Winter Mountaineering - the North West Ridge of Mt. Williamson, March 12-16 2008 March 31, 2008

Mt. Williamson, standing at 14,373 feet, towers over the Owen Valley, and any climb on it is a serious undertaking of several days. So when you add the cold temperatures, snow, and unsteady weather of the winter such a climb becomes an expedition. And the North East Ridge, running 7 miles long and gaining 8000 feet of elevation from start to summit, is not taken lightly.

 

I met David and Michael in Independence on 12 March, and we left town as soon as we had split up the food, fuel, and gear we would need for a five-day climb. Our plan was to spend three days climbing up the North East Ridge to establish a high camp, then go for the summit, and take a full final day to descend back to the car. Our packs weren’t light. The forecast was for foul weather, so we were bringing a heavier but sturdier three-man tent. We also needed snowshoes and ski poles for the soft snow and crampons and ice axes for the hard; harnesses, rope, and a little gear for the rocky 3^rd class and 4^th class ridges we needed to traverse; and extra fuel to melt snow for our water.

 

We were able to drive my car as far as possible up the Foot Hills Road to the very bottom of the ridge at 6000 feet, but from there on we were on our own. The heavy snows from this year were lower than typical and we had to put on snowshoes after only an hour and break trail through wet, soft, snow. It was hard going, but we finally gained the ridge that night at 9200 feet and camped there. The wind picked up through the night, trying to flatten our tent on its perch, but the tent did its job and we were happy the next morning that we could continue on.

 

The second day had us following the southern slopes along the ridge, which were snow-free, only to put on snowshoes to climb through short gullies and notches before we finally reached a wide, open east-facing bowl. We camped high in the bowl at 10,800 ft, protected from the winds by a boulder uphill, looking up at the first technical bit of climbing that we would face the next day.

Day three was the shortest distance we had to travel, but it certainly wasn’t the shortest day. The 3^rd and 4^th class ridge had devious route-fining and incredible exposure. It featured two 40-foot pitches of climbing and a 30-foot rappel before finally easing into a north-facing bowl that we climbed up to 12,500 feet. Here the three-man tent, which served us so well in the winds for the last two nights, became a bit of a liability. We couldn’t dig out a tent platform big enough for the whole tent, so perhaps 20% hung off the downhill side. We anchored the tent in securely, Michael volunteered to sleep on the outside, and we slept like sardines in the space that was flat.

David had banged up his toes and gotten a minor case of frostbite, so the next morning he opted to stay in camp while Michael and I made a summit attempt. We reached the summit of East Horn, 14,125 feet, but not before it started snowing. With a fresh inch covering the rocks we were having a hard time and not moving fast enough to make the summit of Mt. Williamson, so we decided to turn around and head back to camp.

 

The last day was huge – it took us 11 hours to descend back to the car, a disproportionate amount of it spent negotiating that 3^rd and 4^th class ridge again. After accomplishing that section following our tracks back through the snow and brush was relatively simple. We were back in Independence and saying our goodbyes at 9:00pm.

Chris Simmons

Chris is a Alpine, Rock, and Ski Guide for Sierra Mountain Center.  All photos (c) 2008 Chris Simmons.

Cardinal Pinnacle in Winter December 28, 2007

On December 21 Sp and Jeremy Barronton climbed the regular route on Cardinal. Jermey was visiting from Georgia and had a day to spare to climb. We had talked about option earlier buit in winter the conditions on the day determine everything. The day before it snowed with strong winds,but the 21st was clear but cold with temps in the teens.
We decided to go anyway and had a great climb with calm condiitons and even a little sun on top. Great climbing even though the approach was a little unpleasant with new snow on top of big talus. All in all this is perfect training climb for bigger and harder things.

