Route: Jobs Peak from Carson Valley (CA, NV)

Submitted by Eli Boardman on Sun, 10/17/2021 - 10:28am
Location
California, US
Nevada, US
Distance
3.6 mi
Vertical Gain
5,940 ft
Description

The goal of this route is to run/crawl to the summit of Jobs Peak starting from the edge of Carson Valley, nearly 6,000 feet lower. Jobs Peak largely dominates the western skyline of Carson Valley. While the neighboring peaks of Freel and Jobs Sister are slightly higher, they are set farther back from the edge of the valley, and thus are not as imposing from the lowlands. Climbing Jobs Peak from Carson Valley seems like an obvious challenge, but seems to be primarily completed by skiers not going for time. I have no doubt someone can get this way, way faster than I did, but I think it's a cool enough route that it's worth posting to encourage further attempts.

The starting point for this FKT is the Fay-Luther Trailhead--the clock starts when you pass the trailhead sign. Follow sandy trails westward (crossing the NV-CA boundary after a short distance) and leave the trails at a convenient point below Jobs Peak's east face. Find your way into the east-facing gullies, and scramble 4,400 ft. of sand/rock/shrubbery to reach the unofficially named "Jobs Little Sister," a subpeak at 9,880 ft. elevation. The final ascent to the subpeak may involve some fun class 3 depending on your route. From here, Jobs Peak is tantalizing close, but annoying bushes on the connection ridge are likely to slow your progress for the final half mile ridge run. The clock stops when you reach the summit (or when you return to the trailhead if you wish to add a round-trip variation).

Note that it may possibly be faster to run the trail up Fay Canyon and climb Jobs Peak's sandy south face; if completed, this should be submitted as a variation, since it is a substantially different route. The goal of the primary "east face ascent" route is to climb the dramatic profile that can be seen from anywhere in Carson Valley, so the south face from Luther Canyon (which is hidden from the valley) does not fit the route goals and thus qualifies as a secondary route.

GPS Track
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