The first four Tenmile Peaks are rather craggy and somewhat technical peaks that get overlooked, largely because of their sub-13k foot elevation, apart from people attempting the Tenmile Traverse. Their western aspects are defined by steep walls and gullies, pinnacles and icefalls in places. Their eastern are defined by the roughly parallel east ridges of peaks 1 and 2. Both rise at 30-40 degrees for the most part, require somewhat tedious approaches, and ensure solitude.
I climbed most of the east ridge of Peak 1 in the spring of 2021, but was skeezed out a few hundred feet from the top by the quickly warming temps and a slide-prone-looking slope a bit above 12k. I returned to it in mid November 2023, to nice unconsolidated and unsupportive, talus-hiding and uneven-stride-inducing snow. I approached the east ridge from Frisco to the N. There’s an old trail you may be able to follow most of the way up, and then someone spray painted dead trees as blazes through treeline on the ridge. The ridge itself has some nice exposure and thinner sections, and would warrant the presence of an ice axe more for security than for climbing in snowy conditions. I imagine this would be a bit of a talus slog in dry conditions, but don’t let my assumptions stop you!
