Prepping for the Cassin Ridge

The Cassin Ridge on Denali has become one of the most sought-after big mountain alpine climbs in the world. There are few routes that follow such a beautiful and continuous line 9000 feet of challenging granite and ice that end right below the highest point in North America. The Cassin Ridge is very challenging, with 65-degree hard ice, mixed climbing on steep ground, and rock to 5.7.

The Second Rock Band on the Cassin Ridge
Photo by Andrew Wexler


We recently received a serious inquiry from an individual who would like to climb the route with us. This climber lives the Pacific Northwest and wanted a good solid list of prep climbs in Washington and British Columbia. Prepping for a guided ascent of such a high end route will inevitably make an individual and extremely competent independent climber. Indeed, most of the prep climbs are phenomenal routes in and of themselves.

The Cowboy Traverse on the Cassin Ridge
Photo by Andrew Wexler


Check out the prep list below:

Winter/Spring Routes

  1. Chair Peak - North Face
  2. Dragontail Peak -- Triple Couloirs
  3. Eldorado Peak -- Northwest Face Courloir
  4. Mount Snoqualmie -- New York Gully
  5. Mount Index -- North Face of North Peak
Spring/Summer Routes
  1. Mount Buckner -- North Face
  2. Forbidden Peak -- West Ridge
  3. Mount Baker -- North Ridge
  4. Mount Shuksan -- North Face
  5. Mount Adams -- Adams Glacier
  6. Mount Stuart -- Ice Cliff Glacier
  7. Mount Stuart -- Stuart Glacier Couloir
  8. Mount Rainier -- Ptarmigan Ridge
  9. Mount Rainier -- Liberty Ridge
  10. Mount Waddington -- Bravo Glacier Route
Late Summer Routes
  1. Dragontail Peak -- Serpentine Arete
  2. South Early Winter Spire -- East Ridge Direct
  3. Mount Stuart -- Upper North Ridge
  4. Torment/Forbidden Traverse
  5. Forbidden Peak -- Northwest Face to North Ridge
Multi-Pitch Water Ice

In addition to the alpine climbs that we have listed, we are asking that prospective Cassin Ridge climbers spend a significant amount of time climbing multi-pitch water ice. This could be in Banff, Ouray, Silverton, Telluride or anywhere else where there are long multi-pitch ice climbs.

Traversing above Cassin Ledge
Photo by Andrew Wexler

Unguided Ascents of the Cassin

Those who would prefer to climb such a route without a guide might want to complete all the previous routes, as well as a handful of climbs in the Alaska Range such as Ham and Eggs on the Mooses Tooth, the West Ridge of Mount Hunter and the West Face Couloir on Mount Huntington.

--Jason D. Martin