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Stanley-Burgner

5.10a, Trad, Alpine, 500 ft (152 m), 6 pitches, Grade III,  Avg: 3.7 from 187 votes
FA: Read the route name
Washington > Central-E Casca… > Stuart-Enchantm… > Prusik Peak

Description

This is one of the finest alpine routes you may ever experience. The climbing is sustained, varied, and amazing.

Burgner-Stanley is a direct and obvious route visible from the ground on superb rock with high quality pitches. Pitches 1-2 and 3-4 can be linked into c. 180-ft pitches, easily.

P1: Climb either a 5.6/5.7 chimney or a 5.8 wide crack to the left of the chimney to gain low fifth class terrain with trees.

P2: Scramble up to the last tallest tree, facing a knobbed wall with a thin crack going up.

P3: Climb the crack and exit right on large knobs until you reach the deep gully.

P4: Climb the gully and belay underneath a good ledge below the obvious chockstone. 5.8

P5: Tunnel between the chockstone and climb nice cracks up into a flaring squeeze chimney. Build a belay atop the chimney and move the belay right to start P6. 5.9

P6: Climb up the left facing corner and summit! 5.9+

Pro to 4" with doubles in .75 -2. Include TCU's.

Descent:
Walk eastward once on the summit and rappel the north face with slung belay stations. Rappel with either 1 or 2 ropes.

Location

The route goes up the south face of the peak. Traverse the lake until you find the start. Walk off the west face route or rappel the north side of the peak. Also beware of the snafflehounds. They will eat your shoes, gear, etc!!! Approx coords of P1: 47.48681, -120.78457

Protection

A set of doubles to #3 camalots are best but many can go with less. There is little fixed gear on this route or at the top.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

Route Overlays Prusik Peak.
[Hide Photo] Route Overlays Prusik Peak.
You can either stick to the inside of the crack or use some small chickenheads off to climber's left to pull through the crux.  2nd to last pitch.  5.10-.
[Hide Photo] You can either stick to the inside of the crack or use some small chickenheads off to climber's left to pull through the crux. 2nd to last pitch. 5.10-.
2 more moves to the summit.  I found this to be the most difficult move/section of the entire climb.  Feet disappear, crack becomes narrower and there is a big left heal hook to finish it off.
[Hide Photo] 2 more moves to the summit. I found this to be the most difficult move/section of the entire climb. Feet disappear, crack becomes narrower and there is a big left heal hook to finish it off.
First pitch 5.8 variation.  It is similar to the 5.10- flare pitch for a move or two.  Not that easy.
[Hide Photo] First pitch 5.8 variation. It is similar to the 5.10- flare pitch for a move or two. Not that easy.
The final pitch corner.
[Hide Photo] The final pitch corner.
Red arrows are where we messed up the route and got all twisted. Don't be like us!!!
[Hide Photo] Red arrows are where we messed up the route and got all twisted. Don't be like us!!!
Final and Crux pitch.  It's actually vertical despite the camera angle
[Hide Photo] Final and Crux pitch. It's actually vertical despite the camera angle
D. Lucander on the outstanding final pitch corner of Prusik Peak S. Face
[Hide Photo] D. Lucander on the outstanding final pitch corner of Prusik Peak S. Face
Mark enjoying the splitter 10b hand crack variation. Highly recommend this pitch.
[Hide Photo] Mark enjoying the splitter 10b hand crack variation. Highly recommend this pitch.
Cruising the last pitch.
[Hide Photo] Cruising the last pitch.
Pitch 5 tunnel
[Hide Photo] Pitch 5 tunnel
Cranking up the final pitch.  What a great climb!
[Hide Photo] Cranking up the final pitch. What a great climb!

