Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: August 8, 1993
The second day of the up and down Himalaya training camp. The route was fun and I think Sill has the best views in the Sierra. The current rating of 5.8 seems very generous, more like 5.7.
Route Climbed: "Dead Larry's Pillar" III 5.10 Date Climbed: July, 2001
I climbed this route with Kenn Kenega after humping our full packs over Contact Pass, due to the threat of ice on the normal approach. Don't go this way.
The route was great, good rock, lots of ways to go. We probaly did parts of both of the "Dead Larry" routes.
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: July 27, 2001
Penelope May and I climbed Swiss Arete from our camp on the Gayley moraine in july of 2001. This was one of the most delightful trips I have ever done in the Sierra. My partner was a huge part of it. We had the most beautiful time up there. The descent via North Glacier was very difficult with aluminum crampons and ice axes as two years of drought brought very early ice to Palisades. There was hard alpine ice in the gully and we had to be very careful. But the climb was really great. I will never forget this trip.
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: August 25, 1996
Climbed the Swiss Arete with Don Brosnahan in 1996. The route was the first part of our attempted traverse to Thunderbolt Peak which we aborted due to high winds on the crest.
Route Climbed: Traverse from Polemonium Peak, class 4 Date Climbed: August 17, 2002
Traversed from Thunderbolt to Starlight to North Pal to Polemonium and finally to Mt. Sill with ScottyS , arriving atop Sill around 9 pm. The wind was howling up there, so we headed for the East Couloir for descent into the South Fork of Big Pine Creek.
Route Climbed: Via the V Notch ice gully Date Climbed: August 1999
We ( Tim Winiarski, Kevin jellison and I ) climbed Sill via the V Notch ice gully under full water ice conditions and a traverse from Polmonium Peak. And videotaped this little epic!
Route Climbed: Traverse from Polemonium Date Climbed: August 17,2002
Traversed from Thunderbolt to Starlight to N.Pal to Polemonium to Sill with bearbnz. We freeclimbed most of the route, with three rappels and three belayed (probably unneccesary) pitches total. Heavy packs and little route knowledge (Secor's book only) made for slow time --- OK, maybe lack of fitness contributed! Left the car around 530, summited Thunderbolt around 1100, summited Sill around 2100. Waited for daylight to decend an east couloir of Sill and walk down to the S. Fork Trail. Got to the car at 1330 on Aug. 18 and drove home to get some sleep.
Route Climbed: Ridge to Apex peak, then 5.easy headwall Date Climbed: July 6, 2002
I hiked up the North Fork of Big Pine Creek not really knowing what I was going to climb. I thought about the Moon Goddess Arete on Temple Crag, but that looked like a hassle. Then I considered bagging Mount Gayley, but I asked myself "Why?" As I neared the Palisade Glacier, I decided to do the Swiss Arete on Mount Sill. I hiked up some easy snowfields to the saddle between Sill and Gayley, then for some reason I started up toward "Apex Peak" (that's the little knob along the ridge). I cruised to the top of that on Class 4 rock. From the top of that bump, I saw what appeared to be good climbing on a "headwall" right below the summit. There were some very easy ways up, but I decided to take some 5.8ish splitter cracks. Those were very fun. Along the way, I liberated two stoppers, a tri-cam, and 4 carabiners from the mountain. I got to the top about 3:45 after I left my car. I could only find one writing utensil in the register box, and it was non-functional. After a couple minutes on the summit, I decided to traverse south a bit on the Palisade Crest. After an hour or so of Class 4/5 climbing, I got bored and did some fairly serious downclimbing to get off the Ridge. I then descended the horrendous South Fork of Big Pine to my car. Today was a "deprivation training" -- that meant no food and 1 liter of water. That was only partially intentional.
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: September 1979
This climb was a great adventure that almost killed Jim Hooker and I. The climb was fairly easy and was an alpine masterpiece, it was the descent that almost ended in tragedy. But instead of killing us, it pushed our minds into a face to face experience with the profound powers that make up life and death. So the Swiss Arete for me was not just a climb, but a workshop in coming to terms with my own mortality. An honorable way to spend some vacation time.
