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Mount Thielsen, West Ridge
Technical Info
- Mountain: Mount Thielsen
- Elevation: 9,182ft
- Route: West Ridge
- Length: 3,800ft
- Grade: I, 3/4th class
THE LIGHTNING ROD
Mount Thielsen is often called the lightning rod of the Cascades, which is easy to understand when you see its dramatic, horn shaped summit pinnacle. The spire actually does attract lightning quite often, and Its summit is riddled with lightning strike scars called fulgurites. They appear as marks of black glass in the rock. Pretty cool.
CRATER LAKE
This is a retro report, however I got plenty of great pictures! Woooo!
Thielsen had been on my mind for a while. I knew it would be a solid first “alpine climbing” experience because, while carrying real consequence, Thielsen is still quite safe in terms of commitment and difficulty. Trent and I felt like we were ready to get in to more difficult climbs, and Thielsen proved to be a great stepping stone. So, we roped in Max and Coen, and headed south on October 12th, 2024.
Since it was a pretty long drive, we ended up going early to check out Crater Lake. Most of us had never been, so it was a pretty rad day. After Crater Lake, we found some questionable hot springs and discovered the long exposure feature on our phones.
THE APPROACH
4am the next morning, the alarm sounds. We were camped a short drive from the trailhead, so we pack up quick. A screeching owl also got our adrenaline pumping by deciding to make the most demonic sound I’ve ever heard while we were loading up the trucks.
The approach starts of in a lightly wooded area just off of the highway that quickly tuns into a vast burn zone from a fire back in 2020. There are tons of sketchy snags that look like a light breeze might topple them. I kept my eyes glued to the snags until finally exiting the burn. We were now on the West Ridge proper and heading directly for Thielsen. This is when the trail began to quickly steepen into 3rd class pumice/shale.
FINALLY SOME CLIMBING
The West Ridge continues to steepen before traversing climbers right to a 3rd class gully. After climbing this, you land on chicken ledge, an aptly named staging ground right at the base of the 80ft summit spire. After checking out our options for a few minutes, everyone suited up and started free-climbing. We all took slightly different routes, but I found the path of least resistance to start at the far right chimney and gradually trend left, following easy ledges to a rap station just below the summit. To me, this felt like 3rd to easy 4th class climbing. I always had a ledge to stand on which was great to be able to take in the view!
SUMMIT
I made it to the summit first and had it all to myself. Trent and Coen arrived shortly after. Max had gotten cold feet for a moment, but powered through after a couple more minutes. We all congratulated each other on the summit and took in the view. While up top, Coen found the geological survey marker and I hunted around for fulgurites. After having lunch, a couple more groups joined us on the summit, so we decided to head out before got we got caught waiting at the rappel station. One rap on a 60m got us down to chicken ledge with rope to spare. Wicked day!
BETA
The West Ridge route is marked well and even follows the PCT for a while, so route-finding down low is not an issue. Once on the 3rd class section, the route remains easy to follow. Be careful to not knock loose rocks onto climbers below. Once you wrap around to the right, look for a chimney/gulley feature, climbing it will take you to chicken ledge. Here, the real climbing begins. Most people free solo the pinnacle, but the exposure can be intense for those not used to it. Plenty of climbers choose to rope up too. The easiest route starts on climbers right of the pinnacle and gradually moves left, following easy ledges. You will eventually reach a rap station with a nice platform and then the summit. The photo below shows the route. One rappel on a doubled 60m will get you back to chicken ledge.
- Gear: rope, rap kit/anchor tat
