When I lived in Washington (2008-2019), I had climbed all of the main routes on Prusik: West Ridge (5.7, 6-7p), Burger-Stanley (5.9+, 6p), Beckey-Davis (5.9, 6p), Boving-Christensen (5.10, 4p), Solid Gold (5.11a, 4-5p), and an FA we called "Energizer Bunny" (5.10+ C1, 5p). (Links at top of this page for these routes.) The one major line I hadn’t done when I moved to Colorado was Der Sportsman (5.11+, 6p)—a true classic. It follows steep, splitter crack systems, linked by airy and committing sequences, all on pitch after pitch of perfect white granite. So when I returned to Washington in July 2025 to visit family and climb with a friend from Colorado, Der Sportsman was at the top of my list. Nate was in.

Given the strenuous approach and our desire to climb well, we decided to hike in the day before and camp at the base of Prusik. That left the decision of which approach to take: the shorter but more punishing Aasgard Pass or the longer, gentler Snow Lakes trail. I let Nate choose—he picked Aasgard for the hike in. We bivied at the beautiful Gnome Tarn, just 20 minutes from the base of Prusik’s towering south face.

To maximize our chances of freeing the route, we climbed in a “fix and follow” style, tagging a small haul bag to keep weight off our harnesses. Nate led the first three pitches; I took the final three. The first pitch was the technical crux, while the second pitch was the mental crux. The remaining pitches featured sustained 5.10 climbing, with a 5.11c crux on the final pitch. I was stoked to get a tronsight of the crux pitch and agreed with Nate that it would have felt far harder on lead, especially while hunting for small cam and RP placements mid-pump. The climb took us seven hours base to summit, and the descent—rappelling the north side—went smoothly and quickly. It was a spectacular day to be in the alpine.

After the climb, we enjoyed another beautiful evening at our bivy. The temperatures were unusually warm. While relaxing at camp—eager to see more of the Enchantments and perhaps a tad traumatized by Aasgard Pass—Nate decided he wanted to hike out via Snow Lakes. Although our car was at the Stuart Lake trailhead, we were fortunate to catch a ride back from a friendly gal from Leavenworth.

This page includes a route overlay and photos from our climb, along with snapshots of our time enjoying the stunning Enchantments.

We approached via Aasgard Pass. 

We bivied at Gnome Tarn, 20 minutes from the base of Prusik's south face.

We hiked out via the Snow Lakes trail so Nate could experience the full Enchantments traverse. At the trailhead, we were lucky to hitch a ride back to the Stuart Lake trailhead with a friendly gal from town who had spent the morning trail running and biking.