Sierra Winter Climbing

The north face of Mount Morrison. Photo by Jack Cramer. This imposing peak has attracted winter climbing attention for a long time*, and the current era is no exception. Preston Rhea is the modern scholar and activist on this peak, doing a ton of research on the old routes and putting up a number of new winter (and summer) climbs for us to try. The metamorphic rock in this area is waaaaayy different to climb on than the stone on say, Mount Russell or the Hulk. The north face of the peak is almost 2000 feet high. These two factors mean that Morrison requires a slightly different mindset from winter climbers than other peaks in the range. It reminds me a bit of alpine climbing in the Canadian Rockies. The following beta can be helpful for folks climbing on Mount Morrison or the Torre De Mierda for the first time. Approach (distances are approximate and measured from the picnic area on the east side of the lake) I think that if you're any climbing routes on the north side of the peak...

What do I mean by "Winter Climbing"? To paraphrase Raphael Slawinski “Think of how many fat waterfalls there are out there. Now think how many walls of snowed-up rock…”   This type of climbing isn't always truly "mixed" - with one appendage on each medium - and it isn't always truly "alpine" - whatever that means. Here in the Sierra it rarely involves much actual ice, though there's usually snow. It almost always involves an ice axe or ice tool and crampons at some point. It's usually - but not always - practiced in the winter, though not always the technical calendar winter (December 21 -March 21) and it almost always feels pretty wintery, as in I wouldn't want to be climbing with bare hands or rock shoes for very long.  A very vague set of guidelines, I know, and I like to bend them. For me a narrow, absolutist view of what is alpine or mixed climbing leads to less climbing, not more, and it's my page. About This Resource...