Description
David Mitchell posted the route:
Broken Top (9,175 feet) is one of the more interesting peaks in the Oregon Cascades. It suffered a collapse of its magma chamber at some point, and the resulting mountain features a more jagged and varied topography than the volcanoes in its vicinity. The fastest round trip route is a 12ish mile lollipop that ... Read more
David Mitchell posted the route:
Broken Top (9,175 feet) is one of the more interesting peaks in the Oregon Cascades. It suffered a collapse of its magma chamber at some point, and the resulting mountain features a more jagged and varied topography than the volcanoes in its vicinity. The fastest round trip route is a 12ish mile lollipop that starts from the Green Lakes Trailhead. It utilizes the Green Lakes Trail and a climber's trail to gain access to the northwest ridge. One follows the ridge uphill until confronted with a 15 foot exposed verical crack. Once over the crack it is a straightforward but exposed traversing route that includes a small amount of 4th class scrambling. When you leave the summit, it is best to down climb until the base of the crack at which point one hops off the ridge and begins a really fun scree ski to the bottom of the west face. A 1/4 mile of treacherous boulder hopping gets you back to the climber's trail where you follow the way you came up. In all it is a run with 3,693 feet of gain and a fun descent. Please be sure to hit the true summit of Broken Top.
The ascent of Broken Top has a Strava segment.
We also have a Route page for the 22-mile circumnavigation of Broken Top.
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This route on the old FKT site
Comments
Please don't run down the scree! There have been more and more "scars" on the scree field in the past two years, and it causes long term damage and erosion. Please stay on the climbers trail and descend via the ridge. Thank you for helping to keep Broken Top beautiful!
Here to add to the comment that this track is unethical and should be changed. Skiing down the scree in this location is highly damaging to the slope, and there is no excuse for it other than speed given that the ridge is basically granite compared to other Oregon mountains. I don’t mean to point any fingers or single anyone out, but it would be really helpful and educational to people looking to do the route if this could be updated.