Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board North Palisade

I was wondering if anyone on this board has made an accent of North Palisade along the U notch route and if so what they think about doing it without ropes?

Most of the route doesn't look that bad from pictures but the chimney section looks a bit precarious...

I don't have experience with class 4 climbing but as with most things simple common sense and a level head is the key to success.

I’ve been researching the route for a July trip. While I’m hoping not to use a rope in that section I plan on carrying one.

When it comes to climbing 4th class “simple common sense and a level head” are important, but experience and confidence are the key.

I climbed it a couple of years ago. The U-Notch can be climbed from the East or West side. The West side is often time climbed in the summer. The East side is a snow climb (about 45 degree) in the early season and on rare occasion, ice climb (AI II) in the late season. I roped up for the U-notch just because and we didn't want to carry the rope. It wasn't necessary but that's all a matter of comfort level. If climbing on the East side, sometimes the bergschrund might not be passable in the late season.

The Chimney is often rated 5.2. The hardmen that climbed the Sierra years ago rated it class 4 but the weaker modern man rate it anywhere from 5.2-5.4. I roped up for this section. Two pitches.

East side - http://www.summitpost.org/route/155564/u-notch-chimney-variation.html
West side - http://www.summitpost.org/route/157706/west-chute-u-notch-southwest-side-.html

my climb in '06 - http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/550468922GtvPNJ

North Palisade is an awesome climb. Have fun on it!

Nice pics from your climb, they really add some perspective on the chimney section.

My concern as with most climbing is the down climb, repelling is an incredible luxury when you consider working your way slowly back down not being able to see below you.

And sure I could bring some gear but I have no technical climbing experience so it wont do me that much good without knowing how to use it.

So you understand, right, that this is a technical climb, requiring climbing skills in the 5.x range, and associated rope skills?

The climbing on North Pal something I'd think hard about before trying it without a rope if you haven't had previous experience in 4th class climbing. You can always back off of it if the terrain gets too much for your comfort level but it is a long way to go to have to turn around without setting yourself up for success.

I have done the U Notch solo with no rope and down climbed everything but keep in mind it takes a big comfort level with exposure on 3rd & 4th class terrain. The U Notch will start to ice up in late June or July (depending on the snow year) and will eventually require two tools to climb as the summer season progresses.

Here are pics from a September U Notch climb. We actually did Polemonium Peak above the notch instead of North Pal but it'll give you an idea of late season conditions on the U Notch.

Here are pics of a June U Notch North Pal climb.

Here are pics of an August Palisades tri...k, and Mt. Sill.

I will probably leave North Palisade to a future trip of some kind when I am more crazy or more experienced...

The photos of you guys heading from Polmonium Peak to Mt Sill were very helpful because I had planned a summit of Sill from the JMT and staring at topos I was wondering how easy it would be to hook over and bag Polemonium and by the looks of it it's quite easy so I will plan to do that.

One thing often not appreciated, is that when a route is classified as, for example, class 3.......the problem is not climbing class 3 terrain, it is FINDING the class 3 terrain. Many, many climbing epics involve people who go to climb something that they could probably climb, but they get off the route, as they are not experienced and veteran at finding the correct route. Sometimes people just get blocked. But sometimes they climb up something that they cannot climb DOWN. They climb up, because they are convinced that they are on the route, and "yes it seems hard, but it must be here, there's the granite rock described in the guidebook!" Only it is not, never was.

That is when it is good to have a sat phone!

Yeah that sounds about right, Mt sill for example I have studied images and I know the route for sure until the final approach which by the looks of it has many routes you can take and I have no idea which is the right one...

Even if I don't rim rock myself the thought of fighting my way up and then having to retreat down and try another route is not appealing yet I will give it a go anyway.

Who knows what condition I will be in when I reach this mountain anyway, as Moosie put it "my plans are ambitious".

With the addition of Sill and Polemonium it will put the number of peaks climbed on my trip at 16!

