Hi all,

we are planning a smaller version of the Palisade traverse this weekend. Thunderbolt to North Pal or Polemonium. Has anybody been there lately and can provide some beta?
I'm assuming there will be snow in the chutes up to Thunderbolt and in the Southwest Chute of the U-notch. Are crampons and ice axe needed or can we bypass the snow on the rocks?

Any info greatly appreciated,
Hubert

I was on Sill on Saturday. Went up via N. Couloir. I'm not really sure how much these will help, but here are some pics from Saturday:

http://kathywing.smugmug.com/California ... 30_Z9st9Wm

Bring 100% DEET with you.

I saw a photo from this weekend of the west side. It was taken from the west from a long way away. Count on snow in the southwest chute of the U-notch. Also, it appeared that the talus fans were still snow covered.

We just got back, there on Fri and Sat and camped on Thunderbolt Pass at the base of SW Chute #1. Snow across Dusy Basin (obnoxious sun cups) from 11k on up. We wore approach shoes and didn't have axes or pons, however not to say they wouldn't have been appreciated. In the afternoon, the snow is soft so it was no big deal, however we started up firm (frozen overnight) snow and it was not ideal without crampons. There were just enough small sun cups and rock hopping up to the base of the chute. Once in the chute there is snow the first couple hundred feet, up to about 12.9k. We climbed in the moat on the right side until we cleared the snow and got onto rock. There is snow in the entire Palisade basin up to the base of the rock. SW Chute #2 has a large bergschrund, but I don't imagine you would be going up that chute, #1 has no schrund.

Fill up water just before reaching the pass as there is no water unless you drop down to the partially frozen lake at 12k, which there is no real reason to. We had to melt snow, which was fine, but would have be unnecessary if we filled up prior.

Kathy W, I think I saw you heading up the Palisade glacier on Sat around 11am. Were you approaching the base of Sill then?

Good luck up there, there is a good amount of loose rock so be careful.

A few shots from Columbine on 7/26/11. First, Palisade Basin, which is smooth hiking once it's dry:

T-bolt and North Pal:

A close-up of T-bolt, showing the chutes:

Thanks for those photos, Kathy. Saw a shot of where we're planning to go next week in the South Fork that's a big help.

Here are some photos from Friday 7/22 of Thunderbolt's SW chute #1.

Panorama from Thunderbolt Pass:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/E28Ot8x_aAlDsbjk4uVcDQ?feat=directlink

Entire album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/peter.hawkins/ThunderboltPeak#

I backed off on the 4th class at about 13800ft because I was dayhiking solo and felt sketched out. The suncups between Bishop Pass and Thunderbolt Pass were very tedious (often a foot or more deep and continuous). I was happy I had an ice axe and crampons for the chute; you only need them up to the first chockstone.

mtndonkey wrote:Kathy W, I think I saw you heading up the Palisade glacier on Sat around 11am. Were you approaching the base of Sill then?

Yes, that was probably me - I looked at my clock when I was in the Palisade Glacier area and it said about 10 am - I figured out later that it was set on mountain time. I started too late from Sam Mack Meadow - the clock said 6:34 am when I got going from the meadow, but it was really 7:34 am. It was pretty quiet out there on Saturday and it ended up being a lot longer day than I anticipated - maybe it was all those suncups. It was beautiful out there though.

KathyW wrote:

mtndonkey wrote:Kathy W, I think I saw you heading up the Palisade glacier on Sat around 11am. Were you approaching the base of Sill then?

Yes, that was probably me - I looked at my clock when I was in the Palisade Glacier area and it said about 10 am - I figured out later that it was set on mountain time. I started too late from Sam Mack Meadow - the clock said 6:34 am when I got going from the meadow, but it was really 7:34 am. It was pretty quiet out there on Saturday and it ended up being a lot longer day than I anticipated - maybe it was all those suncups. It was beautiful out there though.

I'm still off on time. It was nice and bright out this morning when I went for my morning run. Mountain time is the other way; so I guess I started from Sam Mack at 5:34 am - that's why I saw the sun rise. I think I was at Glacier Notch by 11 am. It was such a nice clear day out that I never worried too much about time.

Hey Kathy,

I met you on your way down from Sam Mack. I was heading up and we talked for a while in passing. You gave me some beta on Winchell. I ended making it up there and had a great time. The East Arete was a really fun climb. I recommend it. The snow conditions going up weren't too bad but it wasn't so much fun coming down. The snow was soft and the sun cups were a pain. It was hard navigating through the soft snow and cups. Other than that it was a beautiful day.

Any ways, it was nice meeting you. Thanks for the beta.

-Ryan

I climbed Mount Johnson, just west of there, last weekend. I gotta reiterate what people are saying about the snow cups. The sun cups beat the crap out of me, reflecting the sun back at you, and just making travel difficult. While the snow was soft enough to get by without crampons, I was glad to have them (on my approach shoes).

RyanBr wrote:Hey Kathy,

I met you on your way down from Sam Mack. I was heading up and we talked for a while in passing. You gave me some beta on Winchell. I ended making it up there and had a great time. The East Arete was a really fun climb. I recommend it. The snow conditions going up weren't too bad but it wasn't so much fun coming down. The snow was soft and the sun cups were a pain. It was hard navigating through the soft snow and cups. Other than that it was a beautiful day.

Any ways, it was nice meeting you. Thanks for the beta.

-Ryan

Yes, that was me with my head net on. I was glad to be able to take that off by the time I reached Third Lake. It was very nice to meet you out there. I'm glad you made Winchell - that one has been on my list for a while - that's why I had the beta with me, but after Sill I was just too exhausted to even consider Winchell.

Bump!

If anyone has any more recent photos of Dusy Basin and especially Southwest Chute #1 on Thunderbolt Peak, I would greatly appreciate seeing them. Just wondering which shoes/boots to bring this weekend.
Thanks,
-Immelda