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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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IMO you should not miss The Needles. Allow a few daze. I know you've traveled the world and climbed tons of great stuff, but The Needles will not disappoint. Nice camping, easy 2 mile approach, perfect granite. Yeah there are some dreaded slabs but tons of perfect splitters too. High exposure. Beauty.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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^^^
Wow, never realized you got a clean shot of the Pit and Pendulum dihedral from that angle. You can even see the Sundeck at its base. Must get in shape for another trip out there this summer.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Edge of Time Arete. really not that far from the trailhead.
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Vitaliy M.
Mountain climber
San Francisco
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I have not done the climb on the Citadel, but do not see why one would pick that over some of the other must do outings. It has a longass approach. Is done fairly frequently, and is far from an obscurity. It has a topo and lots of beta available. Is not a first or second ascent. And the climbing is supposedly fairly mediocre according to several of my friends who have done it. If one wants to do more quality climbing 3-4 days could be used wiser.
Personally I would way rather go to Merriam Peak and stay there for a few days climbing The NB, the Croft/Rands routes and maybe White Peregrins on that spire near by. WP would be obscure, and looks quality...just my 2 cents...
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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that's a lot of driving. :)
Jim- you planning on just the eastern sierra or will you check out the west side stuff?
If you got a lot of days, make a big loop - Needles-Sequoia/Tonopah-Calavaras Dome-Hulk/Blacksmith-Third Pillar-Rock Creek Canyon (Ruby wall or maybe South face of Bear Creek Spire?)- Merriam-Whitney Portal-Russell
I wish I climbed that grade. ;)
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mike a.
Sport climber
ca
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hi, shuteye, courtright, cal dome, a must.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 4, 2015 - 10:52am PT
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Thanks everyone! So many choices, so little time.,
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The Alpine
climber
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How bout switch it up a little...
Go do Mt Morrison.
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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It looks like there are no good options.
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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I love Courtright, but I've seen Jim's comments re slab climbing. There are some very challenging climbs on perfect granite there but if you don't care for steep slabs it's not a good destination.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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From everything I've heard, the Clevenger/Harrington on the Direct North Buttress of Merriam Peak is the absolute must-do High Sierra alpine rock route:
http://www.mountainproject.com/v/direct-north-buttress/106170636
Nice beater approach too. You would like that. Only 10b (I've heard really 10c), but at 13,000 ft that's probably anaerobic enough for you.
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Cragar
climber
MSLA - MT
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Wicked West of the Witch. With a 'head' like yours, you'll cruise and it might even satiate your appetite for real Sierra single pitch bolted lines on granite. Oh, and you get to get near Fresno!!
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Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
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From everything I've heard, the Clevenger/Harrington on the Direct North Buttress of Merriam Peak is the absolute must-do High Sierra alpine rock route
If the upper half of this climb were near a road it would be among the most popular climbs anywhere. 5.10c for sure. The first couple pitches, not so much so.
Courtright is Tuolumne without the crowds(or rangers).
The nice thing about Courtright, aside from the beauty and perfect granite, is that there is no through traffic. The road ends there. It's a great place to hang.
I can see how one would say it's like Tuolumne, but the climbing is not that similar. No knobs. Holes instead. Very few continuous cracks.
I'll say it again. If you've never been to The Needles...
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Maeday
Trad climber
San Francisco
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Third pillar of dana, if tuolomme counts as high Sierra.
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Bob Harrington
climber
Bishop, California
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Lots of great suggestions, but now you need an itinerary.
First, what Ksolem said. The Needles. The place is crazy beautiful and your preferred ratings are right in the area's sweet spot. Camping area at the trail head is small but nice -- get there mid-week to snag a good spot and plan on staying five days. Most of the routes are 2-5 pitch crack climbs of fantastic quality. The approach is a rolling 2 1/2 miles, mostly good trail, but it wears you down after a couple of days, so make the third day a rest day. On the rest day, head down the slope north of the camp site and in about fifteen minutes, you'll be in a pristine Sequoia grove. There will be no one else there. It's reverential.
Next, Whitney region. Day 1 is hiking up to Iceberg Lake, a high lovely lake below the east face of Whitney. Crowded, because all the Whitney climbers camp there, but there's lots of room. Acclimatize for a couple of days by climbing on Russell. Options are Western Front, Bloody Corner, Startrekin, Mithral Dihedral, Fishhook Arete. I've only done the last three -- all good. Bloody looks like hard 5.10 thin hands. Startrekin has a nice 10a hands pitch. Mithral is 9+ with a capital P. Russell is friendly because the routes are relatively short 4-6 pitches and not chossy. Fishhook is maybe longer but a scooch easier, very popular.
Now that you're well acclimated, do the Harding Route on Keeler. Has some choss, but also has some good pitches, and some burly but reasonable wide cracks. It's such a proud looking thing. That makes up for the choss. You (even you) may feel a little beat up after Keeler, so take an easy semi rest day and do either the east face or east buttress of Whitney, which ever one isn't clotted with summitteers.
That pretty much burns through a two week trip. If you have more time, Charlotte dome is not to be missed. An easy three days, from Onion Valley. If you have more time, Sun Ribbon Arete is IMHO the premier climb on Temple Crag. It doesn't have Dark Star's 5.10 rating, but is more continuous and follows a more dramatic narrative-like sequence of pitches. And it has a semi-obligatory tyrolean traverse.
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WBraun
climber
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Harding Route on Keeler. Has some choss
It does?
I must have done the wrong route?
I didn't see any choss .....
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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I don't have a thing for you, but I am hoping that by posting this I will be able to read your thread correctly. I keep seeing "Going on a road trip, must do six climbs in the Sierras…"
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