In order:

1 Alta
2 Muir
3 Whitney
4 Tyndall
5 Williamson
6 Split
7 Sill
8 Polemonium
9 Ritter
10 Banner
11 Lyell
12 Clouds Rest
13 Half Dome
14 Eagle
15 El Capitan
16 Red

Then again if I do head into the Palisades area at the end I will summit Middle so that would be 17.

Considering the lack of clear images for routes I have come across I may keep that in mind when I am on this trip and make a point of photographing clearly where you go, I am going to bring a Canon 5D mark II on this trip so with 21MP you should be able to use the images as a guide!

Ken you nailed that one. Unless you are familiar with the area, or have someone along that is, the chance of being off route at some point is about 100%. The key is to realize you may be off route and don't keep going if you are not sure unless you have equipment and skills to deal with it. Photos are great but it always looks different when you are there.

Worst, scariest experiences I've had were not going up but coming down the wrong route. It's really easy to screw up and make bad decisions on the way down. You're tired and want off and back climbing to find the right route seems too hard. I've been stuck on many a ledge wondering what the hell have I gotten myself into? I hate that feeling.

Anyway be careful and have fun. I haven't done Palisade yet but I know it's awesome. Some of my crazy friends have assured me that it is doable without rope but my non crazy friend advise against it.

Actually getting to Polemonium Peak requires climbing on very exposed 4th and low 5th class terrain both from Mt. Sill and the U Notch.

I apologize if the photos are misleading but you are looking at several hundred to 1000+ feet of air in places on that route to get to the summit of Polemonium.

This is what you need to traverse to get to the summit of Polemonium from Sill.

This is some of the exposure you will have. This is looking down towards the lower half of the U Notch Couloir with the Palisade Glacer below that, which is over 1000 feet below the traverse you are on.

Exposure isn't an issue because I love heights, every summit I go on I always go right up to the edge while my friend has to go on all four to get even 5 feet away lol

It's hard to tell from those images what sort of path there is and how easy but if it's only that far away then I will probably go up it.

I think Kurt is doing you huge favor in suggesting you reconsider the climb or at the very least learning some basic rope techniques and carrying the gear. Kurt has an immense amount of experience in this area and in climbing in general. Being comfortable walking to the edge of a face is a far cry from making moves on that face one after the other all the way to the top. Many people with a lot of experience on technical climbs (5.x) are put to the test on 4th class climbs with high exposure. Comfort with heights just means you might be smiling right before you peel off!
You said you don't even have experience with 4th class climbing right?

Yeah that's right...

I have possibly done some class 4 maneuvers without realizing it, on an attempt at Mt. Morgan I had to climb an exposed section of rock that was smooth with only a crack to put your hands into for climbing though it was not vertical, it was perhaps 50 or more degrees but I was too new to knowing anything about identifying classes of climbing.

I just want to know what exactly I am dealing with when I reach the area below the summit, obviously North Palisade is a long class 4/5 but Polemonium from sill looks like a very short section of class 4.

Is this the summit section shown by Kurt's pic? If so I am confortable with climbing this by what I see in this image...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roguephotonic/3321083712/sizes/l/

Here is another angle of the face in Kurt's picture.

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The climber in this pic is on the face in Kurt's pic and there is hundreds of feet of exposure on the left side of the knife ridge. It is actually breath taking when you pop your head over the ridge and look down. At least it took mine away and I am very comfortable with height and exposure.

Click on the picture for more of our trip to Sill and Polemonium.

Thanks for all the info, since it's not waaaay out of the way i'll head up there and if I don't feel comfortable with it I just wont do it.

Rick Kent has a lot of pictures on Polemonium. I used his pictures for beta when I did it. Very helpful. The class 4 knife-ridge to the summit of Polemonium is exciting! I did it with a rope and couple of slings around horns for protection. I would be scared without a rope. Some people get their experience on 4th class where a fall will only cause a few broken bones. On this ridge, a fall will turn you into a giant human pancake. Have fun up there!

Well if I don't come back have them leave my body where it lands lol