Another (long) day in the Palisades

Quick summary: 3 am start, accessing the northern stretch of the Palisades via Bishop Pass. Rick and I wore approach shoes the whole way and didn't rope up, though I volunteered to thread a cord for two other climbers on Thunderbolt and the Milk Bottle. We finished at Mt. Sill by 4pm, descending south into endless moraine fields, eventually winding our way back north. After 21 hours on the go we fell asleep back in the parking lot at South Lake.

"That Would've Killed You"

When not flipping burgers or talking shop at the Whitney Portal Store, Myles Moser and Amy Ness are busy forging a strong, free path on the neglected big walls of the Whitney cirque. Their 'Blood of the Monkey' now stands as one of the longest, highest, all-free lines in the Sierra.



This video really captures their personalities and passions.



¡mas cumbres a ustedes!

Venturi Effect, Incredible Hulk

The Hulk inspires. Period. As summer gloom settles in here in SF and it feels more and more like winter elsewhere, it's good to remember the warmth of late day light on the East Side after a long, intense day on the high lonesome.

Croft and Nettle's Venturi Effect has become the backcountry test piece, and with good reason. Rapping down the upper headwall reveals some of the most pristine rock anywhere. It feels light years away from where I'm sitting now, but these videos give all the more reason to keep training and dreaming big.

BD athletes Kate Rutherford and Brittany Griffith attempt Venturi Effect (IV 5.12) on the Incredible Hulk, High Sierras, CA from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

Mt. Merriam: 8/1/09

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Over the past weekend I headed to the Eastern Sierra for what may be my last climbing trip in the US for the next year. Initially I had my eye on finishing off an enchainment of nine peaks in the Minarets but had to switch to Plan B when my partner and I discovered a storm system was engulfing the entirety of the Sierra.


Crossing endless talus

We set our sites on the North Buttress of Mt. Merriam that is accessed from the Pine Creek drainage.


Royce Lake

After a respectable alpine start we hiked the ten miles into the peak but were stymied by unpredictable weather and a lack of good route beta.


In the distance, the South Face of Bear Creek Spire

In the end we turned around and hiked the ten miles back out as my knees imploded.


Crossing the bog between Royce Lake and Pine Creek Pass

After a hefty dinner in Bishop we hatched Plan C--a morning of cragging at Whitney Portal.

Lessons learned: take a topo, move even faster, check the weather before dropping in on a cheap ticket out of town.

East Buttress of Whitney

I'd soloed each of the routes on Whitney in the past--once each for their own sake then both back to back in a long, hot push--but this was the first time to do the East Buttress roped up and with a partner. Despite the clouds, we climbed in t-shirts and were back to the Portal in 13 hours. Not a bad start to the season!

Ridges, aretes, and traverses

South Notch to The Gap, Minarets




Tyrolean cast-off, Sun Ribbon Arete, Temple Crag, Palisades


Bugaboos classic, West Ridge of Pigeon Spire, Purcell Range


Thunderbolt to North Palisade Traverse, Palisades


Matthes Crest, Tuolumne Meadows