Winter Accessible areas

[mungeclimber]

Assuming the snow isn't uber deep what areas are the most accessible (and not typically gated off)

Mammoth Pool
Wawona I've seen climbed in light winter conditions

[Jerry]

Wawona Dome is usually accessible a few days after a storm. There are also numerous south facing crags anong the South Fork of the Merced not far above Wawona that are climbable most of there winter. Best bet is to use a combination of the Spencer guide and just some exploring as there are a bunch of new routes by Jeff S and Eric Sloan.

Along Minarets Road the Mile High area is your best bet as the road really gets clogged with snow beyond the vista. Outside of Fresno there is Squarenail for fun easy to hard 1 pitch routes (needs some new bolts, on my list for this winter) and Tollhouse for mostly multi pitch moderates to maybe 10a. A few harder and shorter routes as well as some TR's on top.

[mungeclimber]

thx Jerry!

For the Mile High Areas, does that include Dutch Oven wall? I think that approach comes in from the road to Grey, which is past the Vista.

Tollhouse is high on the list. I still haven't been there and I love slab climbing (having gotten my start climbing in Joshua Tree).

[NateD]

Decent bouldering along the San Joaquin down at Squaw Leap near Auberry. At one time, Grahm thought of including a mini bouldering guide to the area within his Shuteye guide.

[mungeclimber]

hmmm, hadn't thought about bouldering there in the winter. I'd probably hit Columbia seeing how close it is and all.

Then again, I'm always up for something new.






Can one drive "French" road to "Shake Flat" road to Mammoth Pool?

[John]

It is all about the gates and in the Sierra NF they officially are to be all locked on December 1st and are not to open until May 1st. Beasore is not gated and Minarets has a gate just past the turnoff for Mammoth Pools. The next issue would be likeliness of snow on the roads and the snow tends to stick the earliest/longest around Mile High Vista on Minarets and just before Cold Springs Summit on Beasore. Mile High is probably the only consistently accessible crag in winter. Tranquility too, but that would be a serious level of commitment to rap into there in winter.

When the gates are locked, in theory you can still get to any where you are willing to hike to past the gates.

[Jerry]

Hey Munge- Send me your email and I will send you topo's and directions for Mile High. I'll never figure out how to do it on the forum. Or John has the topo's and he may just want to post it for everyone. My email: camp-4@sti.net

ps for anyone out here this winter, I'm done with Tahoe so will be around much of the winter.

[John]

Jerry, do you want me to put your topos up on the site? It's your call.

[NateD]

This little stuff below Redinger Dam is pretty fun if you've got a half day and want a diversion from Tollhouse or Squarenail.

Nice 5.8 crack traverse. Too bad it was bolted many years ago, as you can see. But you need a very large biner to make the clip! And don't fall on the spikes, or drop any gear, as you might need to take a swim to recover it.



Diggin' for worms:

[John]

Wow, what a "bolt"!

Get your Tetanus shots before climbing there!

[Jerry]

When I did the Lost Arrow back in the 60's the rap anchors on the top were almost that big. No idea if they are still there.

[YETI]

What happened to the #3?  Did it spit it's carabiner off?

That crack reminds me of a lead I had a while back.  Dead horizontal, and perfect.

[NateD]

What happened to the #3?  Did it spit it's carabiner off?

Good eye. Ger followed before Leo (pictured), tying into the middle of the rope. In the process of unclipping, the biner jumped ship and bounded down the slab below before going for a swim in a deep dark pool. I wailed like Gollum at the loss of The One Ring for a brief moment. 
What with the huge releases of water from the dam at times (making climbing here periodically impossible to access) I reckon my biner has made it's way miles downstream and now sits at the bottom of Kerckhoff Reservoir, silently awaiting a new bearer...

Was your splitter crack traverse the one on Liberty Cap? If memory serves, super photogenic! What did that pitch go at free?

[John]

I wonder if they glue that stuff into the rock. The bars in the rock at Mammoth Pools Dam seem to be the actual drill bit permanently lodged and/or glued into the rock. I was inspecting this big ring in the rock next to the Arch Rock parking lot and couldn't tell whet the heck keeps it in there. I hope it isn't just pounded in there, that would be kinda weak.

[mungeclimber]

Hmmm, water, big old eye bolts, water polished rocks...