On our way to Death Valley from a tortoise course in Ridgecrest, Bobbi Clemmer and I impulsively detoured to the renowned multi-pitch granite of Whitney Portal. In two short days we climbed the Beckey Route on El Segundo Buttress, and Nimbus on Whitney Portal Buttress. Both were excellent.
Bobbi had never been to the Sierra Range. I’d backpacked in Yosemite, including an eight day unsupported fast-pack of the 212 mile John Muir Trail in 2018 (which culminates on the 14,505 foot summit of Mount Whitney, the tallest peak of the Lower 48), but never rock climbed. Of course we’d heard every tall tale of Yosemite’s world class granite. But there’s more to the Sierra Range than Yosemite. According to Teton legend, the alpine climbing there is pretty damn good too. My friend and twenty year Mountain Guide Jed Porter told me that “none of the Teton’s top ten climbs would make the Sierra’s top fifty”. Now that’s stout praise.
While driving from a desert tortoise course in Ridgecrest, California to a sight seeing stopover in Death Valley, we realized we’d be passing right by an epicenter of Southern Sierra climbing – Whitney Portal. Nestled into the foothills of the Lower 48’s tallest peak, Whitney Portal offers a dizzying spread multi-pitch alpine granite from 8,000 to 14,000 feet. At 9:00AM we made the impulse decision to turn west at Lone Pine, and siege the area’s classic 5.9 “Beckey Route” on El Segundo Buttress.
Beckey Route (5.9, III, 750′)
The Beckey follows a natural line of corners, cracks, dikes and knobby slabs on the striking 750 foot southwestern prow of El Segundo Buttress, craning directly over Whitney Portal. The approach is refreshingly direct: for us, a 30 minute vertical march up pine needles and skrittle. We began climbing around noon and reached the summit by 4:00PM, just as the early November sun dipped behind the 14,000 foot southern ridge of Mount Whitney. Unlike most routes established by the enigmatic sandbagger Frederick Beckey, we thought the 5.9 grade was more than fair, if not slightly soft! Pitch two was the ultimate gem – a near ropelength of spectacular arete cracks to a wicked layback over a bulging roof, capped with a 50 foot runout on a knobby 5.7-ish dike. All four pitches pushed the adventure quotient. The first offers consistent cracks, but any 65 meter alpine pitch will be inherently sparsely protected lest one bring a triple rack. The middle three are all characterized by intermittent cracks linked with adventurous Tuoloumne-esque face climbing. A summer of slab training in Idyllwild and Joshua Tree kept these pitches feeling cozy. The final 5.4 summit romp was about as scenic as they come. We reached the car in about 6.5 casual hours, not too shabby for a 750 foot 5.9. This route would be the hands-down best 5.9 in the Teton Range.
Nimbus (5.10c, III, 500′)
Stoned on Sierra stoke, eating steaks aside a raging campfire that evening, we booked an extra Portal day. The next morning we marched up to the modern-classic Ghostrider (5.10c, III) on Whitney Portal Buttress. Unfortunately I muffed the beta – forgetting large cams for the first pitch 5.10 off-width. Sadly, I’m no John Long. Punching a hard wide crack with no pro seemed reckless. A quick Mountain Project sift brought us to the base of Nimbus, a lesser known 500 foot 5.10c with mixed reviews that matched our rack well. Perhaps we have low standards, but we thought this route was equally as spectacular as the Beckey. Pitch one followed an exceedingly unique dead-vertical 5.9 dike with a lone two bolts protecting the final 50 feet of rounded knob pulling and balancy mantles – one of the more memorable pitches I’ve ever climbed. Pitch two was a true beast at 5.10c, with 40 meters of sustained climbing on a spectacular curving crack. The crux was transitioning from punchy wide laybacking to technical splitter fingers that damn near spit me off twice. And then you have pitch three – a sparsely bolted featureless slab bordering a dramatic arete. The pictures from this pitch were beyond scenic. Any climber who condemns Nimbus is either spoiled rotten by Sierra granite classics, or allergic to adventure.
The Beckey Route and Nimbus opened our eyes to the possibilities of High Sierra climbing. Had we not plans to meet friends in Vegas the following day, we probably would’ve snuck in another few climbs. The energy in Whitney Portal is palpable – raging rivers, pearly granite, sky-high pines, postcard scenery, and crisp alpine winds wrapped into a single magnetic package. A warming American breakfast at the charmed Totem Pole Cafe was the perfect conclusion. Can I say anymore?
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DISCLAIMER
Ski mountaineering, rock climbing, ice climbing and all other forms of mountain recreation are inherently dangerous. Should you decide to attempt anything you read about in this article, you are doing so at your own risk! This article is written to the best possible level of accuracy and detail, but I am only human – information could be presented wrong. Furthermore, conditions in the mountains are subject to change at any time. Ten Thousand Too Far and Brandon Wanthal are not liable for any actions or repercussions acted upon or suffered from the result of this article’s reading.
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