Approach from North Fork of Big Pine
If you camp on the north lateral moraine of the Palisade Glacier, the approach takes about 1-1.5 hrs to the notch. When I climbed it, and when looking at later seasons photos of the area, I don't think there is any danger of a bergschrund blocking passage to the notch. It is an easy and short snow climb and class 3 scramble from the Thunderbolt Glacier to the notch.
Roped Travel and the Cruxes
Though there are some difficult and/or exposed parts of the ridge where one might want to rope up, much of the ridge is perfectly fine to solo or simul-climb. The pitch-by-pitch personal preference refers to my annotated photo.
Pitch 1: 5.5 - Belay (if free-solo first half (cl. 3), pitch 1&2 can be combined, which is advised)
Pitch 2: 5.5 - Belay
Pitch 3: Simul-climbing
Pitch 4: Simul-climbing
Pitch 5: Simul-climbing
Pitch 6: Simul-climbing
Pitch 7: Free solo
Pitch 8: 5.4? - Belay
Pitch 9: 5.4? - Belay
Pitch 10: Free solo
Pitch 11: Simul-climbing
Pitch 12: Simul-climbing
Pitch 13: Simul-climbing
Pitch 14: Simul-climbing
Pitch 15: Simul-climbing
Pitch 16: Free solo
Pitch 17: 5.5 - Belay
Pitch 18: Simul-climbing
Pitch 19: Simul-climbing
Pitch 20: Simul-climbing
Pitch 21: Simul-climbing
Pitch 22: Simul-climbing
Pitch 23: Solo to top of north couloir. Simul-climbing is good from here to summit.
In general, it is better to stay closer to the ridge crest, as the rock is more solid and a route usually presents itself along the crest.
First Notch and Rappel
First, the rappel is not off of the high point before the notch, so don't climb to it unless you don't mind backtracking. Instead, once you are about 60 ft from the top, look for ledges to traverse left. These take you to an exposed slab with a notch at the end, low and left of the highpoint. Climb over to this and the rappel station is just behind the notch.
The rappel station is very exposed and there is no room for standing, only smearing. Due to limited space for belaying and setting up a rappel, I had Vitaly wait at the other side of the notch, though he was attached to the rappel anchor.
If you want to bail on the route, this is probably the easiest place to do so. After rappelling into the notch, it looks reasonable to downclimb the couloir back to the Thunderbolt Glacier.
Second Notch
You probably don't climb to the high point. Instead, once on easier terrain above the first notch, keep to the left and look for a good ledge system to the left of the ridge that cuts over just below the notch. We did variation A, which is not ideal because of all of the downclimbing and backtracking. Variation B is more direct, but I chose not to take this line staying more on the crest because of the knife-edged nature of it and the stacked rocks that you'd be forced to pull on. It still might be the best line if the rocks are more solid than they look.
Unnamed Peak
Just before the upper ridge traverse, there is a high point that is worth checking out.
Upper Ridge Traverse
The upper part of the ridge where it stops ascending is one of the cruxes of the route. The ridge becomes knife-edge and becomes very exposed. In general, climb right along the spine of the ridge and around or through the cracked gendarmes. Occasionally you can drop down to the left (east) side of the ridge a short ways, until eventually you can see a ledge system that can be used the rest of the way to the end of the route, though not without some slight ups and downs. Don't descend too far from the ridge as the rocks become much looser the lower you go.
PellucidWombat - Jul 24, 2010 6:32 pm - Voted 9/10
Additional Info for Route PageApproach from North Fork of Big Pine
If you camp on the north lateral moraine of the Palisade Glacier, the approach takes about 1-1.5 hrs to the notch. When I climbed it, and when looking at later seasons photos of the area, I don't think there is any danger of a bergschrund blocking passage to the notch. It is an easy and short snow climb and class 3 scramble from the Thunderbolt Glacier to the notch.
Roped Travel and the Cruxes
Though there are some difficult and/or exposed parts of the ridge where one might want to rope up, much of the ridge is perfectly fine to solo or simul-climb. The pitch-by-pitch personal preference refers to my annotated photo.
Pitch 1: 5.5 - Belay (if free-solo first half (cl. 3), pitch 1&2 can be combined, which is advised)
Pitch 2: 5.5 - Belay
Pitch 3: Simul-climbing
Pitch 4: Simul-climbing
Pitch 5: Simul-climbing
Pitch 6: Simul-climbing
Pitch 7: Free solo
Pitch 8: 5.4? - Belay
Pitch 9: 5.4? - Belay
Pitch 10: Free solo
Pitch 11: Simul-climbing
Pitch 12: Simul-climbing
Pitch 13: Simul-climbing
Pitch 14: Simul-climbing
Pitch 15: Simul-climbing
Pitch 16: Free solo
Pitch 17: 5.5 - Belay
Pitch 18: Simul-climbing
Pitch 19: Simul-climbing
Pitch 20: Simul-climbing
Pitch 21: Simul-climbing
Pitch 22: Simul-climbing
Pitch 23: Solo to top of north couloir. Simul-climbing is good from here to summit.
In general, it is better to stay closer to the ridge crest, as the rock is more solid and a route usually presents itself along the crest.
First Notch and Rappel
First, the rappel is not off of the high point before the notch, so don't climb to it unless you don't mind backtracking. Instead, once you are about 60 ft from the top, look for ledges to traverse left. These take you to an exposed slab with a notch at the end, low and left of the highpoint. Climb over to this and the rappel station is just behind the notch.
The rappel station is very exposed and there is no room for standing, only smearing. Due to limited space for belaying and setting up a rappel, I had Vitaly wait at the other side of the notch, though he was attached to the rappel anchor.
If you want to bail on the route, this is probably the easiest place to do so. After rappelling into the notch, it looks reasonable to downclimb the couloir back to the Thunderbolt Glacier.
Second Notch
You probably don't climb to the high point. Instead, once on easier terrain above the first notch, keep to the left and look for a good ledge system to the left of the ridge that cuts over just below the notch. We did variation A, which is not ideal because of all of the downclimbing and backtracking. Variation B is more direct, but I chose not to take this line staying more on the crest because of the knife-edged nature of it and the stacked rocks that you'd be forced to pull on. It still might be the best line if the rocks are more solid than they look.
Unnamed Peak
Just before the upper ridge traverse, there is a high point that is worth checking out.
Upper Ridge Traverse
The upper part of the ridge where it stops ascending is one of the cruxes of the route. The ridge becomes knife-edge and becomes very exposed. In general, climb right along the spine of the ridge and around or through the cracked gendarmes. Occasionally you can drop down to the left (east) side of the ridge a short ways, until eventually you can see a ledge system that can be used the rest of the way to the end of the route, though not without some slight ups and downs. Don't descend too far from the ridge as the rocks become much looser the lower you go.