Trip Date: June 10, 2021
Denny Mountain Day Climb
Alpental Ski Area
Denny Mountain (5520+ ft)
Edelweiss Bowl
Trip Report Summary
Region: Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Snoqualmie Range
Area: Mt. Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest
Starting & Ending Point: Alpental Ski Area base lodge (Elev. 3100 feet)
Way Points: Debbie’s Gold ski run & Lower International ski run & Upper International ski run & Edelweiss Chair Lift unloading station; return via Edelweiss Bowl & Midway Saddle & Debbie’s Gold ski run (off-trail hike & snow hike & snow climb)
Summit: Denny Mountain (snow climb & rock scramble via South Face)
Approximate Stats: 2.8 miles traveled; 2500 feet gained & lost; 2.7 hours up; 1.3 hours down.
Full Trip Report
Eileen and I were looking for a half-day climb close to home, and Denny Mountain seemed to fit the bill—despite the fact that Beckey says it “has little reward as a climb.” Besides, after previously getting stymied twice on this peak, we were motivated to reach the summit. We now believe that Beckey was wrong; Denny Mountain actually provides an excellent training climb and interesting summit if done under the right conditions. Ideally, it would be attempted in the springtime, after the Alpental Ski Area closes but before the snowpack melts off the lower slopes.
We started at the Alpental Ski Area base lodge and hiked up the barren lower slopes several hundred feet. Upon reaching snowline, we donned crampons and continued up to a small basin. Here, one has a choice between heading up the legendary International ski run to the right or up Debbie’s Gold ski run to the left. We chose the former; after all, who can resist a legend?
At the top of Lower International, we turned left and cramponed upward on Upper International. This is a double-black-diamond ski run and, as such, constitutes a fairly steep snow climb.
From the top of Upper International, the summit of Denny Mountain could be seen through swirling fog as an impressive rock horn. Somehow, this was not shaping up to be the easy, straightforward climb we were anticipating.
We booted up and around a corner, past the Edelweiss Chair Lift unloading station, to reach the base of the summit horn. Crampons came off here, and we began angling up to the left on a wide ramp that ends in a clump of alpine fir trees. Immediately above this tree clump, the rock face is split by a narrow chimney draped with a hefty steel cable.
A bit of investigation revealed that the steel cable wraps around to the left, following a rock ledge across an exposed cliff. Surprise…it was a via ferrata route! Due to the down-sloping and slippery condition of the ledge, we were grateful to have this cable in place.
The rock ledge took us into a small cleft, and we finished our climb in late morning with a short Class 2-3 scramble (2.7 hours + 2500 feet from base lodge). The summit has a radio tower, a marker pole, and a unique view of the Snoqualmie Pass area. Unfortunately, today’s visibility was limited to just a few miles.
After down-climbing back to the Edelweiss Chair Lift unloading station, we decided to make our climb a counter-clockwise loop. This involved descending a series of steep slopes into Edelweiss Basin, crossing eastward through Midway Saddle, and then booting or glissading down Debbie’s Gold ski run. We were back at the base lodge shortly after noon (1.3 hours from summit). For a half-day climb close to home, it felt pretty rewarding to us!
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Route Map & Sketch
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Photo Gallery
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