Beta Request for Thunderbolt to Sill traverse in the Palisades

I've had some trouble locating good beta on the climb. I'd like to contact someone who has either done the traverse or be directed to a guidebook or blog post (anything, really) that provides good detail for the ridge run. I'll be taking my dad who has no climbing experience, so we'll be taking a bit more time to protect the 5th class and maybe even some of the 4th class sections.

One thing I'm particularly interested in is possible bivy sites, which I assume means dropping off the ridge. If we need to break this up into 3 days (I've heard car to car can take up to 24 hrs) I'd like to know where possible campsites are.

Also, we'll only have one car, so shuttling won't be an option. Any recommendations? Thanks.

You're taking your dad out for his first time climbing, and you're doing a multi-day (overnight) traverse. including some 14,000 footers? Talk about baptism by fire! You sure this is a good idea? Has he been cragging before?

Sorry to second-guess you, but it sounds like a dicey way to introduce someone to climbing.

I haven't done that traverse, but I've done some climbing in the Palisades. You should be able to just park your car at the trailhead for the North Fork of Big Pine Creek without a need to shuttle cars.

He hasn't done any cragging - but he's done a ton of 14ers. I should've been more specific, he has done guided climbs that do 4th and 5th class routes in the Sierras. I appreciate the concern, but what I'm mainly looking for is beta!

Check out Peter Croft's "The Good, the Great, and the Awesome." Pretty sure he's got a write up about it in there.

I admire your optimism but it seems like you're confusing what is a pretty involved day in the mountains for a more mellow adventure that would be appropriate for someone who doesn't have a lot of mountaineering experience. Personally, I think the notion that you can take a nonclimber on this shows really poor judgment. There is a lot of unroped climbing and you should feel pretty comfortable on exposed 4th class without a rope. In a more constructive vein, I think there are a lot of other pretty worthy objectives that would involve less risk to your dad, who I'm assuming you like and want to return home with. Consider some of the following class 3 routes:

E. Arete of Mt. Winchell
E. Face of Middle Palisade
N. Rib of Mt. Tyndall
Mt. Williamson
If you bring a rope, you could bag Mt. Sill, climb North Pal or Thunderbolt from Dusy Basin, all of which are class 4.

So many other good options to consider that I think would be fun, safer alternatives. If you still want some more specifics on the traverse, you may want to take a look at summitpost.org.

PM sent

Aaron Slaven wrote:Check out Peter Croft's "The Good, the Great, and the Awesome." Pretty sure he's got a write up about it in there.

While Peter's book is an excellent ticklist and compilation of great stories, it's not a good source for detailed beta.

That's my summitpost route description, btw. It addresses trailhead options. I've done the route several times in both directions (car-to-car) and never gone exactly the same way twice especially between N Pal and Tbolt. The routefinding is not very straightforward (harder than Evolution) and you're not going to get a Supertopo-type description. I have to agree with others that it's not a good introductory route for taking a newbie climber.

I checked to see if there's some easy way to get off if you were to camp in Palisade Basin and split the traverse up into small chunks, T-bolt to Starlight, etc., but there's no easy way to get off until you get to the last few peaks. The Palisade Glacier side would involve snow travel and there are crevasses/bergshrunds. Especially from the top down it's hard to navigate the cliffs. There aren't cushy sandy ledges, mostly talus.

@ Fossana, thanks for checking for me, you're what I love about the climbing community.

@ Fatdad - part of my request for beta was determining how feasible it was to take my dad whose had friends of similar climbing experience have been guided across this traverse (though theirs is a 4 day itinerary). Alpine climbing is my focus and I'm not a complete newbie to the enterprise, and my request for information was part of the process by which I was assessing risk. Being from UT and focusing my alpine climbing in WY, CO, ID, and UT - including long, multi-day traverses, I know little about the routes in the Sierras. But I appreciate your concern, even if it was un-solicited.

And thank you to the people who actually answered my question.

I tried finding a cheap copy of that book by Peter Croft, and could only find very expensive used copies on Amazon. Anyone have a copy to sell, or know where I could get one for less than $100?

@ Fatdad - also, thanks for the list of alternatives. I'll definitely be taking a look at those routes as we'll still be going out to the area.

I have a copy and live in Salt Lake. I'm not willing to sell or lend it but if you want to meet me and take a look or photocopy anything, send me a pm. I also used to live next to the Sierra and have climbed a fair amount in the area you're talking about.

I have Peter Croft's book and it provides little detail on the route. So if you can't get a hold of it, you won't be missing much. Fossana's webpage she referred you to has more detail.

If you end up wanting your own copy of Peter's book try here:

eastsidesports.com/eastside/ or
yelp.com/biz/mammoth-mounta…

Note that Palisade Basin is one further than Dusy and is closer to the 14ers in that traverse.

Sam,
I had actually considered revising my email since it occurred to me that you might be asking for beta because you didn't have enough information to make an informed decision. You sounded so certain in your desire to do it with your dad though. Sorry if I jumped to unfounded conclusions.

Like I said though, there are so many awesome things to do in the Sierra, I think you'll find some great objectives without the same level of commitment and risk. If your dad is up for following easy 5th class, you expand your options even more.