My last CA 14er. Via U-notch, much harder for me than expected. The ice was extremely hard and brittle, was glad to get onto the short yet super fun rock pitches at the top. Made the last rap down over the 'shrund in the dark, long day.
Skipped out on the summit to be able to ski both forks of the V. Climbers right fork is much steeper and more narrow with a classic double fall line. !Excellente!
"Continue up & right...." Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2009
Polemonium, the first in our three peak traverse that included North Pal & Starlight. We approached via the west chute from Palisade Basin. The climbing above the U-notch was much more challenging than I anticipated. Safely summitting and descending was made possible through the team effort of my partners, Phil & Joe.
Thunderbolt to Sill Traverse Date Climbed: Aug 8, 2009
Day hiked the Thuderbolt to Sill Traverse in just over 20 hours. Started at South Lake and ended at the shuttle car at Glacier Lodge. Climbed with SPer's Forjan,Kevin Trieu,Dave S,Luis Gijon and Corey Harelson. Great views from the top.
Did this with Tom Becht and Glenn Gookin on a beautiful day. Truth to tell, after doing Thunderbolt's summit block and Starlight's "Milk Bottle" this peak was anti-climactic. we spent more time rapping down the U-Notch than scrambling up the other side to Polemonium.
Great climbing with Gordon, Hakan, and Vladimir. The summit register is all loose paper that could easily blow away because of the way the box opens. If someone is headed up there, please consider bringing a notepad and a pen to leave. :)
An early morning err in routefinding put me in the U-Notch couloir, wondering where the f@#! Mount Sill was. Meant to traverse Sill to T-Bolt, but only ended up doing Polemonium to Starlight. Saves some peaks for next time though - sometimes they are sweeter the second time around.