North Ridge of Monte Cristo

Someone has undoubtedly climbed the N. Ridge of Monte Cristo from Mill B So. Fork; the feature is too obvious to have gone without an ascent. That said, we came across no signs of prior ascents (other than ski paraphernalia farther along the ridge) and the abundance of loose rock and lichen indicated not many folks venture there.

Overview

This route follows the path of least resistance and/or best rock up the N. Ridge of Monte Cristo to the peak's summit. It is dirty and the rock is chossy, but the feature and climb's position are spectacular. I am guessing the climbing was around 5.8 at the hardest, although the poor rock quality made the difficulty challenging to gauge and harder or easier climbing could be found. The route length listed above indicates the roped climbing that we did - the whole ridge is obviously much longer.

Detail

We started at the ridge's terminus. The route we followed more-or-less stuck to the buttress's prow, deviating occasionally to find better gear or rock, and to avoid overhangs. Three pitches took us to the top of the ridge, where we began scrambling towards the Monte Cristo summit. We roped up for another pitch of climbing about halfway through the ridge.

Pitch 1: From the ridge's terminus we climbed 200-220 ft to a large ledge with a comfortable belay stance and good anchor opportunities.

Pitch 2: We continued up the ridge approximately 120 ft until just below some overhangs made up of lighter-colored rock. From there, our route traversed 20-25 ft right to belay in an alcove of lighter-colored (decent quality) rock on the west side of the ridge.

Pitch 3: We traversed approximately 15 ft right from the belay, then climbed up enjoyable and only somewhat loose white rock to the top of the ridge. I took the path of least resistance, which involved a loose chimney/gully at the top. An inviting (and obvious) short-but-splitter finger crack to the right of the gully is advised.

From here we scrambled the enjoyable 3rd class ridge until about halfway to Monte Cristo's summit, where we encountered a vertical wall.

Pitch 4: We roped up here, bypassing the wall by taking a wide crack on the ridge's west face 20-30 ft back up to the ridge crest. I ran the pitch across a spectacular section of the ridge where a steep slab (climber's left) formed a 90 degree angle with the ridge's west face. Another 30 ft section of climbing took me to the top of the next high point, where I built a belay. The climbing on this pitch was 5.5 or 5.6.

We took the ridge to the top without roping up again, occasionally passing through lower 5th class terrain. Earlier on in the section we reached a deep notch in the ridge - the start of the "Heart of Darkness" chute according to the Wasatch Backcountry Skiing Map (www.wbskiing.com). We bypassed the notch by downclimbing to the east, crossing the gully on the ridge's east side, and then taking the path of least resistance south west to regain the top of the ridge. The Heart of Darkness chute is unmistakable, marked by a two-bolt anchor on the chute's south wall and a fixed line hanging down the chute to the west (the fixed line had been severed about 1/3 of the way down when we were there Sept. 2018).

From the south side of the Heart of Darkness chute it was an easy scramble to the Monte Cristo summit.

Descent

We followed the Cottonwood Ridge (the ridge line separating Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons) west until we reached the point where it connects with the ridge running north to Sundial Peak. We took this ridge north until we could easily drop down into the Mill B drainage. From here it was a nice stroll back to Lake Blanche.

This climb is not on Sundial Peak. Rather, it is on the North Ridge of Monte Cristo - a buttress located 1-1.5 miles north east of Lake Blanche at the end (i.e. head) of the Mill B South Fork drainage.

Note: Identifying Monte Cristo can be a challenge for those not familiar with the Wasatch, as older topo maps label the peak Mt. Superior. If in doubt, check out the Wasatch Backcountry Skiing Map (www.wbskiing.com).

To get there, hike to Lake Blanche. Pass the lake on its east side and follow a single-track trail up to a small hanging drainage situated under the Cardiac Ridge that comes off of Mt. Superior's summit. From here, the destination is obvious.

We took a standard rack up to a #3 BD Camalot. Although we had doubles up to a #1, a single set of cams should suffice.