Prerequisites
Prior technical rock climbing to 5.7 to 5.9/10a
Inclusions
Price includes guiding, permits, group climbing gear, tents, kitchen gear, breakfasts, lunches and dinners (you bring hot/cold drinks and snack items). Scheduled dates include USFS trail fees. Private programs do not. Local accommodation is not included.
Click on the above photos to get a more detailed description and slide show of each climb.
One of our most favorite things to do in the mountains is to set up a comfortable camp and to climb as much as we can from there. This year we invite you to join us for four days of fine alpine cragging in the Palisades area. We'll place camp above Third Lake, in the shadow of the alpine rock climbers paradise - Temple Crag. From here our options are many and include the Celestial Arêtes on Temple Crag, Mount Robinson, and many more. These four days will be filled with as much climbing as you can handle and will certainly be a "dream trip" for the rock aficionado. Any of these routes are also offered as a "custom" trip. Just contact us for availability.
Itinerary Day One: We meet late morning and after a gear check and introductions we'll head in, taking the rest of the day to reach camp. With moderate loads the walk takes about 3-4 hours.
Day two: An early start sees us off for either a warm-up route or one of Temple Crag's classics. Our targets are any of the Celestial Arêtes: Moon Goddess, 5.8, Venusian Blind, 5.7, or Sun Ribbon Arête. From camp it's about 45 minutes hike, mostly on talus but ending with some early season snow climbing to the base of he routes. We usually take just one ice axe, for the leader, but chop good steps and belay for those who are following. From the top of the snow several hundred feet of easy, but roped, scrambling lead to the start of 5th class climbing on both Moon Goddess and Venusian Blind. Sun Ribbon follows a slightly different approach climber's right of the other two routes.
Days three: Another one of the routes.
Day four: By now we are probably pretty tired so maybe a little more climbing and then a return to the vehicles and a beer or soda.
Notes The best guidebooks are Supertopo's “High Sierra Climbing” by Chris McNamara. and Peter Croft's “The Good, The Great, and the Awesome”. Get them from Maximus Press.
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 would do the trick or better yet, camped at an even higher trailhead, such as one of the campgrounds in Big Pine Creek for a night just before the trip. Glacier Lodge is also a good lodging option. Please refer to our Planning for Success info sheet for more info.
