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A summit route is the purest concept in climbing. Your grandmother may not understand the beta of your new project, or how we got from 5.10 to 5.15b, or even how you get the rope up there, but she can understand climbing to the highest point on a mountain.
City to Summit
A summit route is the purest concept in climbing. Your grandmother may not understand the beta of your new project, or how we got from 5.10 to 5.15b, or even how you get the rope up there, but she can understand climbing to the highest point on a mountain. Fortunately, you don’t have to venture far from many American cities to find superb summit routes. Here are 10 worthy peaks, covering the spectrum of climbing: sport, trad, alpine, desert, winter, and summer. And best of all: the trailheads are all within an after-work drive of a major city.
Mt. Conness; San Francisco, CA
Elevation: 12,590 feet
Route: West Ridge (5.6, 1,500 feet)
Drive: 4 hours
Lone Pine Peak; Los Angeles, CA
Elevation: 12,944 feet
Route: Northeast Ridge (5.6, 3 miles)
Drive: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Elephant Head; Phoenix, AZ
Elevation: 5,607 feet
Route: West Gully (5.6 R, 1,000 feet)
Drive: 2 hours, 20 minutes
Mt. Wilson; Las Vegas, NV
Elevation: 7,070 feet
Route: Inti Watana to Resolution Arête (5.10+, 14–17 pitches)
Drive: 40 minutes
Mt. Stuart; Seattle, WA
Elevation: 9,415 feet
Route: North Ridge (5.9, 15 pitches)
Drive: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Mt. Webster; Boston, MA
Elevation: 3,911 feet
Route: Green Chasm (5.6 NEI 3, 2,500 feet)
Drive: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Stone Mountain; Charlotte, NC
Elevation: 2,305 feet
Route: The Great White Way (5.9, 3 pitches)
Drive: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Seneca Rocks, South Peak; Washington, D.C.
Elevation: 2,240 feet
Route: Soler (5.7, 2 pitches)
Drive: 3 hours
Pfeifferhorn; Salt Lake City, UT
Elevation: 11,326 feet
Route: North Ridge (5.5, 2,000 feet)
Drive: 45 minutes
Mt. Alice; Denver, CO
Elevation: 13,310 feet
Route: Central Ramp (5.8, 8 pitches)
Drive: 1 hour, 40 minutes
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