jonhersh - Sep 1, 2006 4:36 am Date Climbed: Aug 2, 2004
Venusian Blind
Fun route, but it almost didn't seem fair to still have the ridge traverse after finishing the climb. I guess I was pretty tired.
Thanks to Dara for the lead and for carrying wine up to camp.
NoSam - Aug 9, 2006 11:18 pm Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2006
SE chutes from SF Big Pine Creek
Great climb. Bypassed the summit block step by down climbing around. nice lead by Darrick
cp0915 - Jun 24, 2006 6:20 pm Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2006
Contact Crack
Nice dayhike with Rick Kent. Conditions were great. Plenty of snow coverage from above the lakes to the pass. Fun climbing (though too short) up the crack. A slog up to the summit ridge...then some enjoyable scrambling to the top. Great views.
It was a trip seeing in the log how many times Norman Clyde had done the peak. At a glance...several.
Fantastic glissading from just below the summit to just above the crack. Then from the pass all the way to Second Lake.
To clarify something about the route description on 'physics' page, there is a 4th class crack right below the summit, but it can easily be bypassed (if one so chooses) via a short but airy 2nd class traverse above and to the right of it.
MichaelJ - Mar 20, 2006 4:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2005
Route Climbed: Venusian Blind
Climbed with Misha. Biggest crag I've ever climbed. Looking forward to trying some of the other routes.
Augie Medina - Feb 16, 2006 1:51 am Date Climbed: Sep 19, 2005
Up from the Willow Lake Side
Went up from the Willow Lake side on scree and 3rd and 4th class rock. Some decent exposure along our route.
Route Climbed: Venusian Blind Date Climbed: August 22, 2005
A great route with some wild exposure and very fun ridge traverses. We did the Moon Goddess the day before and went for the summit on the second day. It was worth it with the view of Middle Palisade and Mt. Sill.
Route Climbed: Contact Crack Date Climbed: August 11th, 2005
Climbed this as part of the Sierra Challenge. I almost wimped out on the final exposed class 2 traverse to the summit (after free-soloing the 5.2 Contact Crack!), but luckily Matthew was able to lure me over by dangling a runner near me as I scrambled the the rest of the way :-D
It was a surpise seeing that the summit block could be reached via a class 2 route, as the one mentioned on SP earlier insisted you had to climb the class 4 crack lower down.
Route Climbed: Moon Goddess Arete Date Climbed: August 6, 1987
A fun, long route, but with lots of rockfall. We'd arrived early the previous day at Third Lake, hiked to the base of the climb (the snowfield), stashed our climbing gear, and hiked back down to our camp. The next morning we discovered our gear had been hit by rockfall during the night. My helmet was smashed, but that was the only major damage.
We climbed ropeless for the first 500 feet of the route, then roped up. A spectacular route!
Route Climbed: Contact Crack Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2005
Day seven of the 2005 Sierra Challenge. I was hoping to do the traverse to Gayley with Matthew, but I ... well, I was just lame. Sorry Matthew. Trip Report
Route Climbed: Contact Crack Date Climbed: August 11, 2005
Short, exposed, but easy chimney move up the crack leads to a long slog to the summit. Made a few jokes about ascending via the standard descent route, but a nice climb anyway with great company. Will be back for the technical routes. This is a great looking mountain with one of the most interesting summit registers I've seen that is steeped in a lot of reknowned names from Sierra climbing history.
Route Climbed: Contact Crack / SE Face Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2005
Kind of embarrassing to be signing a summit log for this peak via Contact Crack, but oh well... about 40 feet of awkward but easy and fun scrambling up the chimney from the pass, then hundreds of feet of talus, and then a short exposed class 2 catwalk to the summit. Not a classic climb. I should have followed my instincts and found a partner for Venusian Blind instead.
Had planned to traverse to Gayley, but Bob bailed on me, and it looked like a several hour project with big epic potential. After descending the SE Face, that peak looked pretty close, and feelings of guilt led me to head over there to climb it anyway. Glad I did--it was way more fun than Temple Crag.
