Mount Louis, East Arête. The east side of Mount Louis is a complex jumble. In the lower left, the normal route works up until it traverses around the corner to the south. The only other route on the face goes up a series of gullies to about midpoint, where it ducks behind the east arête. Tim Auger and I decided to follow the arête from bottom to the summit. We climbed everything up to F5 unroped, but still roped up for six pitches, mostly on the upper half. The rock was superior to that on the standard route. Piton protection was usually good. Near the summit a dihedral on the arête tries to lead one left, but a traverse is possible to easier climbing on the edge of the ridge.

Galen Rowell