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Ian Wolfe
Fayetteville, NC
[Hide Comment] The Selected Climbs in the Cascades guidebook calls this route the South Face. Apr 17, 2006
[Hide Comment] There are over 10 routes on the south face. Everyone calls it the Stanley Burgner route so it is not confused with other lines like the South Face - Beckey Route, South Face - The Javalin, South Face - The Joust, etc., etc. Aug 16, 2006
rpc
Portland, OR
 
[Hide Comment] I think it might be PG13 if you begin via the 5.7 chimney (have not done)? There are no runouts if you start via the 5.8 wideness just left of chimney. Everything else on the route can be laced up. Sep 8, 2006
Rafe
  5.9
[Hide Comment] Not that it really matters, but the route is longer than 500ft and isn't PG-13. Aug 23, 2009
Wesley Ashwood
Squamish, BC
  5.9+
[Hide Comment] We did the 5.8 variation and immediately got into a beautiful hand crack which is way more appealing to me than any chimney out there. Linked this pitch with the short 4th class second pitch and belayed at the top of the larch trees. Went up the crack trending right, then up a short slab to a dihedral. I am not sure if this first dihedral you come to is a the standard route but it seemed a little stiffer that 5.8 to me (5.9 I would say). We also linked the 3rd and 4th pitches but I wouldn't suggest this as rope drag was a little much. Aug 2, 2010
J-Wright
Salt Lake City, UT
 
[Hide Comment] I lead the chimney years go. Not very much fun. Go for the crack start. Nov 24, 2010
Ty Gittins
bozeman
  5.9+
[Hide Comment] i agree, not pg-13...crux pitch is well protected and oh-so-splitter Feb 11, 2011
Mike McL
South Lake Tahoe
 
[Hide Comment] If leading near your limit a 4 inch piece is very useful on the first 5.8 pitch (the left variation) as well as the final pitch. Aug 15, 2011
lucander
Stone Ridge, NY
  5.9+
[Hide Comment] We broke up the pitches differently than the guidebook and belayed on a good stance just after the chockstone chimney. This let us get cool pictures of the follower and have a better belay for the crux squeeze. I found the squeeze to the be the hardest part of the route - I'll call it 5.9+ because it felt like 5.10b.

Be careful on rappel, there's lots of loose rocks waiting for your rope to knock off. We found shredded rope ends at the bottom - yikes. Aug 25, 2012
William Rhyne
Casper, Wyoming
 
[Hide Comment] My partner Tim B. and Myself just completed our car to car from the snow creek parking lot of the Stanley-burgner. We started at 1:56am and returned at 4:59 on 8-2-14. 14:55 hours was our time. We drove up from Portland Friday night and drove back Saturday night after the climb, think that was probably the crux for me.
We hauled up two fours and a Five but didn't use them at all. I thought the whole route protected well on gear up to 3-3.5 inch piece, even the wide sections take small gear.

Beautiful piece of rock and so quality. I Definitely want to try to a car to car for the solid gold route. Aug 5, 2014
iryna yavorska
Bend, OR
5.10-
[Hide Comment] Wonderful route, but it's only 5.9+ if you are a solid offwidth climber! I personally found it harder, the last pitch seemed like a burly 5.10-. the squeeze chimney is 5.impossible if you dont know how to climb narrow chimneys. we brought only one #4 cam and doubles in everything smaller, that #4 was used often. this is an adventurous route as we've learned, takes some balls to finish it. we climbed it in the middle of June expecting nice sunny weather, it became even more fun when it snowed on us :) topped out at 10 pm and had to find our way back in the dark. also, the approach requires a lot of energy, you have to be ridiculously fit to do it car to car, i applaud anyone who has done it. but the views are amazing! you only get to enjoy them if you work for them. Jun 15, 2015
Brett Purchase
Seattle, Washington
 