Route Climbed: Contact Pass Date Climbed: July 16, 2005
My buddy, his friend, and I were going to climb Middle Pal but my buddy cancelled on me while I was driving to the trailhead. I decided to solo Middle Pal instead of turning around. Once parked, I realized that I forgot to pack socks so I did the whole hike in Sandals so I wouldn't blister my delicate feet in shoes without socks. Walking in with headlamps entering the trailhead at 1:35 AM, I followed the North Fork of Big Pine Creek thinking I was following the South Fork. I couldn't see anything with my headlamp so I must have missed the sign. Anyway, woke up thinking I would be at the base of Middle Pal but all I saw was Temple Crag. To salvage the weekend, I decided to go up Temple Crag but did not have a clue about any of the "soloable" routes on this mountains. Contact Pass looked good so I went for it and made it. It is class 4; ok weekend.
Route Climbed: Sun Ribbon Arete Date Climbed: 7-7-2005
Felt more like a ridge route more than a true rock climb. The tyrolean makes it worthwhile . very long climb. 7 hrs to the summit. 16.5 hrs car to car.
Route Climbed: Sun Ribbon Arete Date Climbed: July 7, 2005
Perfect day minus skeeters and mule crap on trail. No snow 't'll base of Dark Star. Used a 100' line to ease simul-climbing. Could have been even a bit shorter and made all raps etc. Good car to car route!
jonhersh - Sep 1, 2006 4:36 am Date Climbed: Aug 2, 2004
Venusian BlindFun route, but it almost didn't seem fair to still have the ridge traverse after finishing the climb. I guess I was pretty tired.
Thanks to Dara for the lead and for carrying wine up to camp.
NoSam - Aug 9, 2006 11:18 pm Date Climbed: Jul 29, 2006
SE chutes from SF Big Pine CreekGreat climb. Bypassed the summit block step by down climbing around. nice lead by Darrick
cp0915 - Jun 24, 2006 6:20 pm Date Climbed: Jun 23, 2006
Contact CrackNice dayhike with Rick Kent. Conditions were great. Plenty of snow coverage from above the lakes to the pass. Fun climbing (though too short) up the crack. A slog up to the summit ridge...then some enjoyable scrambling to the top. Great views.
It was a trip seeing in the log how many times Norman Clyde had done the peak. At a glance...several.
Fantastic glissading from just below the summit to just above the crack. Then from the pass all the way to Second Lake.
To clarify something about the route description on 'physics' page, there is a 4th class crack right below the summit, but it can easily be bypassed (if one so chooses) via a short but airy 2nd class traverse above and to the right of it.
MichaelJ - Mar 20, 2006 4:58 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2005
Route Climbed: Venusian BlindClimbed with Misha. Biggest crag I've ever climbed. Looking forward to trying some of the other routes.
Augie Medina - Feb 16, 2006 1:51 am Date Climbed: Sep 19, 2005
Up from the Willow Lake SideWent up from the Willow Lake side on scree and 3rd and 4th class rock. Some decent exposure along our route.
graham - Nov 25, 2005 3:25 pm
Route Climbed: Contact Crack Date Climbed: Aug-11-05Climbed on day 7 of the 2005 Sierra Challenge. Beautiful day and spectacular views of the Palisade area
rocketsredglare - Oct 26, 2005 9:58 pm
Route Climbed: Moon Goddess Date Climbed: November 2003So much good stuff! Classic route, epic day and DYING to get back!
Seth Maciejowski - Oct 14, 2005 4:56 pm
Route Climbed: Venusian Blind Date Climbed: August 22, 2005A great route with some wild exposure and very fun ridge traverses. We did the Moon Goddess the day before and went for the summit on the second day. It was worth it with the view of Middle Palisade and Mt. Sill.
tpdwr - Sep 27, 2005 7:01 pm
Route Climbed: Chimney from Contact Pass Date Climbed: July 27, 1974Another great day in the mountains. Old register still on top!
Michael Graupe - Sep 27, 2005 5:17 pm
Route Climbed: Contact Pass Date Climbed: August 11, 2005Climbed with Bob, Matthew, Mark and co during the 2005 Sierra Challenge.
