Mt Triumph is an important and easily recognizable peak visible from Highway 20, and is known for its very steep triangular summit pyramid. There are several routes to the summit, with the Northeast Ridge among the most direct of them. Follow the trail to the outlet of the lowest of the Thornton Lakes, then take a boot path to the middle lake and up a snow/talus gully to a 5,850-foot notch, the most popular site to establish a camp. Descend a snowfield, bearing left of a bump, to the slabby rock (or snow in early season) below the melting glacier (watch for falling ice) on the peak's east face. Class 4 scrambling takes you to the obvious notch in the Northeast Ridge at 6,100 feet. The ridge consists of about 7 pitches (with a 60 meter rope; a second rope makes the rappels much easier) of climbing with a 5.7 crux pitch involving an off-width near the middle of the ridge. The last few hundred feet are easy scrambling to the summit. The descent follows the same route, but some parties choose to descend the South Ridge and then onto the eastern glacier. A NW Forest Pass is required to park at the trailhead. Camping requires a permit from the ranger station in Marblemount. III 5.7