ADK4Life
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- Joined
- May 14, 2004
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The day before Mammoth Mountain I attempted White Mountain Peak. We had gotten up the trail 1 mile before thunderheads formed on the peak and across the valley in the high sierra. We decided to descend and not take chances..this peak looked like a piece of cake. Later that night we found out 2 scouts had been killed across the valley in the same thunderstorm. We were happy to have made the decision to go back.
Drove north to Mammoth Mountain area to stay at a nice Inn. This is a beautiful mountain town, most ADKers will love the Lake Placid feeling of this place.
Got to the main lodge and looked at this beautiful broad peak called Mammoth. It reminded me of Giant Mountain from Keene. I was told the normal trail was closed due to snow. After Gould Mountain 2 days before I was ready to climb this mountain by eye.
We ascended the grassy slopes 600 feet to a little sub peak. To my left I saw a young eagle eating its prey on one of the lift seats..grabbed many pics. To my surprise the jaw dropping Minarets had come into view, I love these peaks almost as much as Humphreys and Willamson. Ritter sat on top like the king of the area with Banners much softer slope attached from the saddle.
In front of me was a giant wall of 1500-2000 feet with a gulch dipping down. I saw there was a small ridge between 2 snowfields that appeared to be the path of least resistance.
We descended into the gulch an started the slog up talus to approach the ridge. One thing I have learned in the west is to create your own switchbacks when off trail, its slow and steady but constant gain. Eventually there was a small chute that would allow us to gain the ridge. This chute was at least 50 degree slopes requiring use of hands at all times. With every step the rocks would slide leaving us to scramble quickly to find solid rocks. After some sketchy moves we were able to gain the ridge a take a breather. The vertigo was strong from this viewpoint, much like the feeling to getting near the top of Huntingon. What really made this view scary was the needle like views of the Minarets making things look very steep.
At 10,400 feet we had reached the small ridge between snowfields. This was very steep and a mix of solid rock and talus. It was a matter of preference and personal thresholds that determined the route of ascent at this point. The summit was now in view to the left. Small groups had started to form and point at us from the summit..these were obviously the Gondola riders in disbelief that people actually climb this mountain.
The final 100 feet was more steep than any part of the mountain. I had to scramble 50 feet just to be able to stop comfortably and check on my partner below. Things eased up at this point and we gained the summit ridge in no time. We had to walk a road to reach the summit. We hugged and laughed when we reached the top of the summit ridge, it was scary not knowing what to expect on something so steep and make it out in 1 piece.
Our ascent route was too steep to descend so we descended the whole broad summit ridge to the south and went down the other side of the mountain. We could smell sulfur the whole way down, is this place active? Mammoth is a great peak and the views are fantastic.
I found out checking on a map that we had ascended the ridge between Drop Out Chutes and Wipe Out Chutes the hardest double black diamonds on the mountain. This was an experience I will never forget.
Drove north to Mammoth Mountain area to stay at a nice Inn. This is a beautiful mountain town, most ADKers will love the Lake Placid feeling of this place.
Got to the main lodge and looked at this beautiful broad peak called Mammoth. It reminded me of Giant Mountain from Keene. I was told the normal trail was closed due to snow. After Gould Mountain 2 days before I was ready to climb this mountain by eye.
We ascended the grassy slopes 600 feet to a little sub peak. To my left I saw a young eagle eating its prey on one of the lift seats..grabbed many pics. To my surprise the jaw dropping Minarets had come into view, I love these peaks almost as much as Humphreys and Willamson. Ritter sat on top like the king of the area with Banners much softer slope attached from the saddle.
In front of me was a giant wall of 1500-2000 feet with a gulch dipping down. I saw there was a small ridge between 2 snowfields that appeared to be the path of least resistance.
We descended into the gulch an started the slog up talus to approach the ridge. One thing I have learned in the west is to create your own switchbacks when off trail, its slow and steady but constant gain. Eventually there was a small chute that would allow us to gain the ridge. This chute was at least 50 degree slopes requiring use of hands at all times. With every step the rocks would slide leaving us to scramble quickly to find solid rocks. After some sketchy moves we were able to gain the ridge a take a breather. The vertigo was strong from this viewpoint, much like the feeling to getting near the top of Huntingon. What really made this view scary was the needle like views of the Minarets making things look very steep.
At 10,400 feet we had reached the small ridge between snowfields. This was very steep and a mix of solid rock and talus. It was a matter of preference and personal thresholds that determined the route of ascent at this point. The summit was now in view to the left. Small groups had started to form and point at us from the summit..these were obviously the Gondola riders in disbelief that people actually climb this mountain.
The final 100 feet was more steep than any part of the mountain. I had to scramble 50 feet just to be able to stop comfortably and check on my partner below. Things eased up at this point and we gained the summit ridge in no time. We had to walk a road to reach the summit. We hugged and laughed when we reached the top of the summit ridge, it was scary not knowing what to expect on something so steep and make it out in 1 piece.
Our ascent route was too steep to descend so we descended the whole broad summit ridge to the south and went down the other side of the mountain. We could smell sulfur the whole way down, is this place active? Mammoth is a great peak and the views are fantastic.
I found out checking on a map that we had ascended the ridge between Drop Out Chutes and Wipe Out Chutes the hardest double black diamonds on the mountain. This was an experience I will never forget.
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