[Hide Comment] I led every pitch on this route a couple of days ago. Just to clarify some misinformation out there: a number 5 is not needed on this route, the squeeze is hard work but protects great, and the descent can easily be done with one 60. It's certainly a very high quality route in an unmatched venue. Oct 9, 2015
[Hide Comment] Did this route yesterday. Windy, cold and it even began to snow. The crux for me was definitely the flare chimney! Takes great gear (#.5 - #3) I found it very exhausting/tight (maybe because I'm 6'4"). The final headwall pitch is the money pitch for sure. We descended the west ridge with a few short raps to avoid the snow on the north face. Route dries quick and into play early in the season. Incredibly clean, solid stone!
Pitch 5 chimney.
Jun 13, 2016
Matt M
Seattle, WA
 
[Hide Comment] The 4th pitch variation crack is really nice (the pitch before the keyhole slot, go around to the left and you'll see a hand crack on the face to your right) and worth doing. However, when you get to the top of the crack I think the anchor opportunities are poor there. Then you have to go right and step across to get to below the keyhole, and if you're not careful rope drag will be bad. Sep 14, 2016
Matt Quarre
  5.10-
[Hide Comment] I would recommend the pitch 10b variation on pitch 4. Splitter!! However, the rope drag when passing back around the corner and under the chock stone is some of the worst I've experienced. Pitch 5 is damn hard. Pitch 6 is money. Aug 15, 2017
[Hide Comment] At the top of the 10b crack, there is some old tat slung around a chockstone that seemed pretty sketchy. The chockstone itself is great though and worked well for a hanging belay. You can also sling the horn/bulge just right of the chockstone with a cordelette. It was a great crack but if you're short on time or otherwise just trying to move quickly it might not be worth the detour as you end having to pitch it out to avoid the rope drag/rope getting pinched and stuck (as the previous two post's have pointed out). Aug 30, 2017
JShin
Centennial, CO
[Hide Comment] Chimney pitch is the most fun and 5.9/+ is right with proper chimney technique. Last pitch has everything. face, offwidth,stemming, hand jamming, sustained and long....5.9+ It is located in the core of Enchantment. Beautiful~ Sep 8, 2017
Skander Spies
Seattle, WA
[Hide Comment] Did this yesterday.
-Only found bits and pieces of the approach trail from the main snow lakes trail over to the base of the route. I think if you go all the way to where the trail cuts across the outlet of Lake Viviane, you've passed the trail up to the route.
-We were definitely not able to link P3 and P4 on a 60m rope. Seems unlikely even on a 70m. We ran "P3" into "P4" and ended up between 15-20m short of the belay ledge on top of the chockstone. Moved the belay up to be in good position for P5.
-Thought P5 and P6 are of similar difficulty, but very different styles. P5 protects well with (1) #4, but you could sew it up with more. Not sure I wanted anything wider.
-Took doubles from tips to #2, with (1) #3 and (1) #4 which felt about perfect.
-If there is snow in the range, P6 might not be fully dry. Makes it quite a bit spicier.
-If you are considering the car to car in a day option, the gradual grade of approaching from Snow Lakes TH is recommended. I found this much easier than going over Asgaard Pass. Sep 24, 2017
Karen Agocs
Bend, OR
[Hide Comment] 6/18/18
CAUTION!

P6: Now has dangerous chockstones & choss in the first half.
The bottom half is a wider crack (the effected area), which brings you to the stunning splitter section (no choss here). A big rock fall must have happened, two days prior to when we climbed this, from a thunderstorm. Two people were on Prusik during the storm, who reported that heaps of rock fell down on them. This must be one of the effected areas.

  • In the lower wider section, there are medium chockstones and dinner plates that are not secure. Above these there is a large chalk stone that looks okay to pull on from the bottom, but is not. DO NOT PULL ON THE BIG CHOCKSTONE. It is surely to come out in the near future and could be life threatening. It is challenging to climb in the crack now, and stemming around them is quite challenging. This is my second time climbing this route; the condition of the route completely clean when I climbed it 5 years ago.

