Borah Peak, Idaho

I will be going to Idaho near the summers end. My attention has been drawn to Borah Peak, it looks like a great mountain. Does anyone have any tips advice? I know there is a permanent area with snow near Chicken Out Ridge...Does this require crampons like some suggest? I have looked at pics and it does not look needed.

Best place for that kind of question is the Highpointers Forum, see also the section on Borah Peak.

I did Borah 2 years ago in mid August and there was no snow. It all depends on the snow levels that winter. Mohamed is right...this time of year at americasroof.com there are always people comparing notes about Borah.

My tips are to start very early, bring a ton of water, and have fun. I did the Knife's Edge on Katahdin just a month after i did Borah, and to compare the 2 i'd say the scrambling difficulty is slightly harder on Borah, but they are in the same general category. The vertical exposure is considerably more serious on Borah, but it's a much shorter and less weather-affected exposure stretch than on the Knife's Edge.

I'd agree that conditions are eminently variable. So many of the West's "perennial snowfields" of the past centuries are now shrinking away from routes or disappearing for the late summer months altogether.

While carrying crampons is generally prudent (to ensure the greatest probability of a complete ascent), I'd say you can do Borah without them at the end of this summer. At this time of year, it's an involved semi-technical climb (I'd bring ice screws and mtn axe); on the other hand, it has been climbed as a 90-minute jog in late summer. (As a note, if you can get out there in late May, it offers excellent sustained 40-50 degree snow climbing with class 3 rock moves.)

When I lived in SLC and climbed Idaho, I used to check the Idaho Outdoors Forum; it's probably still the best resource.

Borah Peak

Have you checked out Summitpost's website. They have great pix and info on all the high peaks of the USA and MANY more. Great site-very professional and international. You can really see what's it all about from the pix.
I was also planning on going to Borah at the end of the summer-maybe I'll see you there

Happy Trails-