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Looking for some beta/opinions on returning to the U-Notch from summit of Pole. Of course we have descriptions/recommendations for both rappelling and reversing climbing the 4/5class route. Any personal opinions or good tips?? Looking to attempt this weekend (west side approach) with Averagewhiteboy. Thanks in advance. Cheers & Climb On!

The first time I did Polemonium from the U-Notch, it was only class 4. I just soloed up and back down in a pair of Vasque hiking boots. Now that the difficulty has been inflated to class 5, you might need rock shoes, a rope, and some protection.

We did a double rope (8.1mm) rappel, and almost got our rope stuck. I would like to break the rappel into 2 next time, need to reenforce some of the intermediate rappel station though, they look not so great.

Linda

Here’s a link to my photos from about 1 year ago. I hiked from the South Lake TH via T-bolt Pass and the west side chute up to the U-notch. Then scrambled up and down Polemonium and then over to North Palisade via the Clyde Variation.

Check photos #24-29 for the U-Notch to Polemonium terrain. Photo #24 shows the mini-tower on the ridgeline that you want to head towards; diagonally up & right (west) from the U-notch.
http://grahamcracker.myphotoalbum.com/v ... e=album172
I think climbing up from the U-notch helps work out the Polem route details, just remember to back-track the same way. Have fun

We did it in stiff mountaineering boots and I appreciated having a rope. The climbing was technically that difficult, but there is enough exposure that a fall would not be good. There are tons of existing rap stations up there, make sure to inspect thoroughly though as many have aged and should not be trusted. We rapped a short section from just below the summit and our rope got stuck. We downclimbed the middle pitch and then opted to rappel ~20 meters back down to the Unotch, again this climbing was too technical, but any fall would have been pretty much straight back to the notch and then shooting down hard snow.

I free soloed the North Ridge of LPP and felt more comfortable without a rope there than I did on the section above the U-Notch to Polemonium. Could have been the difference of mountaineering boots vs rock shoes, or maybe the mixed snow and ice at the time.

Thanks all for your great input. We will take necessary gear & decide our options "real time". Just arrived in Mammoth - will use as a base of operations for a week of climbing. It's beautiful up here !!!!!!!

I forgot to mention, if you do plan to rope up or at least carry some gear to decide at the time, it can be done with a minimal alpine rack I just carried a set of nuts, few slings, and single strand of an 8.8m x 50 m double rope and that was more than adequate.

For completness sake, here's my observations after making the climb (btw, thanks to my great partner Averagewhiteboy )

We took the traditional line straight up the crack/gully from the U-Notch; to the middle section horizontial ledges and boulders; all the way south into the (small) notch formed by the summit ridge and the large monolith sticking up in the air; then up (eastward) the summit ridge.

All pretty straight forward, and matches very closely the written beta and pictures, that all of you have provided here on S.P. ("thumbs up" on that, as always).

My opinions on the classifications: crack/gully = 4th class; middle ledges = 3rd class; summit ridge = a few low 5th class moves, remainder = 4th class.

I would suggest not to take the summit ridge too casually. The climbing itself is of course not too difficult. But it seemed that the most difficult moves matched up against the largest (fall = death) exposure. Also the ridge is at least a 40-50meter climbing distance - a bit longer than I had expected. And of course the climbing is at 14,000ft elevation.

The lower crack/gully really only have 1 or 2 moves (at the very bottom) that are exposed. So if you make 20 feet or so above the U-Notch your difficulties are much less until the summit ridge.

As far as the rappels - we did two: one from about 1/3 of the way down the summit ridge onto the horizontial ledges section; one from the top of the crack/gully back to the U-Notch. The summit ridge rappel was a very good rappel station (by alpine standards). However you need to look closely
for this station as you descend the ridge, it is a bit down
off the top of the ridge and could be missed if you are
not looking for it. The bottom rappel is less nice - the
station is not as bomber (in fact we rigged our own new
alternate rappel anchor), and also the beginning of the
rappel is low angle down scramble before it gets vertical
for the lower portion. Both rappels went fine with a 30meter distance (i.e. a single strand of 60m X 7.7mm doubled over). Last note on the rappels - we noticed
only these two rappel stations. They were the ones we
needed, and were in the right places ... but as of the time
we climbed there were not any other rap stations (i.e. not
may different options/stations as has been the case in
the past).

My opinion on downclimbing vs. rappeling: to downclimb you want to be VERY solid at the grade AND the altitude, since the most difficult downclimbing moves come at the most critical exposure locations.