August 11, 2005

Four of us enjoyed a fantastic day trip up the northeast ridge of Needle Peak. This is a great route with lots of time spent in the alpine moving along a granite ridge. The route begin by ascending Markhor Peak and then follows a ridgecrest all the way to the summit of Needle Peak via its NE ridge. We descended the standard route, the west ridge. Great weather and great company made for a very fun trip. There are some tricky and exposed sections on this route.

Route overview from the summit of Markhor. The route follows the ridgeline to the summit.

Needle Northeast Ridge closeup.

Good rock early in the day. Markhor in the background.

The first crux of the route.

Another shot of the first crux of the route. This section of the ridge is downclimbed to a notch.

Excellent scrambling on the Northeast ridge, Markhor and Yak in the background.

The second crux of the route, partway up the final section of ridge.

Another shot of the second crux.

Teresa near the summit.

Happy to be on top!