Lone Pine Peak (12,949') - North Ridge (III, 5.7)

This weekend I met up with Kevin and Mitchell to tick off another peak from my big tick list - The North ridge of Lone Pine peak. I have been psyched to climb this for a long time, and it was great to finally get it done!

Secor and Supertopo give this ridge a grade of III, 5.5. I upgraded the route for our ascent as the presence of snow filled cracks and wet slabs seems to have upped the difficulty! I also think 5.5 is a bit of a sandbag for the short crux sections.

The three of us hit the Meysan lakes trail around 5am. We followed the National forest trail up towards the lakes for a couple of hours in the dark. Somewhere around 10,000' we broke off the trail and headed cross country towards the ridge. 

The sun started to rise just as we approached the base of the notch to gain the ridge. We climbed up some sandy class 2 slopes to gain the ridge proper. By the time we were on the ridge, the run had risen.

Early morning light on the Owen's valley and the road to Whitney Portal

Start of the ridge at sunrise

 The first section of the ridge was easy class 2/3 sand and talus. This section was quick and trivial. Soon enough the real ridge climb presented itself. We reached the top of a short tower and were presented with the view of the rest of the climb. A cool looking blade of rock sticking up from the ridge marked our path.

Start of the technical portions of the ridge. We were on 4th and 5th class terrain for over 8 hours

We down climbed to the notch and then back up again towards the rock blade.

Kevin traversing on the ridge. Photo credit - Mitch Q.

Kevin on easy 5th class terrain

Below the rock blade presented the first technical section of the ridge. A 30 meter crack system, that is maybe 5.5 or less. This would have made an easy solo, but the crack was full of ice and snow, so we roped up. I'm glad we did because it was slick and somewhat tricky with the snow!

Leading the 1st technical pitch. Photo credit - Mitch Q.

After the technical pitch, we unroped and continued on our way, traversing 4th class terrain for a while

Kevin emerges from the shade into the warm sun!

We eventually made our way to the the next technical section. There is a large steep tower about half-way up the ridge. The tower can't be bypassed, and has to be climbed to the top. Using the beta in Supertopo, we had no problem finding the "5.7 layback" crux pitch. Mitch led up, same as before, this pitch was full of ice and snow, making things interesting. Fortunately, the crux move itself was dry and protected by two fixed pins.

Mitch heading up the crux pitch at the start of the tower. Photo credit - Kevin J.

Following the crux section - photo credit Mitch Q.

We climbed the rest of the tower in 2 more pitches, another pitch of 5.5ish terrain which I led, and a pitch of 4th class/ low 5th which Mitch led. We topped out on the tower and warmed up in the sun. 

The next section of climb traversed along a fun and easy knife-edge section. I had a small scare when I slipped down climbing a crack, but fortunately I didn't fall to my death, as there was a ledge underneath. Yikes!

Looking toward the knife-edge traverse and the final summit headwall

After the knife edge, we down-climbed again, to the base of the last technical section, the large tower/headwall that guards the summit. Kevin led the last technical pitch a short 5.5-5.6 hand crack that led to easier 4th class above. He pitched it out to a snow covered ledge where we unroped and continued up.

The rest of the headwall was low 5th class and 4th class terrain, that went on for maybe 4-5 pitches worth of rock. We soloed through some sketchy sections, including a slippery slab and a giant off-width crack.

Kevin at a snowy belay after the 3rd crux section at the base of the summit headwall.

Soloing on the summit headwall. Photo credit - Kevin J.

 

4th class terrain on the summit headwall

Finally, we could see the summit block ahead!

Almost at the top! In the sunshine! Photo credit - Mitch Q.

We topped out to the big sandy summit plateau above. We enjoyed the sun, and warmed up our hands and feet.

Summit! Photo credit - Mitch Q.

Mitch is psyched to be on the top!

After relaxing on the summit for 30 min or so, we started to head down. We totally blew the beta on the descent, it taking us well over an hour to find the correct gully to drop down. 

Beta note: the gully is NOT very far from the summit (we went way to far) and there is a big vertical granite wall right along the side of the gully.  

We began the long descent back to the car. 

Descent gully. Photo credit - Kevin J.

We arrived back at the trailhead after dark, around 8:30 PM. It took us 15.5 hours car-car to climb the route. I think it would be MUCH faster if we did not have to contend with the snow and ice in the technical sections which slowed down the climbing considerably. 

We made it back to Lone Pin, just in time to catch the Mexican restaurant before it closed. Sweet!

Almost home. Photo credit Kevin J.