Mount Tyndall

[Vaca Russ]

TITLE: Mount Tyndall

GENERAL OVERVIEW: Mount Tyndall is a technically easy peak to climb but it does require serious effort to get to the summit.

CLASS/DIFFICULTY: 2, 3, 4 or 5 depending on the route.

LOCATION: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park on the west and John Muir Wilderness and the Inyo National Forest on the east

ELEVATION: 14,025 feet

USGS TOPO MAP (7.5'): Mt. Williamson Quadrangle

ROUTE DESCRIPTION: The traditional approach is to climb Shepherd Pass and then summit the mountain by following the North Rib to the ridge and then following the ridge to the summit. The summit can also be gained by climbing the entire Northwest Ridge, but I have read this is quite an arduous undertaking with a lot of class 3 and 4 climbing.

One can also climb the south slope (Class 2 Talus Hop) from the lake at the top of Wright Creek (WL 3645). Other routes include the East Gully (III 5.8) and the East Chimney (IV 5.8).

PHOTOS:

1 Cover Photo.JPG

I climbed the North Rib.

2 Paint 1.jpg

Start by talus hopping to the base of the north rib and climb the right hand side of the rib. This starts out as class 1 and then slowly begins to become class 2. As the climbing becomes more difficult it is easy to stray away from the rib looking for an easier route. I made this mistake and found myself having to return to the rib by conducting some exposed class 3 friction climbing.

The idea is to get to the top of the rib and climb class 2 over to the left side of the rib. From there you can climb the class 2 chute to the ridge. Unfortunately there was snow and ice on the route to and in this chute. I instead chose to climb the exposed class 3 rocks high on the top of the north rib.

3 Class 3 at top of Rib.JPG

Once you are in the chute the climbing becomes much easier.

4 Class 2 Chute.JPG

One can then just talus hop along the ridge line to the summit.

5 Ridgeline to Summit.JPG

You can also climb up the south slope by talus hopping. This does not look very fun at all! (JMHO)

6 Down South Slope to WL3645.JPG

The summit register container is still there but the Yahoos have stolen the historic register.

7 Register Container.JPG

There is a tiny bit of exposure once you are on the summit.

8 Summit Exposure.JPG

You must touch the top of this summit block to get credit for the climb!

9 Summit Rock.JPG

This is a look down the North Rib.

There is some disagreement about calling this North Rib Route a class 2 or class 3 climb. I would say most of the climb is class 2 with some exposure at times making it a class 3.

10 Looking Down.JPG

Thanks for reading my post,

-Russ

[SNOOOOW]

Nice job! How many more 14ers do you need?