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Whitney Weather: Storms & Closed Roads

Sounds like it was a wild weekend in the Whitney Portal region, with heavy storms closing the portal road (due to mudslides) and even Highway 395 (which remains closed at Independence – detour available).

Posters on the Whitney Portal Store Forums have a thread going which talks about the conditions. Sounds like a lot of people got blasted by intense thunderstorms. If you’re planning a Whitney climb this week, be sure to check the board for current conditions. And if you see thunderstorms developing rapidly, get off the ridgelines and head for safer ground.

Posted in Current Conditions, Hiking | 0 Comments

Teeth of Steel: Sabretooth Crampon

Another new gear item that I got specifically for North Pal was Black Diamond’s Sabretooth crampon.

I knew going in that we’d be facing at least a little technical ice climbing the U-Notch Couloir.

That made my aluminum crampons (currently I use the Camp XLC-390) a bad choice. Plus, the boots I was using didn’t have a toe welt for crampon attachment.

After a bit of a search, the BD Sabretooth Clip emerged as an ideal choice for the trip. Plus, I just love saying the name: Sabretooth.

Full Review: Black Diamond Sabretooth Crampon

Posted in Gear | 1 Comment

LPP’s Northeast Face: Another Look

When I skied Lone Pine Peak’s East Couloir this spring, I didn’t get a chance to take any scouting photos of the Northeast Face in its entirety.

Here’s a recent shot of the face from near Independence, showing the entire face and drainage right down to the desert—all 6500 vertical feet of it.

Looking at this view, it’s easy to see why I doubted the route would be continuous to the summit.

And this angle if anything de-emphasizes the actual steepness of the upper headwall.

I have to say I think this is one of the most aesthetic skiable lines in the entire range. Part of what makes the route so special is the unlikely connection between the lower drainage, the slabs of the northeast face, and then the (hidden in this view) east couloir to the summit.

In Lone Pine Peak, you get a huge summit descent to the Owen Valley desert in a strikingly short horizontal span—reminiscent of Mount San Jacinto’s Snow Creek Route. I’m going to have to repeat this one again. It was extraordinary.

Posted in Skiing | 0 Comments

Axes I Have Known: BD Venom

For my North Pal trip, I decided to try Black Diamond’s new Venom axe.

I knew I’d be facing some sort of mixture of snow and ice climbing (but not exactly how much of each), making the Venom a perfect gear choice for the trip.

The Venom is a hybrid between a general mountaineering axe and a technical ice tool: a more aggressive pick, spike, and curved shaft for better bite on ice, but still designed for self-arrest and walking.

Overall, I was very happy with the Venom. It absolutely matches the comfort and usability of a general axe—and it offers impressive ice climbing ability as well.

Here’s the review: Black Diamond Venom Ice Axe.

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North Palisade: the U-Notch Couloir

What an absolutely amazing adventure this was!

North Palisade offers the gamut of high alpine mountaineering challenges, from glacier travel to ice climbing to technical rock, making it not only one of the most challenging Sierra fourteeners, but also one of the most rewarding.

I had wanted to climb this route for some time, but simply didn’t have the skills or the mindset to try to solo it.

Of course I’ve also wanted to ski in the Palisades, but again I was intimidated by the terrain’s obvious technical character.

North Pal was simmering on my back burner this year when a Bishop guiding company, Sierra Mountain Guides, contacted me. That lead to my first guided trip, with North Pal being the obvious objective. The experience proved to be overwhelming positive. I learned a great deal, had a lot of fun, and got a chance to scout a number of ski descent possibilities for next year. I also got the pants scared off me (by some of the technical rock).

Let me just say a big Thanks to my guide, Neil Satterfield (who also provided additional photography for the TR), and the entire SMG crew. You can bet I’ll be back to try something like this again!

Full Trip Report here: North Pal via the U-Notch.

Posted in Climbing | 5 Comments

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