PellucidWombat - Sep 17, 2005 7:10 pm
Route Climbed: Contact Crack Date Climbed: August 11th, 2005Climbed this as part of the Sierra Challenge. I almost wimped out on the final exposed class 2 traverse to the summit (after free-soloing the 5.2 Contact Crack!), but luckily Matthew was able to lure me over by dangling a runner near me as I scrambled the the rest of the way :-D
It was a surpise seeing that the summit block could be reached via a class 2 route, as the one mentioned on SP earlier insisted you had to climb the class 4 crack lower down.
Kerstin - Sep 17, 2005 1:26 pm
Route Climbed: Moon Goddess Arete Date Climbed: August 6, 1987A fun, long route, but with lots of rockfall. We'd arrived early the previous day at Third Lake, hiked to the base of the climb (the snowfield), stashed our climbing gear, and hiked back down to our camp. The next morning we discovered our gear had been hit by rockfall during the night. My helmet was smashed, but that was the only major damage.
We climbed ropeless for the first 500 feet of the route, then roped up. A spectacular route!
Bob Burd - Sep 16, 2005 5:43 pm
Route Climbed: Contact Crack Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2005Day seven of the 2005 Sierra Challenge. I was hoping to do the traverse to Gayley with Matthew, but I ... well, I was just lame. Sorry Matthew. Trip Report
Desert Solitaire - Sep 5, 2005 4:49 pm
Route Climbed: Contact Crack Date Climbed: August 11, 2005Short, exposed, but easy chimney move up the crack leads to a long slog to the summit. Made a few jokes about ascending via the standard descent route, but a nice climb anyway with great company. Will be back for the technical routes. This is a great looking mountain with one of the most interesting summit registers I've seen that is steeped in a lot of reknowned names from Sierra climbing history.
Matthew Holliman - Aug 17, 2005 1:42 pm
Route Climbed: Contact Crack / SE Face Date Climbed: Aug 11, 2005Kind of embarrassing to be signing a summit log for this peak via Contact Crack, but oh well... about 40 feet of awkward but easy and fun scrambling up the chimney from the pass, then hundreds of feet of talus, and then a short exposed class 2 catwalk to the summit. Not a classic climb. I should have followed my instincts and found a partner for Venusian Blind instead.
Had planned to traverse to Gayley, but Bob bailed on me, and it looked like a several hour project with big epic potential. After descending the SE Face, that peak looked pretty close, and feelings of guilt led me to head over there to climb it anyway. Glad I did--it was way more fun than Temple Crag.
stoneloan - Jul 22, 2005 12:48 pm
Route Climbed: Sun Ribbon Arete and Moon Goddess Arete Date Climbed: aug 2000 and sept 2000See trip reports
physics - Jul 17, 2005 5:30 pm
Route Climbed: Contact Pass Date Climbed: July 16, 2005My buddy, his friend, and I were going to climb Middle Pal but my buddy cancelled on me while I was driving to the trailhead. I decided to solo Middle Pal instead of turning around. Once parked, I realized that I forgot to pack socks so I did the whole hike in Sandals so I wouldn't blister my delicate feet in shoes without socks. Walking in with headlamps entering the trailhead at 1:35 AM, I followed the North Fork of Big Pine Creek thinking I was following the South Fork. I couldn't see anything with my headlamp so I must have missed the sign. Anyway, woke up thinking I would be at the base of Middle Pal but all I saw was Temple Crag. To salvage the weekend, I decided to go up Temple Crag but did not have a clue about any of the "soloable" routes on this mountains. Contact Pass looked good so I went for it and made it. It is class 4; ok weekend.
aleasure - Jul 14, 2005 5:18 pm
Route Climbed: Sun Ribbon Arete Date Climbed: 7-7-2005Felt more like a ridge route more than a true rock climb. The tyrolean makes it worthwhile . very long climb. 7 hrs to the summit. 16.5 hrs car to car.
aleasure - Jul 14, 2005 5:14 pm
Route Climbed: Dark Star Date Climbed: 8-29-03A long route with good climbing. Nine hours to the summit.
Shaase - Jul 12, 2005 12:43 am
Route Climbed: Sun Ribbon Arete Date Climbed: July 7, 2005Perfect day minus skeeters and mule crap on trail. No snow 't'll base of Dark Star. Used a 100' line to ease simul-climbing. Could have been even a bit shorter and made all raps etc. Good car to car route!
Stephan