| E. Ridge Winter/Spring Trip Report |
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| E. Ridge Winter/Spring   | 
| Page Type: Trip Report Location: California, United States, North America Lat/Lon: 36.59080°N / 118.2878°W Date Climbed/Hiked: Mar 12, 2002 | Page By: wallpirate Created/Edited: Mar 12, 2003 / Object ID: 168845 Hits: 1092 Loading... Page Score: 0% - 0 Votes Loading... Vote: Log in to vote |
Just posting a conditions report / beta on this route...
Why did I climb this route now? Who knows, except I had a few days off and the weather promised to be good. I hadn't done this route before, but heard it was a great one- long and sustained (as an aside, the only thing long and sustained about this climb was the approach- eternal and painful).
I left Los Angeles Monday afternoon and made Lone Pine by evening. After grabbing a few burgers at Carl's, I headed up the portal road. The ranger station and signs all say the road is closed about 3 miles below the portal. It is, but you can go around the "closed" sign, as there is no gate. I made it as far as the first campground before the snow stopped me. It is about 2/3 of a mile down from the portal itself. I slept there, then started out at about 5 the next am. The snow was perfect in the pre-dawn hours- pure styrofoam snow. It held my weight and I didn't posthole once (which was good since I didn't bring skis or snowshoes). I followed a few sets of tracks which went up the Whitney Trail, then up the North Fork. Interestingly, the snow allowed a bypass of the ledges, cutting some time off the approach. The rest of the hike was standard, with nothing different except the snow smoothed out the talus, making it much less painful. I reached the Upper Boyscout Lake at about 730, set up my tent and unloaded my pack, then started up the trail to Whitney as a warmup. I met a few parties up there- a ski group from Mammoth and a group of middle aged guys who looked like they were en route to Everest via Whitney. After tagging the summit at 11 or so, I headed back down to UBSL nursing an altitude headache for some rest and food. The snow was great until about 10 or so, when it became pure mush. Get an early start if you can. Also, the lakes were frozen, so you'll need to find a stream or hack a hole in the ice for water (I didn't filter but feel ok so far... fingers crossed.)
I got up a five the next am and headed up the cirque from UBSL, electing not to do the slog above Clyde meadow. The going was easy on firm snow. At the end of the cirque, just below Russell's Southeast face, a steep gully heads up and right to the col between Russell's East Ridge and Carillion. Here I put on crampons as the snow was now too hard to kick steps into at this hour. After a long painful hike up (1500 feet?) which felt like a chapter out of the climbers edition of Dante's Inferno, I got to the foot of the ridge.
Now, I'd never done this route, and all the pictures I saw taken from this spot made the ridge look like a fifth class steep horror show. It was not any different in person, except it was covered in snow on the north side. It was all the more sobering, since the guide all say to "turn any difficulties on the north side." OK.
Starting up, it was easy to stay on the arete itself and avoid the snow. The snow was an absolute horror. The only thing consistent about it was that it was inconsistent in texture and firmness. And that it covered every non-vertical surface I needed to step on or grab on the north side. More than once I stepped onto a patch of snow, thinking I would sink in, only to have the entire surface slide off into the void of north face below me. A bit disturbing at times. I tried my hardest to stay to the ridgecrest itself, which was largely clear of snow, but I had to take the occasional foray onto the north side. The climbing itself was easy, but avoiding the snow made it much harder, especially in hard mountaineering boots (plastic). In a few spots like the first little hill on the ridge, cutting over to the north side is unavoidable, but had tons of snow. The section just before the east peak was also a snow covered annoyance. Once past the east peak, the route was more or less level, and the snow was blown clear of my path for the most part. The "crux" move on the traverse was easy after the lower part of the ridge- it took me all of three seconds to mantle. Reversing it was more intimidating, since all I could see when I looked down to look for footholds was the vast south face of Russell opening up below me.
On the summit, I enjoyed the beautiful weather. Flipping through the register, it looked like no one had been there since 10/19. Then I saw the entry at the very bottom - 11/3, Peter Croft. I'll have to ask him how free soloing Whitney's east face then Russell's Fishhook arete in a day was when I see him.
(BTW, I reversed the ridge. The south face descent ramps were covered in snow, and after the experience on the ridge, decided to forgo it.)
So, the route goes in winter conditions and doesn't take much time once at the foot of the ridge. Just stick to the crest of the ridge as much as possible to avoid the worst of the snow! I'll post some pics too.
Addendum: Looking through others' photos on this route, it looks like most people stayed well off the crest. The crest is a better shot I think when snow is abundant and offeres better views in both directions. It would probably be more fun too, even without snow. It wasn't very difficult even in plastic boots.
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Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP
