lizrdboy - Feb 28, 2007 5:35 am Date Climbed: Oct 10, 1999
Southwest Chute
Made it to the tippy top - but only because Roxanna Brock climbed the last pitch. Thanks Rox!
SamG - Sep 2, 2006 3:31 am Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2003
Hard
Fun hike but the shoot was the shoot from hell. good hike great view
kovarpa - Aug 1, 2006 2:08 am Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2006
North Couloir
My final CA 14'er. First crux was crossing the bergsrund and the second one was the summit block - not that hard but I really didn't want to fall... North Couloir was all snow this time of year. Overall, very fun, no people.
RickF - Jul 3, 2006 3:32 pm Date Climbed: Oct 18, 2003
SW Chute from Thunderbolt Pass
Successful on our 2nd Attempt. On the first try we spent a lot of time finding a way around the boulder choked section of the chute. Doing this as a day hike in October means starting and ending with headlamps.
tb00957 - Jun 21, 2006 10:48 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2006
North couloir
1st time in the palisade. Very nice route.
Mountain Jim - Mar 4, 2006 5:20 am Date Climbed: Jun 27, 1979
Underhill Couloir
Beautiful mountain, fun summit challenge ... great traverse to Starlight.
Lived in the Palisades one summer (1980 or so) and climbed a bunch of stuff
First time, climbed it with Mike Graber and a couple of clients while we were both working for the Palisade School of Mountaineering. Underhill Couloirs were kind of grungy, the the climbing above was superb. Summit block didn't seem all that hard.
Second time was with Oriole Sole-Costa and Janet Kellum (two other PSOM employees). Booted our way up the north couloir in plastic ski boots carrying heavy alpine skis. Left the ski gear at the summit ridge, put on rock shoes, and did the traverse. That wasa hoot! Summit block still not as hard as I'd been lead to believe. Returned the way we came and had an awesome ski run down to the Thunderbolt Glacier.
Did it a third time up the Underhill route. Can't remember who with, though. Dates are rather approximate.
Route Climbed: NE Couloir, descend via N Couloir Date Climbed: October 9, 2005
Climbed with Pavel (kovarpa). No summit, as we ran out of time just a few hundred feet below. Still, very cool climb: snow, rock, ice. Very windy conditions.
Route Climbed: NE Couloir, descent N Couloir Date Climbed: October 9, 2005
Climbed with Kris - NE Couloir is a fun climb that has it all - snow, ice, rock... Fresh snow made for slow going and we bailed out at 4pm, with still maybe an hour to go to the summit. Descent via N Couloir, crossing the 'srund was fun. The climb turned into an epic - back at TH at 12.30am, back in Bay Area at 8am, took a shower, went to work....
Route Climbed: SW Chute #1 Date Climbed: Sep 4, 2005
Really not as bad a slog as I'd expected, with mostly fairly solid footing. The little class 4 scramble out of the notch was exposed, a bit tricky, and seemed like it could be called 5th class without too many quibbles on my part.
But what really sticks in my mind is the summit block. That thing is way cool and was a blast to climb... at least with a toprope! The 5.8 route on the backside seemed surprisingly easy for the rating. Climbed with Glenn and Curt on our way to North Pal, as a dayhike out of South Lake.
I still have about 15 feet to go... Next time I'm up there I'm climbing the summit block. Headed up from T-bolt pass up the chute and back out to the cars on Sunday. Then, drove home to OC. It was quite a long day.
Route Climbed: SW Chute #1 Date Climbed: July 16, 2005
Climbed SW Chute #1 and then did the 4th class variation up and around the front side of the peak. At least 4 groups were en route to the summit via the chute. The group of three ahead of us (and the first to summit) was lead by SMC guide Ed Boddy who was kind enough to belay my partner Courtney and I on the 5.9 summit block before they headed down. We didn't end up using any of the gear we brought except for harnesses. Note, there's no cheater sling on the summit block right now.
Route Climbed: Right Underhill Couloir Date Climbed: August 8th, 2004
Penelope May and I climbed Thunderbolt Peak via the right Underhill Couloir on August 8th, 2004. We started from the edge of the Morraine below Mt.Gailey where we camped. There is little if any water in this, the traditional camping spot. All the sources of water have dried out. I had to hike some 400-500 feet down toward Third Lake to get our water supply. The glacier in early Agust looked like the glacier I remember from my October visits, hard ice, dry glacier, almost no ice in the "V" Notch and blue ice all the way in the "U" Notch. The Underhill Couloirs have a lot of loose scree and that caused us some difficulties on the way down. But the upper part of the route from the notch up is really nice. We started rather late from our camp and got cought by darkness some sixty feet above the schrund on our way down. In the dark, I could not find any rock anchors (in the rubble) and not having even one ice screw, I didn't want to commit us to downclimbing the schrund unroped, so we bivied on a small ledge just above the schrund. I totally endeared myself to Penelope for providing her with her first ever unplanned bivi. In the morning, frozen stiff but safe, we downclimbed the ice easily to the glacier.
Route Climbed: SW chute Date Climbed: August 17th, 2004; September 5th, 2005
August 17th: Weather was less than desireable with a little rain and hail right around the time we summited about 1pm. Came up from Dusy basin, and got a late start, but the view was incredible, can't wait to go back and hit the whole traverse over to Starlight and North Pal.
September 5th: Went back and dayhiked T-bolt, Starlight, and North Pal. out of South Lake with Matthew Holliman and my little bro Curt. Actually did the summit block this time after Curt freed the west face and set up the rope for Matthew and I.
Route Climbed: southwest chute Date Climbed: August 21 2004
Summited Thunderbolt Peak around 2pm after a very long hike in from Bishop's pass. We did it in a day, but it would have been a little easier on the legs to camp somewhere along the route. There must be a dozen slings around the chokestone, it seems everybody adds one for "extra" protection on the rappel.
lizrdboy - Feb 28, 2007 5:35 am Date Climbed: Oct 10, 1999
Southwest ChuteMade it to the tippy top - but only because Roxanna Brock climbed the last pitch. Thanks Rox!
SamG - Sep 2, 2006 3:31 am Date Climbed: Aug 15, 2003
HardFun hike but the shoot was the shoot from hell. good hike great view
kovarpa - Aug 1, 2006 2:08 am Date Climbed: Jul 30, 2006
North CouloirMy final CA 14'er. First crux was crossing the bergsrund and the second one was the summit block - not that hard but I really didn't want to fall... North Couloir was all snow this time of year. Overall, very fun, no people.
RickF - Jul 3, 2006 3:32 pm Date Climbed: Oct 18, 2003
SW Chute from Thunderbolt PassSuccessful on our 2nd Attempt. On the first try we spent a lot of time finding a way around the boulder choked section of the chute. Doing this as a day hike in October means starting and ending with headlamps.
tb00957 - Jun 21, 2006 10:48 pm Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2006
North couloir1st time in the palisade. Very nice route.
Mountain Jim - Mar 4, 2006 5:20 am Date Climbed: Jun 27, 1979
Underhill CouloirBeautiful mountain, fun summit challenge ... great traverse to Starlight.
Steve Larson - Feb 27, 2006 1:52 am
Lived in the Palisades one summer (1980 or so) and climbed a bunch of stuffFirst time, climbed it with Mike Graber and a couple of clients while we were both working for the Palisade School of Mountaineering. Underhill Couloirs were kind of grungy, the the climbing above was superb. Summit block didn't seem all that hard.
Second time was with Oriole Sole-Costa and Janet Kellum (two other PSOM employees). Booted our way up the north couloir in plastic ski boots carrying heavy alpine skis. Left the ski gear at the summit ridge, put on rock shoes, and did the traverse. That wasa hoot! Summit block still not as hard as I'd been lead to believe. Returned the way we came and had an awesome ski run down to the Thunderbolt Glacier.
Did it a third time up the Underhill route. Can't remember who with, though. Dates are rather approximate.
Zzyzx - Nov 17, 2005 1:43 am
Route Climbed: NE Couloir, descend via N Couloir Date Climbed: October 9, 2005Climbed with Pavel (kovarpa). No summit, as we ran out of time just a few hundred feet below. Still, very cool climb: snow, rock, ice. Very windy conditions.
tdoughty - Oct 17, 2005 5:19 pm
Route Climbed: NE Couloir Date Climbed: July 2004tricky summit block
kovarpa - Oct 15, 2005 12:27 am
Route Climbed: NE Couloir, descent N Couloir Date Climbed: October 9, 2005Climbed with Kris - NE Couloir is a fun climb that has it all - snow, ice, rock... Fresh snow made for slow going and we bailed out at 4pm, with still maybe an hour to go to the summit. Descent via N Couloir, crossing the 'srund was fun. The climb turned into an epic - back at TH at 12.30am, back in Bay Area at 8am, took a shower, went to work....