Mountain Camp September 1-5 September 21, 2007

This was a custom camp that Malcolm Bordelon put together for a group of friends. Unfortunately Malcolm got sick right before the trip and was unable to climb to the summit of Mt Dade.
We followed the usual Mountain Camp itinerary, climbing at Benton Crags the first day and then hiking to camp at Mills Lake and did snow skills later that day. Unfortunately snow is in pretty short supply this year and it was more ice skills, but it gave everyone the skills needed for next day’s ascent of Mt Abbott.
With Chris Simmons and SP guiding the climb of Abbott went just fine. Melting snowpack has exposed more talus than ever and the so called Mills Glacier is in pretty sad shape. There is a rock glacier here and the surface cover of rock is melting back exposing a core of ancient ice.
The day was perfect with a warm sun and no wind on top. Everyone did a great job especially for those doing their first peak ascent.
We hiked back out on the same day as the ascent getting back to the trailhead by 4.00pm

Black Kaweah with Linda Emerson 8/13-17/07 September 21, 2007

In a range of mainly granite peaks Linda seems to be collecting the loose ones. Last year we did Devils Crag and other peaks of the Black Divide. This year it was Black Kaweah. Black has a reputation as hard to get to and hard to climb. Not because of any 5th class rating, but because of it’s looseness and difficult route finding. On the other hand it has a summit register going back to 1924. That alone is enough to make anyone want to climb it.
We drove to Wolvertson and meet our packer ‘Rowdy” (who was actually pretty quiet) from Horse Corral packers on the 13th of August. The packs went in via mule the initial 20 miles to Nine Lakes Basin in the upper part of Big Arroyo and we hiked in unencumbered, but even with day packs it is still along way but the scenery up Valhalla Canyon past Angel Wings and Hamilton Dome is stunning. We dragged into camp late in the evening.
A casual day 2 took us to a bivvy site below Black Kaweah where we were surprised to meet a group of three descending from the peak. They were a Sierra Club group who said that another Club group of 8 was coming in a few weeks later. As we found this route is not one to be on with 8 other people.
Day three we started early. We decided upon the Southwest Face for the ascent rather than the West ridge which looks like a crest of tottering blocks and rotten rock.The approach involves some loose talus but not too much. You start in the right gully and then after 100 feet traverse along a ledge to the left to the next gully.
From here the route unfolds pretty easily and route finding is not a big deal. Just keep going up and the way unfolds. The rock however is loose and requires care and attention. Do not pull on anything without testing it and be aware. We were on top late morning and the descent took about as long as the ascent. The summit register is by far the highlight of the climb. It is a veritable who’s who of Sierra climbing. Norman Clyde appears a few times, once with three women and numerous people have wondered if Norman got lucky. Norman also calls the climb a “dandy climb”. Got to use that term more often! Walter Starr Junior’s entry is in blood. The register is something to handle with care and appreciate since there are few of these left in the Sierra these days. From camp we packed up and returned to Nine Lakes Basin where we had let food in a Bear barrel.
To collect another summit we climbed Eagle Scout peak, which has a wonderful view down into Valhalla Canyon, and an overhanging tabletop flat summit block where you can sit and dangle feet over the void. From camp we packed up and headed back out. We had hopped to stop for dinner at the Bearpaw Meadow Camp for dinner, but our reservation had been bumped by guests who were staying the night so there seemed little option but to keep hiking out, camping along the High Trail and getting to the trailhead early the next morning.
A great trip to one of the Sierra’s best summits - just ignore the long hike and the poor rock.
Unfortunately SP was dumb enough to leave the camera behind so if you want to checkout some photos go to our friend ken Duncan’s website at
http://picasaweb.google.com/sierracrest/BlackKaweahSouthwestFace
Ken did the ascent earlier in 2007
For reference for any of you wanting to do the climb here are our estimate of distances, elevation changes via the alitmeter and the times it took us.
Aug 13: 9 hrs, 5900 ft gain, 3160 ft descent, 20+ trail miles w/daypacks to Nine Lakes Basin.
Aug 14: 3 hrs, 1560 ft gain, cross country travel with full packs to high camp below Black Kaweah.
Aug 15: 8 hrs, 4000 ft gain, 4000 ft descent, climb Black Kaweah & then back to Nine Lakes Basin.
Aug 16: 11 hrs, 4400 ft gain, 6400 ft descent, climb Eagle Scout Peak return to camp and hike with full packs about 15 miles from Nine Lakes Basin toward Wolverton.
Aug 17: 2:11 hrs, 800 ft gain, 1570 ft descent, backpack about 5 miles back to Wolverton.

