Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board More pictures of the Ebersbacher Ledges

On a climb of Thor Peak Monday, I crossed over to the south side of the stream after negotiating the Ebersbacher Ledges. So there are some wide angle shots at <a href="http://members12.clubphoto.com/robert634908/1709465"> 2003-10-20 Thor Peak</a>. I'll put one of the low resolution ones here.

The Thor summit register was there last month but it is gone now. The aluminum container now has only four small sheets of paper. The Sierra Club didn't "rescue" it because they always leave a fresh book - and usually don't remove the old ones.

I liken the people who do this to grafitti "artists" - people who get a few minutes of kicks and adversely affect the future enjoyment of countless others. In this case, the register went back over 30 years and contained the signatures of some well-known and long-gone Sierra mountaineers.

<img src="http://a6.cpimg.com/image/BA/8A/24994746-dcd3-020000E4-.jpg"width=640>

Hi Bob,
thanks for posting the images.
Do you know how many people fall or get injured on the ledges and on the try to go through?
I can't wait November to go up again.
Best regards and hapy climbs.
Tomi

Looking at your pictures, I know why I'm destined to take only the main trail. What is the slope (in degrees) on the first part of your picture (i.e. near the big rock you have to scramble over)? It looks steeper than Half-Dome, and there are no cables.

Tomi, I don't have a precise answer but it must be extremely rare. I recall hearing about only that one fatality, and there are two versions of it: (1) It was on the old "blue" route, treacherous because of granite ball bearings on sloping slab. (2) It was east of the switchback - east of my picture #14 - where a lot of people don't make the turn and in that case they are off route. It was a friend of mine who encountered the body; I'll ask him again about it.

WhitWalker, if you are talking about the picture above, I don't know what big rock you are referring to. If you're talking about picture #10 in my album, it's pretty steep (over 60 deg) and the ledge is narrow. But you don't have to go this way at all: Most people cross over to the south side at picture #03 and come back at #11. That way doesn't have any exposure, but it's longer and not nearly as much fun.

I've traveled the E. Ledges close to 200 times, and have been with someone new ~20% of them. Almost unanimously, they are surprised to find it so "easy" given the reputation. I think the confidence of going with someone who knows the way helps a lot. Also, it is guaranteed that they won't get off route!

Bob, As usual, those are scary pictures of the ledges. I wonder if the little pine tree is dead. Below your wonderful picture is my picture of people crossing that point. I'll say walking on the edge still beats bushwhacking up the river. I've probably crossed that point 10 times. I found it very unnerving the first time, and I leaned hard against the side, proceeding very slowly. I find now that the best way to go is just stand up straight and walk normally.

Bob R,

I'm talking about picture 17a from your album. The route you've marked in red appears to be straight up with a slope of at least 75 degrees. Is this just an optical illusion? Is this the usual route?

WhitWalker, #17a gives the wrong impression about steepness. The first part, up to the famous foxtail pine, is 30 - 40 deg at most - fine non-exposed scrambling on good blocks (see the picture below). After that it is mostly horizontal, as David Gair's picture with the two people shows. Yes, it's the usual route.

I'll go up again the first week of November and will try for some shots from between where I took #17 and where David took his. Hopefully I can get a wide angle stitched photo of the entire Ebersbacher Ledges route from the south, looking slightly down at it and including everything from start to finish.

In addition, Doug told me he thought there might be a class 3 way directly to the Russell-Carillon plateau from slightly north of LBS Lake, so if I have time I will look around for one. I may not get on top of anything, but will be a fun day!

But today, I am off to the <a href="http://www.mountainfest.org">Eastern Sierra Mountainfest</a>, to enjoy rubbing elbows with Chris Bonington, Conrad Anker, Rick Ridgeway, Peter Croft, and others. I'll put in a plug: For only $75 plus the cost of a 2-day stay in Bishop, anyone who loves the mountains and has the weekend free shouldn't miss it!

<img src="http://a0.cpimg.com/image/04/C6/13751300-86c0-016401DB-.jpg"width=480>