Peak 9940 (Copperhead Peak East) by Livingston Douglas

Elevation: 9,940 ft
Prominence: 360

Find Nearby Peaks

This peak is not in the book.


Copperhead Peak East is a ranked summit on the Continental Divide. It is located about a mile east of Copperhead Peak and is connected to Copperhead Peak via a narrow saddle at 9,040 feet. The North Summit is the true summit, as it has the highest contour interval for this elongated, triple-peaked mountain. USGS Homer Youngs Peak


South Ridge, Class 2+

Access

Freeman Creek [(A)(3.1) on Page 328 of the book]

The Climb

From its connecting ridge with Rock Island Peak, follow the somewhat tedious, choppy Continental Divide northward. Skirt krummholz and ridge chop as necessary, staying to the left/west of the ridge crest as necessary. The exposure on the East Side of the ridge is horrific, but provides beautiful views of several high Montana lakes. I had to scramble over Point 9680+ en route. The summit is the northernmost point on the mountain and has a large cairn with an ID/MT boundary post. There are great views of Copperhead Peak’s east ridge as well as four beautiful Montana lakes (Little Lake and three unnamed lakes).

West Ridge, Class 3

The Descent

From the summit, return south on the Continental Divide to the final false summit and descend the West Ridge on steep talus. Then, either continue on the ridge down to a narrow ridge saddle, or descend a prominent scree/gravel gully directly down to a tarn in the upper basin (my chosen route) to avoid ridge difficulties just above the connecting saddle with Copperhead Peak.

From the tarn in the upper basin, descend south on tundra, then talus. Hug the west side of the drainage until you reach the north side of Golway Gulch. Bushwhack your way back down to the unused jeep road on the south side of Golway Gulch and return via jeep roads back to the Freeman Creek jeep road, which is where I began my climb.

Additional Resources

Mountain Range: Beaverhead Range

First Ascent Information:

  • Other First Ascent: West Ridge—Descent
  • Year: 2017
  • Season: Summer
  • Party: Livingston Douglas
  •  
  • Other First Ascent: South Ridge
  • Year: 2017
  • Season: Summer
  • Party: Livingston Douglas

Longitude: -113.71311   Latitude: 45.30659

Comments are closed.