North Palisade, Le Conte Route, with John Kreutzer and Scott Taylor 7.20.07 August 8, 2007

John first contacted SMC a few years ago about doing the Le Conte Route but it took a while to get it together and actually make it happen.
John and Scott hiked in a couple of days early to acclimatize and SP hiked in and met them there late. This is not the usual way we do our trips, but it worked out well here.
Camp was in Palisade Basin at one of the small tarns high up under Thunderbolt that we often use for the Fourteeners Camp.
We left camp at first light and hiked across slabs towards the gully that leads to the top of u-Notch. We often refer to this as “The U-notch Analog” since it does not really have a commonly used name. The Le Conte Route is devious and the start of the infamous traverse into the main gully is not obvious. It was first climbed in 1903 by Joe Le Conte, James Hutchinson and JK Moffitt and was surely one of the hardest climbs of its day in the Sierra. Even now it will get the heart skipping a few beats on the traverse pitch, which starts as a five-foot wide downsloping ledge and narrows to about two feet with not much in the way of handholds. However there is a great belay directly above the traverse that gives perfect protection for the followers. Sometimes there is snow in the gully above, but this year it is very dry and there were a few meager bits of snow and ice. The technical crux is probably the big chockstone, but someone has hung a fixed rope here and you can monkey up this. But remember that Joe Le Conte did not need it and this was over 100 years ago. We got to the top before 12.00 and on the way down too the so called “Secor Variation” which avoids all of the hard parts of the Le Conte route and drops straight down into the gully.
This was Scott’s first big peak time and he did great and John achieved a goal he had been thinking about for a long time.

Whitney Portal Climbing, Whitney east face and Fishook Arete on Mt Russell with John Rutledge 6/22-25/07 August 8, 2007

Last winter John and SP hauled huge loads up the east ridge of Mt Williamson only to get to the East Horn, a few feet shy of the summit height only to be shut down by snow, ice and bad pro. This summer John decided to take things a little easier and not beat himself up winter climbing and to try Whitney and Russell. John has not done a lot of technical rock, but is strong and a fast learner so we decided to jump in fully and try a couple of hard climbs. But first we tuned up at Whitney Portal doing a linkup of premier Buttress, 5.8/A0 and El Segundo Buttress, 5.9. These are close to the road and make for a great nine-pitch route. Todd rebolted Premier a few years ago and SP redid the old Beckey bolts two years back so the protection is good.
The next day we hiked to Iceberg Lake arriving in plenty of time to relax and prep for the Whitney. We had hoped to do the East Buttress, but the weather was a little unstable. It actually rained for several hours that night and a group of four from Las Vegas finished the East Buttress at 8.30pm and spent the night wet and shivering in the summit shelter. None of that business for us and we left at 5.15am got to the summit at 9.15am and we back in camp at 10.30am. Just the way it should be.
Same for Fishhook Arête where we left again at 5.15am and were back in camp at 11.30am in time to hike out.
As the great Lionel Terray said, “One rarely regrets leaving too early; one always regrets leaving too late!” No epics is what we want to strive for and so we were back in time for an early dinner at the Portal store.
A great trip with no snags and fast times on all of the climbs. Just what a guide likes!