Matthew Holliman - Oct 5, 2005 3:07 am
Route Climbed: SW Chute #1 Date Climbed: Sep 4, 2005Really not as bad a slog as I'd expected, with mostly fairly solid footing. The little class 4 scramble out of the notch was exposed, a bit tricky, and seemed like it could be called 5th class without too many quibbles on my part.
But what really sticks in my mind is the summit block. That thing is way cool and was a blast to climb... at least with a toprope! The 5.8 route on the backside seemed surprisingly easy for the rating. Climbed with Glenn and Curt on our way to North Pal, as a dayhike out of South Lake.
uwjennie - Aug 17, 2005 7:16 pm
Route Climbed: SW Chute #1 Date Climbed: 8/8/04I still have about 15 feet to go... Next time I'm up there I'm climbing the summit block. Headed up from T-bolt pass up the chute and back out to the cars on Sunday. Then, drove home to OC. It was quite a long day.
Brian Kalet - Aug 15, 2005 3:01 pm
Route Climbed: Southwest Chute number 1 Date Climbed: August 13, 2005There's still snow in the chute.
cgclimber - Jul 23, 2005 1:21 am
Route Climbed: Southwest Chute Date Climbed: May 03, 2003A lot of snow this year, got to love the burn! Felt good once I got high enough that I wasn't sinking in to my nuts. Guess I should've brought skiis;)
cp0915 - Jul 19, 2005 1:05 pm
Route Climbed: SW Chute #1 Date Climbed: July 16, 2005Excellent. Had a great time with Rick.
Rick Kent - Jul 18, 2005 11:54 am
Route Climbed: SW Chute #1 Date Climbed: July 16, 2005Climbed SW Chute #1 and then did the 4th class variation up and around the front side of the peak. At least 4 groups were en route to the summit via the chute. The group of three ahead of us (and the first to summit) was lead by SMC guide Ed Boddy who was kind enough to belay my partner Courtney and I on the 5.9 summit block before they headed down. We didn't end up using any of the gear we brought except for harnesses. Note, there's no cheater sling on the summit block right now.
cottersnow - Apr 22, 2005 11:53 pm
Route Climbed: North Coulior Date Climbed: 08/04Fun fourth class coulior. A convenient snow bridge across the schrund. The summit block had a cheater sling ----yea
asmrz - Sep 19, 2004 7:17 pm
Route Climbed: Right Underhill Couloir Date Climbed: August 8th, 2004Penelope May and I climbed Thunderbolt Peak via the right Underhill Couloir on August 8th, 2004. We started from the edge of the Morraine below Mt.Gailey where we camped. There is little if any water in this, the traditional camping spot. All the sources of water have dried out. I had to hike some 400-500 feet down toward Third Lake to get our water supply. The glacier in early Agust looked like the glacier I remember from my October visits, hard ice, dry glacier, almost no ice in the "V" Notch and blue ice all the way in the "U" Notch. The Underhill Couloirs have a lot of loose scree and that caused us some difficulties on the way down. But the upper part of the route from the notch up is really nice. We started rather late from our camp and got cought by darkness some sixty feet above the schrund on our way down. In the dark, I could not find any rock anchors (in the rubble) and not having even one ice screw, I didn't want to commit us to downclimbing the schrund unroped, so we bivied on a small ledge just above the schrund. I totally endeared myself to Penelope for providing her with her first ever unplanned bivi. In the morning, frozen stiff but safe, we downclimbed the ice easily to the glacier.
GlennG - Sep 15, 2004 12:48 pm
Route Climbed: SW chute Date Climbed: August 17th, 2004; September 5th, 2005August 17th: Weather was less than desireable with a little rain and hail right around the time we summited about 1pm. Came up from Dusy basin, and got a late start, but the view was incredible, can't wait to go back and hit the whole traverse over to Starlight and North Pal.
September 5th: Went back and dayhiked T-bolt, Starlight, and North Pal. out of South Lake with Matthew Holliman and my little bro Curt. Actually did the summit block this time after Curt freed the west face and set up the rope for Matthew and I.
peakbagger75 - Aug 27, 2004 7:18 pm
Route Climbed: southwest chute Date Climbed: August 21 2004Summited Thunderbolt Peak around 2pm after a very long hike in from Bishop's pass. We did it in a day, but it would have been a little easier on the legs to camp somewhere along the route. There must be a dozen slings around the chokestone, it seems everybody adds one for "extra" protection on the rappel.