California Institute of Technology

Local Area Guide: Mountain Climbing

This page has information on local (and not-so-local) areas for rock climbing, hiking, mountaineering, canyoneering, caving, skiing, backcountry skiing and ice climbing. And yes, we recognize this page is incomplete and always will be, so please send (nice) suggestions about areas to add, or information to change. To navigate, see the links in the right column.

New online guidebooks from the SMC

The Sierra Mountain Center has some small PDF guidebooks, mainly by S.P. Parker as well as with assistance by Todd Vogel and Andy Hyslop. The following PDFs are available:

Some of the guides are still a work in progress. Much thanks to SP and the SMC for publishing these on the web!

What to climb? SuperTopo has suggestions

The SuperTopo guide to the High Sierras (almost exclusively techincal routes) has a free preview (see pages 10, 11 and 14 for a overview of routes, by order of difficulty). The High Sierra Preview is cached on this site (720 Kb PDF). The club also owns the hardcopy book in our library. We also own a copy of the full High Sierra SuperTopo PDF (9 MB PDF) which we paid separately for (to access this, you need the club's username and password or a Caltech/JPL ip address).

Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada

There is also a plethora of mountain climbing in the state, so we refer you to other sites for general information. SummitPost.org has volunteer-supplied information on almost all interesting mountains, and the pages include links to routes, maps, photos and guidebooks. I'll supply a small (in-progress) list of mountains/routes you might find interesting. There is also a list of alpine ice climbs under the ice climbing section (in Other activities). Good places to get ideas for routes are the websites of local guiding services, which are for the most part based out of Bishop. You might try the Sierra Mountain Center or the Sierra Mountain Guides.

"Beginner" routes

more information will be added later. The Mt. Whitney trail is beginner, though it's long and most commonly done in two days, though sometimes more and sometimes less. Expect to deal with the altitude if you're coming straight from Pasadena.

"Intermediate" routes

more information will be added later (send me info!). East Arete of Mt. Russell (14,086') or North Rib of Mt. Tyndall (14,018') (both class 3) might fall into this category. The Mountaineer's Route on Whitney (in summer) is probably an "intermediate" route. In winter, it is definitely "intermediate" or "advanced": bring ice axe and crampons. There may be a few spots of unpleasant mixed climbing on the final summit slope, so bring a rope and very small rack if all team members are not confident on this type of terrain. Crampons probably necessary for all but one or two summer months, ice axe recommended always.

"Advanced" routes

more information will be added later. The couloirs on Mt. Mendel (13,710') are pretty tough (the left couloir is a.k.a. Ice Nine), as is the descent from the ridge, and access to them in winter is a small adventure in itself. Many moderate summer routes become "advanced" in winter, though they may also become more pleasant (no scree!), less crowded and may have easier descents (quicker, gentler on the knees, and perhaps even fun). Fall, winter and spring are great times for mountain climbing.

Mt. Williamson is an impressive mountain, and the Sierra Mountain Center (a guide service based in Bishop) offers a 5 day trip of the NE ridge in early March (for a small $1,000 fee). They offer some information on Williamson's NE ridge at this page, and there is a summitpost.org Williamson NE ridge page as well. It looks like a fun, challenging route.

Please note that Mt. Williamson, and some routes on nearby mountains, is affected by Bighorn Sheep closures. The exact dates of the closure (which are subject to change) can be found on Forest Service webpages, but the actual exact location of the closures is not available online... until now! Here is a scanned in map showing the Bighorn Sheep closures in the area. One location is only open from Dec 15 to July 15, and the nearby location is only open April 15 to May 15 and Dec 15 to Jan 1 (subject to change). Because the summit of Williamson is surrounded by both closures, this means there is no way to get to the summit unless one of these areas is open. So the summit is entirely off-limits from July 16 to Dec 14.

The Palisades area has some excellent climbs on peaks from 12,000' to 14,000'. The U-Notch and V-Notch are classic snow/ice colouirs; see the ice climbing routes listed at other types of climbing page. Here is a topo map (2.4 MB PDF) of the heart of the Palisades, and here's an overview topo map (2.4 MB PDF) [you need the club's password to access these].

Remember, the club has many guidebooks that you are free to borrow, including Secor's "High Sierra" and Porcella and Burns' "Climbing California's Fourteeners".

Mt. Whitney area

Mt. Whitney (14,497', highest mt. in lower 48) has many routes, from hiking to 5.10 bigwall routes. For information on permits, camping, etc., try the informative summitpost.org Mount Whitney site, which also links to information on specific routes (and lots of photos). The quota period for overnight use of the Mt. Whitney trail is May 22 to Oct 15 (you always need a permit, but there is no quota nor fee in the off-season). There's also the National Park Service Mount Whitney site. I'm pretty sure you can rent gear (e.g. crampons) in at the Whitney Portal Store (which is near the trailhead and only open during the peak season). It's probably easier to rent gear there than to rent it in LA. They also run the very informative Whitney Forums. In the town of Lone Pine, there's a small but good mountaineering store called Elevation, located on main street just a few blocks north of the stop light.