Mt. Banner Northeast Buttress with Joe Maher and Candy McNulty 6/28-30/07 August 6, 2007

This was Joe and Candy’s third trip this year. They are in line for “client of the year” award!
But we are starting to run out of the known classics so we are digging deeper to find the lesser known routes of the Sierra. We have done Banner via the easy route from the Ritter-Banner col but the east face is big so there has to be something good there. The East Corner is described as being longer and harder than the east Buttress on whitney so we opted for the NE Buttress which is a little shorter and allegedly easier.
We talked our way past the inquisitors at the entrance to the Devils Postpile road and hiked in via the Shadow Lake trail on Saturday. This is a longer way to get to Garnet Lake and involves more ascent and descent but it is very scenic and if you have not been in the area before gives great views of the Minarets. We arrived in the evening at Garnet Lake and camped on the North side of this stunningly beautiful lake. We left camp at dawn, about 5.00am and continued around the lake and ascended grassy ledges around the lower cliffs. The guide indicated two 4th class pitches here but we easily got onto the small snowfield at the base of the east face. The route description in Secor’s book and Moynier and Fiddlers “Sierra Classic’s” paraphrase each other and it seems that one cribbed from the other. The line on the photo in Sierra Classics is way wrong and no way does the route go to the right of the main buttress as shown. So we decided to trust Secor’s description and started to the left of the main buttress. Two pitches of 5.6 to 5.7 led up some water smoothed rock in a gully that turned out to be pretty solid. Above this the angle kicked back and became grassy and ledgy for 400 feet to the base of a headwall that cuts across the whole face. At this point the route description said to gain the crest of the buttress and go up to the summit ridge. We decided to go left into uncharted territory since it looked easier. The crux was a overhanging 5.8 corner with great protection for Sp. A few strenuous stemming moves were involved, but the holds were great and the ledge at the top perfect. One pitch above led to the summit ridge and we traversed this to the top, getting there at about 2.00pm. To descend we had two options; to Lake Katherine and then 1000 Island Lake, back over a pass to Garnet Lake. This seemed too much work so we went back towards Lake Ediza and then cut over a small saddle on the east side of Ritter to a small hanging glacier which led to slabs and grass directly back to Garnet Lake. By far the best way to go!
we had hoped to hike out that night, but we were back too late so we got up early and left at sunup, hiking in the cool of the morning and were back in Mammoth in time for breakfast at the Breakfast Club.
All in all the trip could not have gone better.

The North Ridge on Mt Conness with Kelly Farmer August 6, 2007

Last year Kelly did the ice couloir on North Peak with us. This year we did it’s neighbor, North Peak but by a pure rock route. The North Ridge is one of the easy classics of the Sierra with a short (by Sierra standards) approach to straight-forward, but spectacular climbing. We started from the Saddlebag Lake parking lot at 7.00am and were on the summit at 1.30, dragging our tired bodies back to the cars at 6.00pm. It is a long day and the descent seems to take as long as the climb.
The ascent has a little bit of everything in it, a rappel, downclimbing, easy scrambling and some nasty loose sand on the way up. Along the way we even encountered a group that seemed to believe that they were climbing North Peak. This was Kelly’s first big rock alpine route and it all went just great. Next up for her is Gilbert.

