"Without a rival as the crown peak in the central Cascades of Washington, Mount Stuart has been pronounced the single greatest mass of exposed granite in the United States...its northern and eastern faces are the alpine climax of the Wenatchee Mountains. They make a powerful impact on first sight...The mountaineering problems are magnified by the mountain's massive dimensions and its complexity." - excerpted from Fred Beckey's "Cascade Alpine Guide"
Overlooking the Kittitas Valley and visible from many other nearby mountains, Mt. Stuart is an icon of Central Washington. Sitting at 9,415ft, this beautiful mountain attracts many climbers during the summer months. The primary FKT route starts at the Ingalls Lake trailhead, goes up and over Longs Pass to Ingalls Creek, and ascends the Cascadian Couloir to the summit. Descent is by the same route.
https://www.mountaineers.org/activities/routes-places/ingalls-stuart-area-review/mt-stuart-cascadian-couloir
The West Ridge is the second most commonly climbed route on the mountain. It includes low fifth class climbing, a great deal of scrambling, and significant route-finding challenges.
Comments
On July 24th 2021 I soloed the west ridge c2c in 8:42 hr from esmeralda trailhead to lake engales to the west foot of Stuart to the summit and down the cascadian col back up ingalls pass returning to esmeralda trailhead.Â
Documented in this video
According to quite a few older blog posts on CascadeClimbers, Miles Smart did the West Ridge car to car in 5hr 45min in the early 2000’s. That’s the fastest time I have come across online but wouldn’t be surprised if it has gone faster since then.
In 2022 Shane Markus and I ran/climbed the West Ridge as a mixed team in 10:46. I didn't submit since the GPX was sus and I know so many real climber pairs have done this faster. Notability this was one of my first roped up simul climb. Poor Shane! https://www.strava.com/activities/7486845431.Â