I attempted to tip the large chockstone out after passing, yet I had trouble positioning myself from a place to lever it out. Little sand/debris held it in place. The debris is likely to wash out after another few storms, so be cautious. If the block is still there, and nobody at Pursik, please help to clean the route!

If you climb this after I did, and it the crack climbs safe, please note that for future users; thanks! Jun 27, 2018
Marlin Thorman
Spokane, WA
  5.10a
[Hide Comment] In reply to Karen's comment. I climbed this route on July 5th and didn't notice anything too crazy on the last pitch. There were a few loose rocks here and there like most alpine climbs, but I definitely didn't find anything super dangerous. Maybe someone else trundled them already or they fell out on there own.

And whatever you do, climb the 5.10b crack variation on pitch 4. It is some of the best crack climbing in the alpine I have done. I setup a belay below the chockstone and extended it down so it was in line with the traverse back over from the top of the crack. This reduced the rope drag a lot from trying to go all the way to the top of the chockstone. Jul 9, 2018
Sandy Dash
Beaverton, OR
[Hide Comment] One of the finest granite I have climbed in the alpine environment. Climbed this route c2c on July 13th, 2019. TR : dashertonclimbs.com/2019/07… Aug 6, 2019
Hank Thompson
Leavenworth, WA
  5.10a
[Hide Comment] Linking 1&2 is almost exactly 60M. If your comfortable with the climbing it makes a lot of sense to simul about 5 meters when linking pitch 3&4 so that you can build a belay in the alcove after the chalkstone tunnel. This alcove makes for a nice shady belay while you watch your partner scream and curse their way up the burly P5 chimney. Aug 10, 2020
Ben Bilbrough
Portland, OR
  5.10b
[Hide Comment] Got off route on this one. Make sure you go out right after the first pitch, we kept going straight up and got onto Der Sportsman on accident. I posted a pic of our shenanigan route. Route is great, was no mosquitos and perfect weather. Aug 24, 2020
bmdhacks
Bellingham, WA
 
[Hide Comment] If you're concerned about this being at your level, you can french free every move except some spicy 5.8 knobs/corner on P3.
I practiced the buttlips chimney on Aries in Index before doing Stanley Burgner, and it really helped.
Also, splitting the last pitch into two short pitches makes it easier to keep it well protected. The gear is amazing, but you'll run out of medium to large cams if you sew the whole pitch up, and it's pretty sustained. Jun 28, 2021
Chris H
Seattle, Wa
  5.9+
[Hide Comment] pitch 6: placed four walnuts (1-6 range) in lower half of pitch and threaded/horned several slings. This conserved plenty of cams for upper half. Was glad to have saved both #2 camalots for last 20ft of climbing. Single black totem, double camalots .3-3, single 4 camalot, walnuts 1-6, 3 double-length slings, ~12 alpine draws felt like a great rack.
pitch 5: felt much harder than pitch 6. Oct 4, 2021
Klassic Adventures
Seattle, WA
  5.10a
[Hide Comment] Video from inside the offwidth crack. Dope views makes this climb an instant classic!
youtube.com/shorts/gXMOnfZ3… Aug 21, 2022
fritzthekat
Portland, OR
 
[Hide Comment] In case you were expecting a #2 hand crack for pitch 4’s 10b variant like I was—the business is #3’s. For me it was cups to fists. Gorgeous splitter but wider than hands unless you have big ol mitts. Jul 12, 2023
David Knowles
Princeton, NJ
 
[Hide Comment] We did the 10b variation on P4 (with 2 #2s and 1 #3 which felt like just enough). The climbing is excellent but rope drag is unavoidable if you go back around to underneath the chockstone. I belayed from the top of the crack on a slung flake - if you can, save a #3 to back it up. The step across/around the corner is a little spicy even without rope drag.

I'm ~180lb and BARELY made it through the tunnel behind the chockstone.

The squeeze chimney is brutal, reminiscent of Epinephrine at Red Rocks but more flaring. 10- IMO. Jul 28, 2023