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Newman Peak is located in the Smoky Mountains of central Idaho. The Smokies start at the edge of the Sawtooths, then extend southeast and follow the west side of the Big Wood River south all the way to the Camas Prairie. Newman Peak in an obscure lesser known mountain toward the northern part of the range. It is found just east of Norton Peak.
I’d had Newman on my winter wishlist for a few years, just waiting for the right opportunity to climb it. With avy conditions settling down and a great weather day forecasted, I contacted a few folks I thought might be interested. Splattski and John F were both available, so we started making plans. There were a few route options to choose from, and we decided to try the northeast ridge approach. It wasn’t a sure thing, but the route was just too attractive not to at least try.
We left Boise at 6am, and were on our feet hiking from Spruce Creek by 9:30. The snow was rock hard, and we covered at least a mile before the post-holing began, and we had to put on our slowshoes. Up we went, with great views of the Boulders and Pioneers behind us. The weather was gorgeous, just a little windy at times. As we got higher, we could tell that high winds were common in the area, as evidenced by large snowdrifts in some places, and bare windblown rock in others.
It took us just over three hours to reach “Butterfield Point” (9701’). From here we got our first view of Newman Peak in the distance. It looked gnarly, with some steep snowfields guarding the northeast flanks of the summit block. At this point, our chances of a successful summit bid seemed slim. But the weather was just too nice not to be in a good mood. We hunkered down on the east side of Butterfield Point for lunch. Splattski hadn’t been feeling too great, but a lunch break did us all good. We had quite the smorgasbord of vittles, just needed a little Newman’s Own to top it off…
After lunch, we continued on a long the gentle ridge, soaking in the views as we went. When we arrived at Pt 10016’, Splattski decided it was a good spot for him to head back. After agreeing to a 4pm turn-around time, he headed down and John F and I forged on ahead. We now had a straight-on view of Newman, and our confidence level was still pretty low. But we were determined to take it one step at a time, and see what would happen.
Soon enough we go the narrow section of the ridge. Here we decided to stop and take off our snowshoes to make it easier to get up and over the various rocky outcroppings along the ridge. After hiding my snowshoes behind a log, I turned around to see a mountain goat on the rocks below us, no more than 50 feet away. It was calm at first, then started moving faster as it ran away from us along the ridge. John and I watched it go all the way to the summit block, then disappear after crossing below some cliffs.
Seeing the goat put some spring in our steps. If the goat could make it, so could we. Right? So on we went, following the goat tracks most of the way. As we got closer to the gnarly section, we thought we could see a rocky gully up the middle of the high front point of the summit block. Sure enough, it worked out. The gully was steep but doable, and we made it up to the upper face above the snowfields. The mix of snow over steep rock kept our attention, but we made it through the crux section. Now all that was left was a quick traverse across the high saddle, and a final scramble to the summit.
Making it to the top felt very rewarding, especially after all the uncertainty throughout the day. The views from the summit were nothing short of spectacular. Skies were mostly clear blue, and there was almost no wind. Just perfect. We had arrived at 3:30, which meant we had a little time for photos and a snack before heading down. Of course, the day wasn’t over since we still had some tricky down-climbing to deal with. But we made it down the steep section without incident, and then back across the narrow portion of the long north ridge.
It took us an hour to get from the summit back to our snowshoes, and we still had five more miles to hike out. Fortunately our spirits were high after the successful climb, and the awesome views kept us in a good mood during the long hike back to the truck. We made it back by 7:15, where Splattski was waiting to hear our tales. What a great day in the mountains. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if all three of us had made the summit.
Approximate map of the route, just over 11 miles and 4000' elevation gain round trip.
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Near the start of our day, from Spruce Creek.
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Climbing the ridge toward Butterfield Point (9701')
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Great views behind us.
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Neat looking windblown snow formations.
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First views of Newman Peak, from Butterfield Point.
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View of Newman from Pt 9897' "Newman's Nose". Still a ways to go.
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Zoomed in shot, route looks pretty iffy from here.
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Hello Newman! (Seinfeld voice.)
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Mountain goat! We followed his tracks along the ridge.
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Making our way along the north ridge of Newman Peak, our route in red.
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Side stepping around a cliffy section.
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Starting up the steep summit block.
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The combination of snow and class 3 climbing kept our attention.
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View from the front point back to the summit.
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Final scramble to the summit.
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Splattski style summit shot.
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Panoramic views from the summit of Newman Peak.
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Careful on the downclimb. A slip here would be bad.
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Almost back to the truck, sun setting on the Boulder Mountains.
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Video Link: Mountain Goat on the north ridge of Newman Peak
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Video Link: Newman Peak summit views
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