Gettin' High in Idaho

The north face route of Mt. Borah.

Jerry gettin' after it.

Rewi enjoying the firm neve snow and ice.

Havin' fun at altitude.

2 tired, yet, elated climbers on the roof of Idaho.

I don't normally post my climbing antics on our family site but this last trip I did is worthy of the 'ol blog.

My friend Jerry and I climbed the north face of Mt. Borah this past Saturday. It's a route we've been wanting to do for years, but every year it seems that something always comes up. So it was with great excitement that we headed out and tackled this classic alpine route on the seldom visited side of Idaho's highest peak, (12,664'), this past weekend.

To get to the start of the route required a 4 a.m. start from the trailhead, then 5 hours of slogging uphill guided by headlights. 8 a.m. found us at the base of the massive north face where we donned crampons and ice axes and got after it – this is what we came for. Overall the ice was comfortable enough for both us to solo (no ropes) but the higher we got the harder the ice grew and there was a moment that made us both think about if our life insurance policies were up to date. After that we geared up – rope and all.

At 2:30 p.m. we reached the top of the west ridge and welcomed the sunshine, (we were in the shadow of the north face all day). We basked in the sun for a while seeing how we were making such good time. We've been told that this route could take us anywhere from 12 hours to 24 hours car-to-car – so we were well ahead of schedule.

We summited at 3 p.m. among a group of fellow Borahites and then quickly made the God-forsaken 3 hour descent down the standard route on the southwest ridge of the mountain passing all the hikers that hiked up the standard route. We got a lot of looks with all our climbing gear on us and questions like "Whoa, you guys must be professionals!". It was kind of amusing.

6:00 p.m. back at the car. 14 hours on the go and my dogs are barking. I'm wupped, but smiling.

6:30 p.m. enjoying well-earned cheeseburger and fries in Mackay.

8:30 p.m. home, hug the kids, hug the wife, shower, bed.