Route Climbed: Traverse all the Palisades from Thunderbolt Peak. Date Climbed: 09/09/01
Left from Sam Mack Meadow for the East Face of Thunderbolt, traverse the Palisade Peaks; T-Bolt, Starlight, N. Pal., and Mt. Sill, and then back to the meadow around 6pm.
Excellent, Most of the route is less than 5.6. A couple of veritcal pitches that are amazing quite easy. Then the crux, hard at nearly 14k, then cruise to the top.
Also have done N Couloir with N face viariation solo.
Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: Aug 6, 2000
Climbed with mconnell. Yes, it was a valiant attempt at the Swiss Arete. Two rappels down to the N. Couloir, then back up. Still a great deal of fun. On the way down I went into an uncontrolled glissade in the couloir, stopping only at the bottom. Here's a trip report.
depclimb - May 8, 2003 2:35 pm
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: August 8, 1993The second day of the up and down Himalaya training camp. The route was fun and I think Sill has the best views in the Sierra. The current rating of 5.8 seems very generous, more like 5.7.
Dave K - Jan 22, 2003 5:31 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest slope Date Climbed: August 2001On my third try I finally made it up the Southwest Slope. Fun, but a looooong approach.
Eric Tipton - Dec 16, 2002 12:31 am
Route Climbed: "Dead Larry's Pillar" III 5.10 Date Climbed: July, 2001I climbed this route with Kenn Kenega after humping our full packs over Contact Pass, due to the threat of ice on the normal approach. Don't go this way.
The route was great, good rock, lots of ways to go. We probaly did parts of both of the "Dead Larry" routes.
asmrz - Nov 15, 2002 10:03 pm
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: July 27, 2001Penelope May and I climbed Swiss Arete from our camp on the Gayley moraine in july of 2001. This was one of the most delightful trips I have ever done in the Sierra. My partner was a huge part of it. We had the most beautiful time up there. The descent via North Glacier was very difficult with aluminum crampons and ice axes as two years of drought brought very early ice to Palisades. There was hard alpine ice in the gully and we had to be very careful. But the climb was really great. I will never forget this trip.
asmrz - Nov 15, 2002 9:55 pm
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: August 25, 1996Climbed the Swiss Arete with Don Brosnahan in 1996. The route was the first part of our attempted traverse to Thunderbolt Peak which we aborted due to high winds on the crest.
asmrz - Nov 15, 2002 9:52 pm
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: July 3, 1984In July 1984, Robert Somoano, Waren Davis and I climbed the Swiss Arete from our camp at Sam Mack Meadow. This was my first Mt.Sill experience.
thenunz - Oct 29, 2002 12:25 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest Slope Date Climbed: 09/10/1999Very nice mountain. Great views of the Palisades and canyons to the southwest. Easiest of the 14er's in that area.
rmjwinters - Oct 6, 2002 1:56 pm
Route Climbed: Palisade Glacier Date Climbed: June 29 2001Beautiful summit with great views up and down.
bearbnz - Oct 5, 2002 9:13 pm
Route Climbed: Traverse from Polemonium Peak, class 4 Date Climbed: August 17, 2002Traversed from Thunderbolt to Starlight to North Pal to Polemonium and finally to Mt. Sill with ScottyS , arriving atop Sill around 9 pm. The wind was howling up there, so we headed for the East Couloir for descent into the South Fork of Big Pine Creek.
Langenbacher - Oct 5, 2002 12:36 am
Route Climbed: Southwest slope Date Climbed: July 7, 2002Beautiful day, beautiful view. Second time I climbed it in 30 years.
Climbed in 6 hours from Palisade basin via Potluck Pass.