If you're in the area and want some long routes that are only 5.7 or 5.8, try Whitney Portal. There's also harder routes, such as "Bony Fingers" on the Whale -- see, e.g. Croft's guidebook. We have the "Rock Climbs: The Sierra East Side" by Bartlett and Allen in our libary; there'a also a portion of it scanned in on on Robs John Muir's site.

There are other fine mountains in the basin, including, for example, Lone Pine Peak, which has many long technical climbs on the South face, as well as the moderately technical and highly acclaimed North Ridge. You can traverse the entire Whitney Basin, which is a pretty serious undertaking and requires days of class four climbing, with a bit of 5th class as well.

The club now has topo maps on CD of California and the entire West of the US. These are available for short-term borrowing: email alpine to borrow them. A 2 MB jpeg file of a topo map of the Whitney Basin can be found here (you must be on campus or know the password).

Here's a small topo map of the Mountaineer's Route on Whitney, from the Sierra Mountain Center webpage. This map has the route nicely marked. It looks like they suggest camping at Upper Boy Scout Lake and Iceberg lake (e.g. two nights), but most people don't bother to camp at Upper Boy Scout lake (or they do it in one day, in summer). Their route is drawn for winter climbing, so it doesn't show the small detour of Escherbacker's ledges that is required in summer to get around the willows (right before Lower Boy Scout Lake).

The club owns several guidebooks that cover the Whitney area, including The Good, the Great and the Awesome by Peter Croft (1st ed., 2002), Climbing California's High Sierra by Moynier and Fiddler (2nd ed., 2001) and SuperTopos: High Sierra by Chris McNamara (1st ed., 2004). We also have less technical oriented books such as Secor's The High Sierra: Peaks, Passes and Trails (we have both editions) and Porcella and Burns' Climbing California's Fourteeners (also have both editions). Croft's book is entertaining but short on the descriptions; Moynier and Fiddler's is even more terse, but includes a broader spectrum of climbs (i.e. ice) and is a great place to get ideas; and SuperTopos is super-detailed but doesn't include that many routes.

Below are some relevant scanned pages from the first three guidebooks (you need the club's username and password, or must have a Caltech IP):

Mt. Langley

An easier peak, with a high trailhead and mild approach. Below are links to some maps in 11 x 17 " ("tabloid") PDF format (you need club's password or a Caltech IP to access them).

Mountaineering Outside of the Sierras

Cascades

Mt. Rainier (14,411') is very popular and has many routes. Via an easy route like Ingraham Direct or Disapointment Cleaver, it is done by thousands of people every year, usually in two days, but can be done in one day if you're fast and start early. RMI is the big guiding service, and they maintain wanded paths through the glacier in the summer. Liberty Ridge is a classic, and tougher. In winter, avalanche danger is higher and many people opt for Gibralter Ledges. Note that there is one spot of avalanche danger on the route between Paradise trailhead and Camp Muir in winter and spring, so be avalanche aware even if you're just hiking or skiing on the lower slopes. Mike Gauthier has a comprehensive guidebook.

Some good information on Rainier can be found here, but you need to be on campus or know the club's general password and username. There is information on routes leaving from Paradise and White River; other trailheads include Longmire and the Westside Road, as well as Mowich Lake and Carbon River. The two most popular routes (Ingraham Direct / Disappointment Cleaver, and Emmons/Winthrop Glacier) leave from Paradise and White River, respectively.

There are many other options besides Rainier. There are the other snow volcanoes like Mt. Adams (12,276'), and some of them have routes with good, steep ice. Mt. Stewart (12,205') has good climbs (the summitpost.org Mt. Stewart site isn't too useful). There are many good climbs on smaller mountains (don't discount them just because of the low elevation). In general, the Cascades offer routes with glacier and crevasse dangers that you can't find in the Sierras or the Colorado Rockies. The avalanche danger is relatively low, compared to, say, the Canadian Rockies.

Mount Shasta (14,162') is another good climb and is closer to LA (but still 8 or more hours driving). There is an old guidebook that can be checked out from the Pasadena public library; in 2007, we also purchased the up-to-date 3rd edition, so check the club's library. The glaciers on the North and East offer some more challenge than the standard route up from the South. It is much easier to ascend in one day than Mt. Rainier is, but many people do it in two-days. Like Rainier, it has some non-technical glacier routes that are good routes for people who have climbed mountains before but never don't have glacier experience. It does have real crevasse and avalanche danger, though, so don't take it lightly, and expect to use ropes unless you're doing the standard route in the summer.

