Double Peak, East Face. On June 29, Mark Ronca and I made the first ascent of this sheer face on the northeast summit of Double Peak (6,199') in Mt. Rainier National Park. The six-pitch climb followed an obvious crack system on the left side of the face, then finished on an exposed knife-edged ridge to the summit. The first pitch was the crux, consisting of a fun hand crack followed by a hard 5.10 roof. The second pitch started with a 5.9 fist crack followed by a 5.8 squeeze chimney. Two more pitches of mid-5th class and two pitches of easy 4th class climbing led to the summit. The quality of the rock was surprisingly excellent considering that all the other peaks in the area have extremely poor rock. Some cleaning of moss and vegetation was required on lead, though.

Joseph Puryear