Picacho del Diablo, Pinnacle Ridge, Baja California. From November 9 to 11, nine Prescott (Arizona) College students and two instructors ascended the Picacho del Diablo via Pinnacle Ridge. The students were Gemma Kemp- Garcia, Geoff Gardner, Julia Körting, Greg Miller, Jonathan Morgan, Kristine Preziosi, Joni Tinker, Erik Van Sinderen and John Van Voorhies and the instructors Joe St. Onge and I. The peak is the highest in Baja California, rising to 10,154 feet. The summit extends from San Pedro Martir for two miles along Pinnacle Ridge, with a series of seven major gendarmes and scrambling sections from the saddle below the Botella Azul and the main escarpment. The climbing is exposed 5.6 or harder on superb granite. Following the crest of the ridge involves traverses, rappels and numerous down-climbs. We completed the entire ridge in 2½ days with two planned bivouacs and two water caches. We encountered rime ice and deteriorating weather on the col between the south and north summits, from which we descended to our Base Camp at Campo Noche. Access is either a two-day, rigorous hike up the Canon Diablo from the east to Campo Noche or across the top of the San Pedro Martir escarpment from the west through the national park to the Botella Azul.

Angela Hawse