Rocky Mountains (Colorado)

The Colorado Rockies are quite similar to the Sierra. They have 54 mountains over 14,000' but people focus on this fact and forget that there are about 583 mountains over 13,000'. The 'hardest' mountain is probably Lizard head (13,133'), if that's what you're interested in (has very loose rock - I wouldn't ascend it). The San Juans are the closest range to CA and offer great climbing (and Ouray has their ice climbing festival every winter). The Maroon Bells (North Maroon 14,014' and South Maroon 14,156') are beautiful and known for killing Aspen hikers; the traverse between the two is semi-technical and some people choose to rappel in one spot (sometimes there's a fixed rope). Nearby Capitol Peak (14,130') is also challenging.

Longs Peak (14,255') is a classic and has 50 routes up it, though 95% of climbers do the Keyhole Route. Try the North Face Cables Route for a classic, semi-technical alternative, or Kiener's route for a true mountaineering route. It has a 1,000'+ face called the Diamond which offers excellent alpine big-wall climbing; the easiest is the Casual Route (5.10a), the hardest is the recently red-pointed The Honeymoon is Over (5.13) finished by Tommy Caldwell. Longs Peak is in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), which is very touristy but has some great climbs.

The other big wall in Colorado is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which is for the adventuresome. Colorado has a lot of avalanches in the winter, but there are many mountains that have very low avalanche danger if ascended correctly (e.g. Mt. Bierstadt (14,060'), Quandary Peak (14,265'), both of which are easy hikes in the summer).

For traverses, the aforementioned North/South Maroon Peak is considered a major one, but the Crestone Needle (14,197') to Crestone Peak (14,294') traverse is much more difficult and requires at least one rappel (and more if you're not an excellent routefinder). On Crestone Needle is one of North America's "50 Classic Climb": the Ellingwood Arete, which is mainly 4th class climbing, with about two easy 5th class pithes and one moderate (5.7) pitch.

For guide books: Gerry Roach is the quintessential peak-bagger and has climbed every hill in Colorado; he has guides on everything. Lou Dawson has two alpine-oriented guides (he's a skier). Richard Rossiter does rock climbing guides for the Boulder area, having replaced Pat Ament. Bernard Gillet has rock climbing guides to RMNP, one covering Lumpy Ridge and the crags, another covering the high peaks.

Canadian Rockies

-- under construction --

Alaska

-- under construction --

White Mountains (N.H.)

Mount Washington is the main attraction, and it is part of the roughly 20 mile Presidential Traverse that traverses about 11 peaks (one or more day summer; multi-day winter). On Mt. Washington there is a standard winter route up Lions Head, some snow climbs in the area around Tuckerman's Ravine, and the classic ice climbs in Huntington's Ravine (notably, Pinnacle and Damnation gullies). Very cold, very windy, and avalanche danger is a consideration. Snow/ice climbing season lasts to mid- or late-spring.

Alps

Mt. Blanc, done via the easiest route, is probably equivalent to Mt. Rainier via Ingraham Direct or Disapointment Cleaver, though it's about 15,700' (Rainier is 14,400' or so). Rock fall is of course a prominent worry in all parts of the Alps, especially on the more technical routes. In the Chamonix area, the Office de Haute Montagne (OHM) is where to go to get information on routes, weather and avalanche danger; there is free wireless at the nearby visitor's center. Don't forget the rock climbing, nor the Austrian Alps, nor the Dolomites. Lots of via Ferratta everywhere, if you're into that. Gaston Rebuffat has a classic book of, in his opinion, the 100 greatest climbs (in order of difficulty) in the Mont Blanc massif (and here's a listing of the routes). There are other books, but most are not available in the states (except for the hiking books). OHM has a copy of all the books. The summitpost.org Mont Blanc massif page has links to information on climbs in the Mont Blanc massif. And for the best information, ask one of the many Europeans in the Alpine Club.

South America

-- under construction --

Rock Climbing Areas

Mountains

Other activities [i.e. hiking, canyoneering, caving, skiing, ice climbing]

Hot Springs NEW!

Indoor Rock Gyms NEW!

Skiing NEW!


Check on road closures from the DOT, and campground and road closures from Inyo NF.

Useful phone numbers:

Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center. Call (760)924-5510 for a recording of the most recent avalanche bulletin (the same report can be found at their website). Their website is sometimes shutdown in the summer.

Inyo National Forest (760)873-2483. The individual Ranger Stations are:

Mt. Whitney, 640 S. Main St., Lone Pine (760)876-6200;
White Mountain, N. Main St., Bishop (760)873-2500;
Mammoth, 2500 Main St., Mammoth Lakes (760)924-5500;
Mono Basic Scenic Area Visitor Center, US 395, Lee Vining, (760)647-3044;
Tuolumne Wilderness Center, Highway 120, parking lot 1/4 mile from ranger station (209)372-0740 (See NPS site)

Quota status for Inyo N.F.

Toiyabe National forest/Hoover Wildnerness, Bridgeport Ranger Station US 395, 1/4 mile S. of Bridgeport (760)932-7070.

Kings Canyon National Park, Road's End Wilderness Permit Station, Road's End (559)565-3708.