On the descent from Thunderbolt to the Underhill Couloir, you can rappel past the 5.6 section to the ledge that traverses to the easy slabs. I made an anchor at the top, which barely reaches the ledge with a 70m rope. If you start below the first steep section, there are some old solid pitons that could be reinforced for an anchor that could work with a 60m rope. The bottom is very steep, so take care not to rappel with a rope that is too short!
Also, in the event that you want to bail down the Underhill Couloir, it has good and new rappel stations.
Soloed the route in reverse from the Swiss Arete to Underhill (not enough time to do T-bolt). Approach is more difficult than from S Lake but the Swiss Arete goes quickly. The notch between N Pal & Starlight wasn't too bad in the opposite direction. I dropped down into the chimney on the N Pal side then downclimbed a lieback crack to reach the bottom of the notch.
Underhill is a fairly quick descent to the glacier, but full of silt & loose rock. Take care if you have a partner with you or there are other parties below. The trail from Galey Camp is challenging to follow in the dark. I ended up blindly bushwhacking down to the Third Lake inlet (shorter than going back to Sam Mack).
Still undecided about whether C2C from S Lake or Glacier Lodge is harder. The difference is the bulk of the talus slog from S Lake is at the end while it's half/half for Glacier.
As noted above my preferred approach/direction is now Glacier Lodge to the Swiss Arete to T-bolt. Last summer I linked this up with Temple and Galey, which was amazing (minus some of the chossy bits on Galey) and great training for the big Sierra traverses IMO.
For soloing I prefer Moon Goddess over Venusian; that's how I did the full Temple to Tbolt link-up a few years back. I have also done Sun Ribbon to Sill with a partner, but we roped up for the crux pitch. I posted some beta on MP.
I'm thinking about doing this as a solo as a last training effort before heading down to Peru. If I did glacier lodge to glacier lodge about how long to you reckon that would take assuming I'm going fast and light?
That's a hard question to answer b/c it's dependent on a lot of things including route finding, comfort with exposure, fitness, acclimatization and conditions. The fastest way to do that direction is the Swiss Arete to Tbolt then down Underhill, which could be even more sketchy than usual with the recent freeze/thaw cycles. Be careful.
The fastest I've done the climbing part (that I know of) was 7 hrs from the base of the Swiss Arete to the base of Underhill, but that: 1) was after I'd also done Temple and Galey; and 2) included time to help some less experienced guys routefind from N Pal to Underhill. If I had to take a wild guess I would say plan on 18-20 hours C2C for your first time. The Swiss Arete goes super fast (1 hr or less if you're soloing).
The ridgeline is fairly convoluted so I don't really have any detailed beta to point to, unfortunately. I have a few more photos on my TR.
PellucidWombat - Jul 23, 2010 5:29 pm - Hasn't voted
Rappel StationsOn the descent from Thunderbolt to the Underhill Couloir, you can rappel past the 5.6 section to the ledge that traverses to the easy slabs. I made an anchor at the top, which barely reaches the ledge with a 70m rope. If you start below the first steep section, there are some old solid pitons that could be reinforced for an anchor that could work with a 60m rope. The bottom is very steep, so take care not to rappel with a rope that is too short!
Also, in the event that you want to bail down the Underhill Couloir, it has good and new rappel stations.
fossana - Jul 26, 2010 11:53 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Rappel Stationsthanks, Mark. Good info. I'd like to do this in reverse sometime (Swiss Arete > Underhill).
PellucidWombat - Jul 26, 2010 2:47 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Rappel Stationsmy pleasure. It's always nice to get updated first-hand information for 'little' details like these!
fossana - Sep 29, 2010 1:05 am - Hasn't voted
in reverse notesSoloed the route in reverse from the Swiss Arete to Underhill (not enough time to do T-bolt). Approach is more difficult than from S Lake but the Swiss Arete goes quickly. The notch between N Pal & Starlight wasn't too bad in the opposite direction. I dropped down into the chimney on the N Pal side then downclimbed a lieback crack to reach the bottom of the notch.
Underhill is a fairly quick descent to the glacier, but full of silt & loose rock. Take care if you have a partner with you or there are other parties below. The trail from Galey Camp is challenging to follow in the dark. I ended up blindly bushwhacking down to the Third Lake inlet (shorter than going back to Sam Mack).
Still undecided about whether C2C from S Lake or Glacier Lodge is harder. The difference is the bulk of the talus slog from S Lake is at the end while it's half/half for Glacier.
fossana - Jul 23, 2013 1:13 am - Hasn't voted
Re: in reverse notesAs noted above my preferred approach/direction is now Glacier Lodge to the Swiss Arete to T-bolt. Last summer I linked this up with Temple and Galey, which was amazing (minus some of the chossy bits on Galey) and great training for the big Sierra traverses IMO.
caysedave - May 9, 2015 3:04 am - Hasn't voted
Re: in reverse notesAwesome TR and beta. Curious about the Temple/Galey start. How did you go up Temple...NE gulley/face (Mend col)?
fossana - May 9, 2015 9:30 am - Hasn't voted
Re: in reverse notesFor soloing I prefer Moon Goddess over Venusian; that's how I did the full Temple to Tbolt link-up a few years back. I have also done Sun Ribbon to Sill with a partner, but we roped up for the crux pitch. I posted some beta on MP.
caysedave - May 10, 2015 8:53 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: in reverse notesThank you!
spencerclimbs - May 11, 2015 7:19 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: in reverse notesI'm thinking about doing this as a solo as a last training effort before heading down to Peru. If I did glacier lodge to glacier lodge about how long to you reckon that would take assuming I'm going fast and light?
And good recos for other beta/maps?
Thanks in advance!
fossana - May 11, 2015 7:56 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: in reverse notesThat's a hard question to answer b/c it's dependent on a lot of things including route finding, comfort with exposure, fitness, acclimatization and conditions. The fastest way to do that direction is the Swiss Arete to Tbolt then down Underhill, which could be even more sketchy than usual with the recent freeze/thaw cycles. Be careful.
The fastest I've done the climbing part (that I know of) was 7 hrs from the base of the Swiss Arete to the base of Underhill, but that: 1) was after I'd also done Temple and Galey; and 2) included time to help some less experienced guys routefind from N Pal to Underhill. If I had to take a wild guess I would say plan on 18-20 hours C2C for your first time. The Swiss Arete goes super fast (1 hr or less if you're soloing).
The ridgeline is fairly convoluted so I don't really have any detailed beta to point to, unfortunately. I have a few more photos on my TR.
Have fun!
Elijah - Dec 6, 2021 7:54 am - Hasn't voted
GPX trackHi there, anyone have or know of a gpx track for the traverse from thunderbolt to sill? Thanks.
Greenman - Jul 17, 2022 9:52 pm - Hasn't voted
A thorough trip report: "Thunderbolt to Sill Traverse 2016"There is a very thorough trip report named "Thunderbolt to Sill Traverse 2016" which unfortunately isn't listed on the trip reports for this page.