Middle Palisade, Norman Clyde and the Thumb with Robert Miller July 12, 2007

The South Fork of Big Pine Creek is far less used than the North Fork, which gives access to North Palisade, Starlight and Thunderbolt peaks. But the approach up the south fork is shorter, has fewer people and great climbing.
So SP and Robert Miller from Albuquerque spent six days there climbing peaks.
First up was Middle Palisade at just over 14,000 feet. The route here is mainly 3rd class, but it is continuous climbing. There are none of the usual areas of talus and scree often found on this type of route and while easy it is not somewhere to make a mistake. The glacier is already showing exposed old ice and the already big suncups are a problem. But the climbing went well and this was about an 11-hour day return to camp.
Next day we went on up to Norman Clyde peak. This is a great peak and a step up in difficulty from Middle Pal. The route finding is tricky and many people get lost here. But not us though! The route is referred to as the NNW face, but it tends more to parallel the Firebird Ridge wandering across ledges and zigzagging back and forth seeking the easiest way. There are a lot of options and there are multiple cairns making what a lot of people consider to be the best route. It is better to trust one’s instinct and seek what looks to be best. The climbing is continuous 4th class and there is enough loose rock not to want to be there with others. There was another group on the Twilight Pillar so we hurried down the descent to avoid getting below them. It did not matter in the end since they were hours behind and straggled thorough our Finger Lake camp at about 9.00pm.
A day off to recover and then it was over to the Thumb. The RJ Secor description of this is pretty minimal - but reality is different. Southfork Pass has melted back a lot and there is bare ice in parts. We took the more westerly pass on the way up and then ascended up gullies and along the ridge to the southern slopes of the Thumb. We made this harder than it should have been tricky with some short 5th class steps and plenty of simply bad rock. The black dikes hare have eroded out creating tottering piles of rubble. But we were in too deep and kept going, finally getting to easy ground. This day was a lot windier than the previous so we did not delay heading home.
On the return we too the eastern pass down. The other would have been better since the lower section is dirt on top of hundreds of years old hard black ice. Not much fun. But we survived and headed back to the glories of Big Pine on day six.
All in all a great trip. We saw 6 other people in the high country and had perfect weather. A fair number of bugs but those will be getting better soon. A great trip for anyone wanting to do little-climbed peaks in a wonderful area.

New Routes with Matt Compton June 24, 2007

Think that the Sierra Nevada is climbed out? We have spent enough time out there to know that this is no where close to the truth and there are many routes that we have had our eyes on for years. So when Matt Compton called a while ago wanting to do some new routes and we were more than happy to oblige.
Matt is taking a year of work and traveling with his wife and young child climbing, biking and having fun so this was a part of a longer time off work and enjoying what we consider to be the “real world” – the Sierra backcountry.
First up was a route on the ‘Springbok’ next to the Impala low down in the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek. This is an obvious slabby formation just above Lower Boy Scout Lake that thousands have walked by heading to Whitney, but the only known route was one done in the early 1970s by who else other than the ubiquitous Fred Beckey. Chris Simmons came along for the climb with SP and Matt and we left the Portal parking lot at about 7.00am
We took an arch and crack system up the center of the face that we had to use some aid on, pulling across on pieces due to a lack of fortitude and skill. The pitches above gave some great 5.9 climbing although the rock became a little more grainy up high. The summit is a small hard to get onto block and one that few, if any, have ever stood on.
Handing the naming duties over to Matt he came up with ‘Adios Yahoo 5.9/A0 which sums up his attitude to the corporate high tech world. We were back to the Portal Store in plenty of time for a burger and beer after a stellar day.
The next day SP and Matt hiked into Dusy Basin over Bishop Pass a little slower and a little sorer than the prior day had started.
The bugs are starting to get bad here so there was plenty of incentive to keep hiking. We set up camp above Dusy Lakes and while we were thinking about a route on the west face of Thunderbolt we settled on a striking arete leading to a northern sub-peak of Winchell.
This route turned out to be very similar to some of the routes on Temple Crag with an airy arete with great rock and some solid cracks and corners. We found a bale out rappel anchor part way up but no other signs of passage so we believe it to be unclimbed previously. This peak really is separate from Winchell and could easily have it’s own name, seeming to be much more of an individual summit than say Polemonium or Starlight to the south.
The descent was a typical exciting Palisades event with deep notches to rappel into and exposed scrambling on ledges around towers to a loose final descent gully.
Once again Matt got the honor of naming and he decided to call it after his daughter, naming it McKenzie’s Arete. Next time she gets to lead him up it but that will have to wait a few more years since she is just to and a half.
Now, Matt gets to pack up and head to Italy with the family for two months. Not too bad and he is setting a great example of how to live life for everyone.