All 8 core Cheam range peaks in a sub 12h effort - Cheam (4:02am) to Foley (3:58PM)
*disclaimer - this is a complicated, technical mountain route, with variable rock quality and complex terrain. It's highly recommended to scout not only the individual peaks but the connections between them, as there are a myriad of small route-finding decisions that matter both for speed & safety.
Gear carried: micro spikes, axe, helmet, poles, 30m rad line & rappel gear (didn't end up using it but always good to have contingency). While this was a “fast and light” mission, we each carried a fairly heavy pack with enough food/water/gear to give us a wide safety margin.
I pitched this to Jan a few weeks prior, and thankfully the stars aligned to make it happen!
Dropped a vehicle at Foley Lake, drove up to the Cheam TH and got moving by 2:40am.
Up the west ridge of Cheam, down standard trail, up Lady, then back down and contoured below the face at 1950m-ish. This was annoying with some wet gullies and and not particularly enjoyable but certainly faster than rappelling off the south end of the ridge.
We ascended Knight over the SW ridge and dropped down to connect with the south ridge of Baby Munday, which goes at stiff 4th or low 5th, depending on how one rates things. (Locating the correct access gully to the ridge is important.) Much attention is given to the exposed step near the summit but we both felt the scrambling on lower ridge to be a bit stiffer and just as consequential. Ended up leaving the rope in the pack but there are a handful of spots where rappel stations exist, bring tat if you plan on using them!
Dropped off the east aspect of Baby Munday and contoured over to connect with the southwest ridge of Stewart, which is certainly one of the most fun sections of the traverse. Ascending the SW ridge of Stewart and descending the SE ridge works very well and does not exceed 3rd class.
The Still is generally unpleasant, other than the short summit scramble. We used microspikes and axes on a short snow slope, but opted to descend through very loose scree... either goes, albeit tedious.
Below the Still, the route wraps around below the peak and traverses grass & scree towards the south ridge of Welch, and then ascends a steep section of grassy scrambling that connects with the standard ridgeline up to the summit of Welch.
After summiting Welch, we backtracked to the false summit and dropped down east-facing slopes towards the steep scree chute that leads up to Foley. Sporadic cairns mark the route, but we found keeping our head on a swivel worked well and gradually brought us to a few steep moves to bypass a lingering snow finger into the main scree chute.
From there we ascended loose boulders & scree to the saddle, dropped off into the bowl below Foley, and then scrambled up the southeast ridge of Foley. We both felt this was some of the best scrambling of the day, solid enough when it mattered and a beautiful position on the far southern end of the Cheam range.
We summited at 3:58pm, quite tired and thankful for such a smooth day. From Foley it is still a long way out to the car, so we reversed our steps off the ridge and gradually made our way back to the car down at Foley Lake, with much slogging involved.
The Cheam Range packs an incredible amount of adventure into a relatively compact area, and I would love to see this route get completed more often, both in sections and in its entirety. Speed is fun but it's only one component of adventure... a multi-day traverse might provide more enjoyment and an opportunity to familiarize oneself with the range before going for a faster push.