California Institute of Technology

Local Area Guide: Mountain Climbing

UPDATE, summer 2010: we have moved to a wiki webpage. This information can now be found at Category:Local Areas on the wiki.

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]. Also, here is a portion of Croft's book that covers the Palisades (12 MB PDF).

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.

Traverses in the Sierra Nevada

The Sierra have some excellent traverses. Here is a small list of the well-known traverse. Many of these are quite difficult and have only seen a handful of ascents. More information can be obtained from "Climbing California's High Sierra" by John Moynier and Claude Fiddler, and from "The Good, the great, and the awesome" by Peter Croft (we have both books in our library). Summitpost.com usually has good information as well, and they link to trip reports.

It is worth noting that the ratings for theses traverses are not very comparable to ratings of traditional rock climbs. A tough traverse is usually rated (5.9 VI), but this does not mean you will find 5.9 climbing necessarily; rather, it is a relative grade compared to other traverses. A (5.7 IV) traverse is on the easier end of the scale. With only a few exceptions, most of these traverses rely heavily on routefinding, and while the guidebook author may have found a 5.9 crux, other parties may find a 4th class variation (and vice-versa). In general, a "5.9" rating means that the party should be comfortable soloing mid-5th class, and "5.7" rating means the party should be comfortable soloing hard 4th class.

Comments on the guidebooks: For the harder traverses, be cautious of Peter Croft's description, since while most guidebook authors are very good athletes and prolific climbers, Croft is a world-class athlete and does things like soloing Astroman. So if he does someting without a rope, don't assume you won't want one! Secor's Sierra guidebooks cover most of these traverses, but because his guidebook is so comprehensive, he relies in places on second-hand information, and thus the gradings may be inconsistent. Moynier and Fiddler's guidebook is a great source of inspiration, but their route descriptions are infamously short.

  • Traverse of the Devil's Crags. Here's a photo of the crags taken by Stephen that should make you want to climb them! As far as we know, these have only been traversed once, back in 1992 by Claude Fiddler and friends. He says "We managed to traverse the loose and extremely dangerous Devil's Crags. The ascents made on this and the August trip were the second ascent of many of the Crags." and "Our ascents taking place fully sixty years after the first ascents. The climbing involved difficult (5.10) climbing and overhanging rappels from some very shaky anchors."
  • Whitney Basin traverse. A long traverse! See Moynier and Fiddler for a description. You climb Lone Pine, an unnamed peak, LeConte, Mallory, McAdie, Muir, Whitney, Russell, and Carillon. Rated 5.7, with rappels. Here's a description of a winter attempt by Stephen.
  • Palisade traverse, from Southfork Pass to Jigsaw Pass. Described in both books. Very long and seldom done. 5.9 with rappels. Until the 90's, the fastest times on the traverse were about 7 days (one party counted 160 pitches! however, most do it in much less). Reardon claims to have done it in a day. Peter Croft, as of the time of writing his book, says he hadn't yet done it in one continuous push, so that says something.
  • Little Palisade traverse. This is the part of the main Palisade traverse that goes from Sill to Thunderbolt. Variations include doing Winchell as well, or doing the Swiss Arete on Sill, or adding Temple Crag and Gayley (the latter variation is quite difficult). This is much more reasonable the the full traverse and is usually done in one day, sometimes car-to-car but usually from a camp at Gayley Camp or Sam Mack Meadow. You can also approach via South Lake which has a higher trailhead, but the approach times are almost identical and the South Lake approach requires either a long scree slog to get back to the trailhead or a car shuttle from the Big Pine trailhead (I've done it both ways, so I'm pretty confident that the times are similar).
    This has always been popular, but it is even more so in recent years: there are now many trip reports on summitpost. In Feb 2008, there is a new summitpost thunderbolt to sill traverse page with a lot of beta. See also Stephen's trip report from a 2006 ascent. The traverse can be done in either direction, though the Thunderbolt to Sill direction is more common.
  • Kaweah traverse. VI 5.9, see Moynier and Fiddler for details. Beautiful mountains, loose rock. First ascent by Claude Fiddler, Andy Selters and Danny Whitmore in 1997.
  • Evolution traverse, VI 5.9. Popularized by Peter Croft; see his book for more info. There are some trip reports online, including the pullharder Evolution Traverse report (I met these guys at Tahquitz and JTree and they're very nice and have been putting up some fine hard routes in the Sierra; they're grad students at UC San Diego). Their trip report also links to some beta they got from Climbing magazine's Matt Samet. A slightly more recent trip report is here. In Kroese's "50 Favorite Climbs", Croft lists this traverse as his selection (snippet available on google books). From Kroese. Time required: 1 day approach, 1 day to acclimate, 2-5 days on rock; season: July to mid-September. See also this July '09 trip report of an attempt.
  • Rock Creek traverse. V 5.9. First ascent by Claude Fiddler and Jim Keating in 1987. Includes Bear Creek Spire. From Moynier and Fiddler: "Each of these teams has been impressed with the quality of the climbing on the traverse, as well as the serious nature of the exposed ridgeline. Although the rock is solid on the ridge, there are large blocks that are precariously perched. Croft had a close call... as did Fiddler... More recently, Ben Craft attempted to repeat the route and described hsi similar experiences. 'My partner and I escaped death twice. He went for a slide on top of a huge boulder, only to jump off before it creamed a ledge.'"
  • Minaret Traverse, VI 5.9. First ascent Vern Clevenger and Claude Fiddler 1982. Tags about 13 summits. See Moynier and Fiddler for more info, and Stephen's trip report.
  • Cathedral Range traverse, IV 5.7. Near Cathedral Peak and Matthes Crest. See Moynier and Fiddler for more info. Up to 15 summits in one long day (a lot of variations possible).
  • Sawtooth Ridge traverse. VI 5.9. First ascent Vern Clevenger and Claude Fiddler, 1984, over two days. "The traverse of the crest has been repeated a few times over the years, including an effort by Ben Craft and Craig Clarence in the summer of 1999. Craft described their adventure. 'I Loved the whole thing except the gullies and raps...'". Includes Cleaver Peak, Sawblade, Northwest Tooth, Southeast Tooth, Col de Doodad, Dragtooth and Matterhorn. With names like that, how can you not be enticed?

Misc: a link to a supertopo thread on winter traverses. No one knows if the full Palisade traverse has yet been done in winter; here are pics from a winter attempt. Also, here's a brief summary of the Mt. Clarence King traverse recently completed by Misha Logvinov and Pavel Kovar.

Traverses in other ranges. Cascades: most common is the Torment-Forbidden Traverse. The Picket traverse is famous but much harder. Croft describes a traverse of the Stuart Range in the Canadian Alpine Journal (1986, p. 35). Colorado: the are four "great" Colorado traverses: Crestone Needle to Crestone Peak, North Maroon Peak to South Maroon Peak, Mt. Wilson to El Diente traverse, and Little Bear to Bianca traverse. East Coast: the White Mountain traverse is fun and non-technical; most people do it in one day. In winter, it is a serious challenge, since the weather on Mt. Washington is horrible.
If you want beta, let us know since we have climbed many of these.

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.

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
Alaska

There are many places to climb in Alaska, but most of the world-class climbing is found in the Alaska Range, and you get there via a glacier plane from Talkeetna (about $500 ruondtrip); there is also great ice climbing and heli-skiiing at more coastal areas, like Valdez. In the Alaska Range, there are several big mountains (Denali/McKinley, Foraker/Sultana, Hunter, Huntington) as well as many smaller mountains. The Ruth glacier is home to many amazing long granite routes, like Mt. Dickey and the Moose's Tooth and Bear's Tooth. Most of these routes are a big step beyond what you find in the Sierra, though there are many parts of the Alaska Range that are more moderate. For example, many of the peaks on the North Side are less glaciated (there is a giant rain shadow) and more similar to the Sierra. One great area is the Little Switzerland area inside the Alaska Range.

The club has several books on climbing in Alaska, including the supertopo book. We also have the SuperTopo Alaska book online (24 MB PDf). You need a Caltech/JPL ip address or you must know the club's username/password in order to access these.

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.

Mexico

Club members organized trips to Pico de Orizaba (18,490') in the winter of '08/'09 and again in '09/'10. Email us if you want more info.

South America

None of us are good enough to have climbed in Patagonia, but we do make frequent trips to places like the Cordillera Blanca and the large mountains like Aconcagua. See Summitpost.org for more information.

Rock Climbing Areas

Mountains

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

Hot Springs

Indoor Rock Gyms

Skiing

SoCal Ice 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)873-2400, reservation line: (760)873-2483. The individual Ranger Stations are:

Eastern Sierra InterAgency Visitor Center, 1 mile south of Lone Pine (760)876-6222;
Mt. Whitney, 640 S. Main St., Lone Pine (760)876-6200; (this is the administrative office, not useful for climbers)
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.