed McGee before heading out. I'll make sure to write a trip report soon. I'm excited to get back out there to climb Fiske and Huxley in the future. Cheers! Baxpix

[Wandering Daisy]

All I can add is that the southwest ridge of Mt Fiske is a really fun class 3 climb. I found it best to stay exactly on the top of the ridge. When I dropped down on the northwest side it did not work well. That was a long time ago and I cannot remember exactly why.

[Baxpix]

All I can add is that the southwest ridge of Mt Fiske is a really fun class 3 climb. I found it best to stay exactly on the top of the ridge. When I dropped down on the northwest side it did not work well. That was a long time ago and I cannot remember exactly why.

Thanks for the information Wandering Daisy! I will definitely get back there this summer.

[Baxpix]

Hey Baxpix, welcome, and good luck on your climb of Fiske. I will check out the HST Map in the Resources section to clarify my old memory. I know I had a bit of an adventure coming down off of Fiske. I climbed it via the west ridge beginning at the saddle between Fiske and Huxley (?)...(actually, the saddle is between Fiske and Mt Warlow). I carried on along what I believe must have been the north-eastern ridge you speak of, and I had more than one sketchy moment dancing around on very loose stuff. It was not so much big loose boulders, but steep, loose scree. It was done while racing an oncoming thunderstorm, which dumped very thick hail on me, and on the beautiful, turquoise blue lake in the basin to the north of the ridge. I started and ended this hike/climb at Sapphire Lake.

I look forward to hearing how your trip and climb goes. I think you too will be amazed by the rare color of that lake (which I see now is Lake 12021'). Take care to choose a safe route as you wend your way along that tricky northeast ridge. Cheers, Harlen.

Thanks for the response, Harlan!