Moynier couloir

forjan · Joined: 24 Sep 2001 Posts: 382

Has anyone climbed Thompson's Moynier couloir recently? Looking to find out what condition is it in. --Miguel

rhyang · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 8154

Anyone been up to the Gilbert / Thompson area lately ? Curious to know how the approaches are ...

Diggler · Joined: 10 Sep 2001 Posts: 2531

I'd recommend calling both Wilson's & Doug Nidever (themountainguide.com). Good luck with that. Isn't all the ice covered with snow right now?

HandjamMasterC · Joined: 06 May 2004 Posts: 7380

rhyang · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 8154

A certain ice climber I know went up last weekend with a partner to try the Moynier (the dude who led Ice Nine several times) ... anyhow, he mentioned several things :

- Gilbert's north couloir looked to be about half ice, at least from a distance
- snow was definitely present on the boulders / talus, but it wasn't that bad if one was careful

They went up a couloir which they thought was the Moynier, passing a chockstone, and encountering WI3-ish ice in places. However, they came to a steep headwall. He said he might have given it a try with rock shoes Smile

but at that point they decided to just retreat instead of having an epic.

I don't know how severe the storm coming in is supposed to be. The initial forecast discussion I read earlier called for moisture mostly to the north of Yosemite. But I guess we shall see ...

tiogap · Joined: 05 Jul 2001 Posts: 810

snow level is to be at 8K supposedly

The Chief · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 11482

It was snowing in the Gibert/Thompson area as I drove down the grade into Bishop from the house this afternoon. I think that area will have recieved 3-6" of freshies when this system is done with.

rhyang · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 8154

off to P & P and the FU thread Laughing

rhyang · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 8154

Gilbert's north couloir on Sunday

Our original plan was to attempt Thompson in a day.

Saturday morning put about 0.5 inch of snow on the ground at South Lake, which melted off quickly. Similar event occurred late Saturday night. The approach slabs were not too bad with a dusting of snow (which melted off Sunday during the day), but the real pain was several inches of fresh snow and a bit of ice in places on the talus fields. High for the day was 26F at 11000' I think.

We decided to bail on Thompson and just get as close to Gilbert as possible. Near the glacier we considered how long it had taken us to get that far, and how ugly the descent was likely to be (and how much might occur in the dark). In the interest of not having an epic, we turned around and decided that the mountain would still be there next year.

dug · Joined: 03 Jul 2001 Posts: 921

rhyang · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 8154

Sent ya a PM Smile

dug · Joined: 03 Jul 2001 Posts: 921

Climbed Harrington yesterday. Stick a fork in it cuz they're done.

AM conditions

PM conditions

As an aside, descended the rib between Harrington and Smrz. Makes a good descent option if not too much snow. Deposits you back into the Harrington about a third of the way down. Cl 3-4

rhyang · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 8154

Nice work Doug !

dug · Joined: 03 Jul 2001 Posts: 921