Firebird Ridge beta

[Mark_Husbands]

anyone have any comments or advice on Firebird Ridge (Norman Clyde Peak)?

[chris]

We have an insane amount of mozzy's right now, and there is still a lot of snow above 10000 feet.

[Mark_Husbands]

i'm thinking about second week of august. and what is a mozzy?

[chris]

Mozzy is short for mosquito - but I'm sure you've met them by now...how was Firebird Ridge? A friend and I have been talking about climbing it lately.

[syudla]

Climbed Twilight Pillar last month. Was a little disappointed.

[Mark_Husbands]

Well,

we climbed some sort of variation of Firebird Ridge. After a pitch or so on the ridge top i tried to bypass the tip of a tower to the left. then each time i tried to regain the ridge top i ran into some rotten garbage. the weaknesses kept moving us left, until finally we were pretty far below the ridge top and a bit frustrated.

 

finally i found a nice crack that led for half a rope length, then another half a rope lengh across pretty good knobs and flakes, with a little sandiness. another lower angle pitch led to a gray area and the ridge top. by this point, most of the steeper portions of the arete were beneath us, so we probably missed the most dramatic ridge climbing. the nicest pitch might be been eightish and had some fun jamming and liebacking.

 

anyway it was a fun trip, and the first high sierra trip since my return to california after six years. i had climbed twilight pillar back then i really liked it, but more because of quality of the line than the climbing. the descent from norman clyde can also be a bit of a drag.

 

anyway, looking forward to more sierra classics. also, i have a pretty good cragging area near my house, if any old friends or other partner seekers are ever in the area.

 

oh, the mosquitos were not too bad at all. just dont take the trail to willow lake...