[TR] Banner Peak, Mt. Ritter, Cathedral Peak- SW S

[BigLegs]

Climb: Banner Peak, Mt. Ritter, Cathedral Peak-SW Slopes, N. Face, SE Buttress

 

Date of Climb: 8/19/2005

 

Trip Report:

I visited my friend Nathan in california this weekend and we did some mountaineering and climbing in the Sierra. Friday we drove to Mammoth, took the trailhead shuttle bus and hiked to Nydever Lakes in the Ansel Adams wilderness. The next day we climbed Banner Peak (12,945', class 2) and Mt. Ritter (13,143', class 3) from the Banner-Ritter saddle. The crux was climbing 45 degree hard snow without crampons to get to the base of the route. There were great views of the Minarets as well as Garnet Lake and Thousand Island Lake from the summits. We hiked out Sunday, spent the night in Tuolomne and got up at 4AM monday to climb the SE buttress of Cathedral peak. This "50 crowded" climb has been described as the busiest alpine rock climb in yosemite. However there is a reason for the crowds; 700 feet of easy 5th class (mostly 5.4-5.5; crux is a 5.6 chimney) in a truly spectacular setting. We were first on route and shared belay ledges with 4 other parties at some point during the climb. The cool thing about this climb is that you can basically climb anywhere on the wall, which is completely covered in chickenheads, so it feels less crowded than it is.

 

 

Minarets

 

 

 

Ritter(L) and Banner®

 

Cathedral

 

 

 

 

 

More pix at http://faculty.washington.edu/~jimurray/banner_ritter_tuolomne/

 

Gear Notes:

Boots, Ramen, Digital Camera

Edited August 24, 2005 by BigLegs

[nolanr]

I was just down there a little more than a week ago. Camped at Garnet Lake, visited Nydiver Lakes basin on my way out. Beautiful country. No climbing for me though.

[chris]

I just climbed the North Face of Ritter yesterday - thanks for the awesome steps kicked in to the R-B Saddle!