“Ruby Peak,” South Arête. This is the unofficial name for the peak above Ruby Lake in the Little Lakes Valley region of the Eastern Sierra. The south arête drops 1200 feet from just left of the highest summit to a permanent snowfield, where the climb begins in fluted overhangs. David Wilson and I did eight long pitches of some of the finest climbing we have found in the entire Sierra one August day. Parts of the route are very steep, but in places there are five or six cracks to choose from within a foot or two of one another. The climbing is consistently 5.7 to 5.9 with a couple of 5.10 spots. (IV, 5.10).

Galen A. Rowell