Dallas and I climbed two rock routes east Washington Pass this week.  We were looking for routes that Dallas has not climbed, which is a hard proposition these days.  We decided on “Prime Rib”, an eleven pitch 5.9 on Goat Wall, and “Serendipity Aręte”, an eight pitch 5.7 route near Washington Pass.

            We started the approach to “Prime Rib” at about nine-thirty in the morning.  The topo, available at the Methow store, describes the approach and route well.  The approach is up some unpleasant scree, so bring some poles for balance.  We missed the first pitch, which is up some dirty slabs, and instead climbed a third class gully that brought us to the first belay station.  This was not intentional on our part, it just seemed that the logical line was up the gully.  The first belay is easy to find, so don’t worry about passing it by.

            The route is well protected with bolts whenever needed.  The line is easy to follow, the bolts lead the way.  There was some scrambling over second and third class benches, but for the most part, the climbing was enjoyable on solid rock.  The route takes a rib all the way to the top of goat wall, and is not in the sun until the afternoon.  No traditional pro is needed, although I would recommend a mix of slings and draws for the wandering pitches.  I would also recommend bringing your shoes along on the climb for the long rappels back to the scree.  We both felt that the ratings were a bit soft; we felt that most of the harder pitches were around 5.7 at the hardest with the last pitch going at 5.8.

All in all, this was an enjoyable outing, well worth the approach.  For a more challenging climb, try the “Methow Inspiration Route” on the east side of the wall.  It took us six hours car to car for the route.  There is also a great swimming hole in the river right at the parking pullout for the route.  The rest of the day we spent at Fun Rock, a nice little climbing crag near Methow.

            The next day we drove up to near Washington Pass to climb “Serendipity Aręte”.  The aręte is a somewhat obscure feature on the terminus of Vasiliki Ridge on the south side of Highway 20 just east of the hairpin turn.  Bryan Burdo’s book, “North Cascades Rock”, describes the approach and route quite well.  The approach trail is easy to find and well defined.  However, it does get a bit spicy with a couple of fourth class sections that have fixed ropes.  A word of caution here, we did find one of the fixed ropes hade been gnawed upon by the local snafflehounds.

            The first two pitches lead up blocky low fifth class around a roof to a long section of third class.  I would recommend bypassing these pitches by climbing the gully on the right and gaining the third class section without having to break out the rope.

            The climbing here becomes more interesting, with short sections of nice granite cracks interspersed with blocky low fifth class to the summit.  Protection opportunities are numerous and solid.  A short down-climb to the gully and some scree skating took us back to the base of the climb.  We spent six and half hours car to car.

            My impression of the climb is that it does not have enough of the enjoyable climbing to warrant the long approach, especially in view of the excellent climbing available in the area.  However, if you are looking for something off of the beaten path, this will fit the bill.