Skip to Content

South Pass

RSS FeedClick on "Routes" to subscribe to a RSS feed of all new routes added to this category. Click on "Ascents" for a RSS feed of all new ascents recorded in this category. Routes | Ascents

About South Pass:

South Pass is one of the Wind's more obscure areas. You will likely have it all to yourself, but there are some impressive walls and great climbing to be done. I'd especially recommend Symbiosis, which is the best route I've done in the Winds. There's also plenty of potential for long, quality first ascents. The trailhead for the South Pass area is found several rough miles beyond the Sweetwater Guard station--the southernmost trailhead in the Winds. Reading Kelsey's guide and looking at his maps, one might get the impression that the best place to camp for the majority of the routes is by Little Sandy Lake. This is incorrect. The Little Sandy trail, which seems to disappear in places, does lead to Little Sandy Lake; however, you'll want to keep going to the next lake (not shown on Kelsey's map, and I can't remember the name, but it's obvious and would be on a topo map), another 2+ miles up the trail. Camp here for the South Pass area's major walls, including the "Wall of Forgetfulness" directly above the lake, and the east face of "Little Sandy Lake Buttresses" up and to the right. These walls are both quite steep and around 1000 feet high. There are also at least 3 major pinnacles in between the two major faces. They are not mentioned in Kelsey's guide, but the 2002 American Alpine Journal describes ascents of moderate routes on these spires. Although most of the climbing activity in the South Pass area has focused on these cliffs, there are a number of other routes scattered around the Little Sandy drainage.
Approach:
Approach Time:
Latitude, Longitude:
Access Issues:
Rock Type: Granite
Type of Climbing: Alpine
Sun Aspect:

Routes

SequenceSequence numbers indicate the left (L) to right (R) order of the routes. Rating Route Difficulty Ascents
1 Average Rating = 0.00/5 Gold Dihedrals 5.9 1
1 Average Rating = 0.00/5 Symbiosis 5.10b 1