West Chute/West Face

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On June 22 I started from South Lake at the head of Bishop Creek to attempt the West Face of Cloudripper (13,525). My plan was to climb the class 3/4 West Couloir above Chocolate Lakes. I ended up leaving the couloir at about 12,700 feet because it was just too easy. Instead I reached the summit by climbing a series of rock ribs ranging in difficulty from 5.2 to 5.7. After spending about 90 minutes on the spectacular summit another climber arrived on top, having soloed the class 2 route from Thunder and Lightning Lake. We decided to drop down off the summit, climb the North Ridge and cross the col at 13,000 feet to the north of Cloudripper, and then climb to the summit of Vagabond Peak at 13,374. From there I descended a talus chute back down to the lakes.

VIDEO TR AVAILABLE HERE ON MY YOUTUBE PAGE 'HIGH SIERRA CLIMBING'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzg8EHtnq8g&feature=plcp