Tombstone Mtn South 407165 Scramble on 29-Jul-2025

Participants: Sim, Pam, Simon, Maryse, Matthew

This was a new summit for me, which is always a treat. We chose to follow Vern Dewitt's advice and stay on the Piper Pass Trail as long as possible, actually past the beginning of the ridgeline to avoid bushwacking, and while longer than other options, it was nice to have a trail the entire way vs. bushwacking. From there, the initial (maybe two thirds?) of the ascent is quite mellow with a good trail up the ridge. Eventually, though, you have a choice of a bypass route or staying on the ridge to enjoy some scrambling challenges, which we did. The final section to the false summit had some airy knife-edge sections (although short) as well as one section of slanted slab with minimal holds, but the rock was grippy and dry. Thankfully, there was almost no wind.

Amazing summit views!! We enjoyed an overdue lunch and those views.

The descent was not as fast as expected as a couple of us deviated a bit from the recommended scree run but no difficulties and those who stayed on it found it intermittently quite a good scree run. Once at the base of the mountain, we followed an easy trail that ended up being the same one we ascended on. On that note, one creek crossing did require water crossing shoes (or bare feet was fine).

Thanks to Simon yet again for the stats: 17.6 km, 1198 m, 9.5 hours and to both he and Maryse for the photos!