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Trip Report    

Intermediate Alpine Climb - Vesper Peak/North Face

Single day climb of Ragged Edge with great weather and climbing conditions

Paul Wade Paul Wade
July 20, 2024
  • Road rough but passable
    • Rapidly melting snow in the upper basin on the approach and on the descent from the summit.
    • Some lingering snow on the ledges leading out to the base of the climbing route.
    • Water available at the outlet stream from Lake Elan and multiple snow melt streams in the upper basin.
    • Climbing route snow free and in great shape.

Single day climb of Ragged Edge on Vesper Peak.  We left the TH at 4:30 am and arrived at the base of the climb at 8:45 am, topping off our water at the outlet stream for Lake Elan.  There was some patches of snow in the upper basin above Lake Elan as we traversed to the notch that led to the ledge approach on the North face.

Vesper Basin.jpg
Upper basin from outlet stream

There was some lingering snow on the ledges leading out to the base of the climb.  We ended up scrambling through a moat between the snow and the base of  the North face.

Vesper Ledges.jpg
North face ledge approach

We were the first parties on the route and we swapped leads, taking about 3 hours to climb to the summit.  After enjoying the summit for a while, we descended the standard scramble route and arrived back at the TH around 4:15 pm.  A very enjoyable climb with a great team in a really scenic location!