TR: Mt Borah, Idaho

[madsjim]

With a few friends and a free weekend, the decision was to head towards Idaho and get the state highpoint, Borah. Leaving after work on a Friday afternoon, we passed through Blackfoot and on to Mackay. Arriving at the trailhead around 11:30 PM we threw our bivies on the ground and slept off and on knowing what was ahead of us the next day.

We got up around 5:30 AM, and finally hit the trail around 6:00. Right away you realize this is a steep trail. It practically goes straight up the mountain through a beautiful forest, no switchbacks, none at all! Coming out of the forest you begin an almost flatter section along the ridgeline. This is a great spot to look back and see the trailhead like a tiny speck way far down in the valley. As we continued we neared what is called "Chicken out Ridge". I had read a little about it and figured it wouldn't be too bad. There is a reason it deserves it name, alternating sections of third, fourth and low fifth class climbing can turn the faint of heart around. I had a great time on the ridge, great scrambling in my book makes a mountain fun to climb. At one point along the ridge their is a fixed rope to help people up, though it isn't necessary. The exposure in spots is quite extreme and gets the blood flowing. We encountered several snowfield crossings that were quite hard and icey, and at one point we waited an hour debating whether to continue across the last major one. This last snowfield was iced over and both sides had uninterrupted streches for several thousand feet. After taking a dose of courage (and waiting for the snow to soften) we continued across to the last stretch before the summit.

The summit block is a very steep, rocky scramble that at points seems to never end. The trail at points disappears and leaves you to find your own way through the jumble. After a long while you top out on the ridge that leads to the summit. The Lost River range where Borah is located is displayed all around and is breathtaking. It is always great to summit and this is a nice one.

After a bit on top, we headed back down. This is a horrible descent. Rocky and steep, you will take a beating. I will now skip to the end, arriving at the trailhead, my feet hurt and I had just finished hiking Idaho's highpoint.

After completing the climb, not being in a sane state of mind I promised never to return, this being a steep hard climb. Now a few days after I realize I would do it again.

Stats:

Elevation - 12,662 ft
Length - 3.5 miles
Elevation gain - 5,200 ft!

[dgamble_23]

Nice pictures. Looks like it was a steep climb.

[goofball]

love this shot ! looks cool.

[madsjim]

I turned around just in time to see him hanging on and I knew it was a great shot with the valley in the background. Thanks

[CarpeyBiggs]

Suh-weet! That peak looks like a lot of fun. Great pics, thanks for the TR.

[Alex]

Wow looks awesome!

Those pictures bring my bad memories of my pathetic attempt of summiting anything this year with Dan. Those snow ledges scare the living hell out of me.

[Sombeech]

That looks very cool.

[sparker1]

I drove by Borah on our tour of Idaho, some really beautiful country there. Congratulations on making the summit. Those are some really good pix.

[madjohnbo]

Those are some of your best pictures I've seen bro! I am jealous and need to get out of D.C.! I miss getting out in the mountains.

[Brian in SLC]

This is a horrible descent. Rocky and steep, you will take a beating.

Ditto that. We climbed the North Face via an ice coulior a couple years back and the descent was what stood out in my mind as the suckiest descent in recent and prolonged memory...

I would highly recommend the north face, especially for folks wantin' to swing their ice tools out of the normal ice season...some info below.

Great photo's!

-Brian in SLC

http://www.mtncommunity.org/dc/dcboa...ng_type=search

[madsjim]

Everyone gets a good look at that north face while crossing the COR, it looked like an awesome route. When we first got to the snow crossing it was icey and a long death glissade was quite intimidating so we waited till the snow had softened.

Those are some cool shots of your climb. Thanks Brian!

[brettyb]

Thanks a lot for posting the photos. I've been eyeing this one myself. Can you compare contrast the difficulty of hiking Borah with any of the following:

Broads Fork Twins
Nebo via Andrews Ridge
Pilot Peak
Ibapah

Mostly the exposure I'm interested in, so Broads Fork Twins are probably the best approximation of climbing Borah???

[madsjim]

You know, during the whole hike I was comparing it to some of the other climbs I have done.

Of the ones you have listed, Broads Fork is the only one that I could compare it too.

- Broads Fork is easier

- Borah is longer, with more elevation gain.

- Chicken Out Ridge has more exposure for a more sustained length

On the descent, my feet were killing me. Mainly because the trail is STEEP! All the way from the parking lot to the summit, it rarely levels off for more than a few yards.

It took us 11 hours total, but we took an hour break at a snowfield to let it melt. I think someone in great shape could do it in 8 to 9.

Overall, Broads Fork and Borah are fairly similar in my mind. Steep ascent with awesome exposure to get your blood flowing.

[brettyb]

You know, during the whole hike I was comparing it to some of the other climbs I have done.

Of the ones you have listed, Broads Fork is the only one that I could compare it too.

- Broads Fork is easier

- Borah is longer, with more elevation gain.

- Chicken Out Ridge has more exposure for a more sustained length

On the descent, my feet were killing me. Mainly because the trail is STEEP! All the way from the parking lot to the summit, it rarely levels off for more than a few yards.

It took us 11 hours total, but we took an hour break at a snowfield to let it melt. I think someone in great shape could do it in 8 to 9.

Overall, Broads Fork and Borah are fairly similar in my mind. Steep ascent with awesome exposure to get your blood flowing.

Thanks for the info. I have another one for you to compare it to--Lone Peak via Jacobs Ladder. (Just did it for the first time last week, as seen on another thread....)

[madsjim]

Unfortunately I haven't done Lone Peak yet so comparing would be tough. I think Lone Peak would be easier due to having less elevation though the steepness could be similar.

What made Borah especially tough is the amount of scrambling, which Lone Peak does have. Borah's is very exposed in spots and gets very steep in the last 800 ft.

You should get out and do Borah! No more comparing, tick that one off your list