I met George when he was my student in an intro to backpacking class I taught in college back in 2019. Now, this past year, he has become my go-to partner for 4th and 5th class mountains. How the tables have turned! In the past year, we have climbed Cathedral, Starr King and Clark.
George was wrapping up his season in Tuolumne, and had one last weekend to spare. He crashed on my couch, and we set out the next morning to drive to Mosquito Flat. It was 7:30am by the time we started walking. We made quick work of the on-trail section, turning off the trail about an hour into the hike. After that, we hiked up talus for a while, until we reached the base of the beautiful Northeast Buttress.
Most of the hiking was class 2-3, with the terrain occasionally straying into the 4th class territory. The views were stunning in all directions, and we made good progress up the buttress. As we neared the top, the climbing began to more frequently verge into 4th class. I had a short rope in my pack, but we did not end up pulling it out. I was heartened by the fact that we would be descending an easier route. I could now see Ulrich’s route to my left, and it looked to all be class 2, after the short crux near the top.
Soon we found ourselves at the base of the intimidating looking summit block that I had seen so many pictures of. I watched George climb it ropeless with ease. There looked to be some feet moves that I didn’t know if I would be comfortable soloing. We discussed our options, George said that we wouldn’t be able to protect it from above, but I could go on lead belay to protect from a fatal fall. I decided to have a look before we got the rope out.
I pulled onto the rock, and everything felt great. There was one toe move that felt like it might be difficult to reverse, but I felt confident in it. I didn’t take in the views up top for long though, soon, I was heading down. I took my time heading down. I wanted to be fully confident in every move. I knew if I was starting to feel sketched out, I could retreat to the top, George could pass me my harness and I could do it on lead belay.
The exposure is quite great. While the block is only 12-15 feet high, all of the moves are around the corner, and occur over an unthinkable drop. With the gravity of the situation in mind, I experimented with different way to lower my foot. George gave great advice from below, and after a few minutes, I found a way I liked. I reversed the other moves, and was glad to be back on solid ground.
We were not out of the woods yet however, we still needed to get down the 15 foot 4th class chimney on Ulrich’s Route. We debated rapping, but the rap slings looked to require a longer rope than the 25m or so that we had. We could have rapped elsewhere, but this would add other risks. Just as I had done on the down climb on the summit, I took it one move at a time. George gave me some great beta, and I confidently down climbed the chimney.
From there, it was a few hours of scree back to the trail. We looked back and marveled at the beautiful peak, my 60th SPS of the year. Only 40 to go now! What a great September day in the Sierra!
Anthony Ottati 