Hi,

Thinking of climbing middle palisade this week. Wondering if anyone has any recent info regarding conditions there. A friend and I have a permit for Whitney's main trail, but been there done that, so we were looking for something other than Whitney or Langley. Ranger says Glacier Lodge Road is open all the way to the South Fork trailhead, but predicted snow up at Brainerd and Finger Lakes.

We're pretty much Class 3 climbers. Don't mind snow camping, but serious ice travel on steep terrain might be problematic for us.

Thanks

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty cautious, and know that chances are the middle palisade as a class climb may not be doable because of the snow. Not much different right now throughout the sierra I guess. Tioga pass still closed, Half dome cables still down, etc. Having been on Whitney's mountaineering route, and Russell's east ridge till my climbing buddy got spooked by the exposure, I can understand that something like russell's east arete with snow ups the rating considerably. But I'm aching to get out of the city, and since I'm between jobs, and have always wanted to check out the Palisades area, maybe we'll just recon the south and north forks and see what it looks like, and maybe come back when it's more suitable for our skill level.