Craig Peer - Sep 23, 2002 1:10 pm
Route Climbed: Via the V Notch ice gully Date Climbed: August 1999We ( Tim Winiarski, Kevin jellison and I ) climbed Sill via the V Notch ice gully under full water ice conditions and a traverse from Polmonium Peak. And videotaped this little epic!
vlanin - Sep 10, 2002 12:22 pm
Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: July 5, 2002Via South Fork trail
ScottyS - Aug 18, 2002 9:31 pm
Route Climbed: Traverse from Polemonium Date Climbed: August 17,2002Traversed from Thunderbolt to Starlight to N.Pal to Polemonium to Sill with bearbnz. We freeclimbed most of the route, with three rappels and three belayed (probably unneccesary) pitches total. Heavy packs and little route knowledge (Secor's book only) made for slow time --- OK, maybe lack of fitness contributed! Left the car around 530, summited Thunderbolt around 1100, summited Sill around 2100. Waited for daylight to decend an east couloir of Sill and walk down to the S. Fork Trail. Got to the car at 1330 on Aug. 18 and drove home to get some sleep.
Guilty - Jul 9, 2002 11:07 pm
Route Climbed: Traverse from ThunderBolt. Date Climbed: July 6, 02Me & Ian traverse from Thunderbolt peak, along the Palisade ridge, hitting all the peaks on the way. Left and return from Ranger hut.
Josh - Jul 6, 2002 8:10 pm
Route Climbed: Ridge to Apex peak, then 5.easy headwall Date Climbed: July 6, 2002I hiked up the North Fork of Big Pine Creek not really knowing what I was going to climb. I thought about the Moon Goddess Arete on Temple Crag, but that looked like a hassle. Then I considered bagging Mount Gayley, but I asked myself "Why?" As I neared the Palisade Glacier, I decided to do the Swiss Arete on Mount Sill. I hiked up some easy snowfields to the saddle between Sill and Gayley, then for some reason I started up toward "Apex Peak" (that's the little knob along the ridge). I cruised to the top of that on Class 4 rock. From the top of that bump, I saw what appeared to be good climbing on a "headwall" right below the summit. There were some very easy ways up, but I decided to take some 5.8ish splitter cracks. Those were very fun. Along the way, I liberated two stoppers, a tri-cam, and 4 carabiners from the mountain. I got to the top about 3:45 after I left my car. I could only find one writing utensil in the register box, and it was non-functional. After a couple minutes on the summit, I decided to traverse south a bit on the Palisade Crest. After an hour or so of Class 4/5 climbing, I got bored and did some fairly serious downclimbing to get off the Ridge. I then descended the horrendous South Fork of Big Pine to my car. Today was a "deprivation training" -- that meant no food and 1 liter of water. That was only partially intentional.
Romain - Jun 13, 2002 11:05 pm
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: June 7, 2002With Alberto Alesina. Trip report
RGABRIELSON - Mar 26, 2002 10:10 am
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: September 1979This climb was a great adventure that almost killed Jim Hooker and I. The climb was fairly easy and was an alpine masterpiece, it was the descent that almost ended in tragedy. But instead of killing us, it pushed our minds into a face to face experience with the profound powers that make up life and death. So the Swiss Arete for me was not just a climb, but a workshop in coming to terms with my own mortality. An honorable way to spend some vacation time.
Guilty - Sep 28, 2001 8:46 pm
Route Climbed: Traverse all the Palisades from Thunderbolt Peak. Date Climbed: 09/09/01Left from Sam Mack Meadow for the East Face of Thunderbolt, traverse the Palisade Peaks; T-Bolt, Starlight, N. Pal., and Mt. Sill, and then back to the meadow around 6pm.
brandon - Sep 18, 2001 4:34 pm
Route Climbed: Swiss Arete Date Climbed: Oct 1999Excellent, Most of the route is less than 5.6. A couple of veritcal pitches that are amazing quite easy. Then the crux, hard at nearly 14k, then cruise to the top.
Also have done N Couloir with N face viariation solo.
Bob Burd - Aug 20, 2001 11:30 pm
Route Climbed: North Couloir Date Climbed: Aug 6, 2000Climbed with mconnell. Yes, it was a valiant attempt at the Swiss Arete. Two rappels down to the N. Couloir, then back up. Still a great deal of fun. On the way down I went into an uncontrolled glissade in the couloir, stopping only at the bottom. Here's a trip report.