East Partner to X Prime

After traversing from Skier's Point to Bloodshaw a few weeks earlier, this route was promptly moved to the top of my list. The views of the ridge between X Prime and Peak W looked burly but fun from X Prime's tiny summit. Peak V's east face and north ridge to Peak W were also stunning. And besides, who can resist traversing from V to W aka "The Punch Buggy Traverse" as coined by Brent Herring. Its a fun one... beep beep!

East Partner is one of my favorite Gore peaks to climb. The solid rock class 3-4 south ridge is fun and engaging. The summit offers amazing northern views of the ultra remote peaks Q, R and L.

After warming up on East Partner's south ridge we continued on to Peak W.

The Punch Buggy Traverse (V to W) is relatively straight forward. I would say it goes at class 3-4 with some route finding around an impassible cliff that we bypassed by down climbing a short section on the north side of the ridge and contouring around to the the saddle below.

If Punch Buggy pushes your limits, descending Peak W's south east slopes is relatively easy.

Traversing from Peak W to X Prime is a different beast all together. Atwater dubbed it "The Spice Factory". It is a significant step up in technical difficulty, route finding and exposure are what differentiate this half mile section of ridge. The challenges start immediately and don't let up until reaching X Prime.

The cruxes of W to XPrime are the climbs in and out of the notches. There are many exposed class 5 climbs and down climbs... too many to mention. The ridge is consistent in difficulty from start to finish and the route finding can be challenging. We often explored many options before moving forward. Like many other Gore ridges, the rock is thankfully solid.

It is the combination of all these factors that make this ridge so special and one of the best sections of ridge in the range. If you are comfy with exposure, this is Gore Range scrambling at it's finest.... sustained, committing and super rewarding!

Enjoy it!

For more information on East Partner or X Prime see reports for: