Behind camp are the bulky peaks of Ritter and Banner and these give us the opportunity to ascent to over 13,000 feet and gain spectacular views of the Yosemite high country. For those with prior climbing skills we can up the difficulty a little and work on snow climbing skills before attempting the glacier route on Mt. Ritter. If some rock climbing is our goal then Waller Minaret, the southern most of the Minaret chain gives an easy fifth class ascent. Parents have the option of doing all of these or they can leave us to take care of the day and you can kick back by the lake with a good book and soak up the scenery.
Itinerary
This trip uses the services of the Agnew Meadows Pack Station to get our gear and equipment enabling us to set up a comfortable camp from which to climb. On this trip we take care of the cooking, supply the menu so you can sit back and enjoy the stunning surroundings. The first day's six mile without heavy packs allows us to take an easy leisurely hike up the San Joaquin River from Agnew Meadows, past beautiful Shadow Lake and up to camp in the vicinity of tranquil Nydiver Lakes or Lake Ediza.
The next three days are our choice. For Mount Banner we will ascend to the Ritter-Banner Saddle via some 3rd class climbing and then make our way up easy talus slopes to the summit. On Mount Ritter we have two choices: The North Face above the Ritter-Banner Saddle: this is the route that John Muir first climbed. Or we can climb the Southeast Glacier route which involves more snow climbing. On the last day, day five, we pack up and return to the vehicles by late afternoon. Pack stock will get our gear out and one again we will hike easily with a daypack.
Notes
 Guidebooks include Secor's “The High Sierra; Peaks, Passes and Trails”. We highly recommend that you spend at least one night at moderate altitude (higher than 8,000') just prior to the trip. Spending a night in Mammoth or camped at the trailhead campground would do the trick. Please refer to our Planning for Success info sheet for more info.
Since we use stock support to enable us to set up a comfortable camp from which to climb so we can certainly bring along a few luxuries to make life more comfortable in camp. Take a luxury or two but pack carefully. Since pack stock support both ways is very expensive and we need to have a full trip to cover this. With fewer participants we may need to add an extra charge to cover this.
We have scheduled dates for climbing these peaks but also undertake it as a custom ascent. Contact us to set this up. On a custom trip we can vary the group size depending upon the number of people who wish to do some climbing. Some family members might just want to stay in camp, hike or do some top roping. If we are doing peak ascents however we want to keep the ratio to a maximum ratio of 1:4. It is also possible for us to have a second guide to join us just for these climbs.
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