I wanted to get out and do a snow climb while there was still some snow on the peaks. With my daughter graduating, my weekends have been pretty limited since we are preparing the house and the yard for her party. Therefore, I've been looking for weekday partners. Dylan saw a post of mine and said he was in for a Tuesday climb of Cobb Peak via the Comma Couloir since he was done with school.

We decided that it would be best to drive over and use a company condo the night before and then get up and hit the peak early. I had to be back by 6pm, so we had a hard turn-around time.

We got to the trailhead and were moving just after 6am. We hiked 3 miles on trail and headed off through the forest for the creek crossing. We crossed just above where Hyndman Creek and Big Basin Creek merged. We crossed what we thought were 2 forks of Hyndman Creek. Turns out we were a little closer to where the creeks merged and crossed Hyndman Creek, then Big Basin Creek. We soon realized our mistake and had to re-cross Big Basin Creek. All 3 crossings were treacherous on icy rocks and downfall, but the last one required us to incorporate drift wood and use acrobatics.

The crossings cost us 30 minutes. Then came a section of nasty, frost and dew covered aspens. We then finally got into the creek basin that drains the south side of Cobb Peak. After a few hundred feet in the creek we were on snow. The snow was very firm and we made good progress going up. We reached about 9400' and had a discussion about maybe this not being our day to summit. We were a bit behind schedule and I wasn't moving as fast as I should have been. Knowing that Dylan loves to rock climb and brought a rope and gear, I suggested that we climb some rock walls in the creek bed. Dylan was psyched by that idea.

We climbed a 20-foot section, with great rock and some tricky moves (mostly because I was in boots). We then moved up to a larger wall and did a couple of easy pitches up it. We took our time, talked a bunch, and took a lot of photos; so it took us nearly 2 hours to get in 300 feet of rock.

I suggested we break out the crampons now. Dylan thought it would be fun to rope up while we did it. So off we went up a 500 foot section of snow. The snow was supportable for the most part, but a couple of inches of graupel on one steep section made it very difficult to get traction. The top of the snow brought us to 10300', only 1300' below the summit. We had been going 4 hours. At this point we both realized that had we not been taking it so easy earlier, we could have easily summited and got down in time, but now we would be in a race to do it.

With the rest of the route in view, we made notes for next time and headed toward the west ridge to tour that side of the mountain. We peaked over into Hyndman Basin, then dropped down a steep slope to the beginning of the basin and started following the trail out. There was intermittent snow to the lake at 8700', then a dry trail from there out.

Since we were ahead of schedule, it was off to McDonalds to watch Dylan eat 3000 calories in 5 minutes. Oh to be 18 again!



No summit, but a great trip nevertheless. It was fun just going at our own pace and practicing our technique.

Turn east onto the East Fork Wood River Road from Highway 75. The turnoff is about 5.5 miles south of the town of Ketchum. Reset your odometer. You will reach the small village of Triumph at 5.8 miles, just keep heading east on the road. Shortly after Triumph the road becomes dirt. Continue east on the road when you see the turn-off for the Hyndman Creek trailhead at 7.2 miles. Take a left onto Forest Service road 203 at the fork. Follow 203 until it meets up with the confluence of the North Fork Hyndman Creek and Hyndman Creek and the trailhead. Park here.

From the trailhead, hike down to the creek, then across the bridge. Follow the trail for approximately 3 miles, then cross Hyndman Creek (tricky). Make your way up the south face of Cobb Peak. The Comma Couloir is the inset couloir that leads nearly to the summit of the peak.