Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board climbing mt. williamson ---

Hi...I would like to get some info on climbing Mt Williamson. My plan is to get up there in June, before the area is closed. Want to do it for a paralyzed friend of mine. Have been on Whitney several times, both main trail and mountaineers route. How do the routes compare? How far is the hike? Shepard Pass is the best trailhead? Need permits? Any more details or advice? Appreciate it.. Thanks much SF

Answers here: http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150438/mount-williamson.html

The climb is a grind and probably several times harder than the Whitney main trail. Ideal would be to take 2 nights and camp at Anvil both nights. Williamson bowl is tough and will take some time to navigate. Study pictures of bowl and "black streaks" and that will get you to the right approach for the chute. My experience with summit post is it is good with pics, directions etc.. but some of the reports are from strong climbers and they make the trip sound easier than it is. This is a rewarding climb and you feel like you are so isolated when you are going through the bowl. Not many people up their usually because it is a tough one. Train hard and take your time and you will be fine.

For a second I was like ack! it's going to be closed in july? luckily I see it will be open long enough for me.

I plan to add a summit of williamson on a long july trip this summer so I will probably go for it on july 5th.

By the sounds of it I need to study big time.

I will be approaching from the tyndall creek area off the PCT.

My partner, Adam and I, climbed both Williamson and Tydall over 4th of July weekend last year. As to the info in the post by yelper, it is indeed a tough one. I do suggest though instead of camping down at Anvil, why not base camp above Shepard pass and do Tydall while your up there. There's a nice little lake there. The hike from Anvil to the Summit of Williamson is a long haul, in fact I trained pretty hard for several months beforehand and the hike from the top of Shepard pass to Williamson was pretty long. We were stumbling around by the time we got back to camp.

Here's what we did,

Hiked into Anvil and spent the first night there, got up early, hiked up to the lake above Shepard Pass, set up camp, then climbed Tydall. Next day, got up and climbed Williamson, got back, had some dinner and a little rest, then hiked back down to Anvil and stayed there the final night and out the next day.
Hope this helps out. Take care and be careful!

It seems like people have trouble with Williamson for one of a couple reasons: (1) not enough time to climb it, (2) route finding in Williamson Bowl and finding the start of the route, (3) getting fatigued from a long day, and (4) not feeling comfortable with the 3rd class near the summit.

Study the route well, ask questions, and allow yourself plenty of time to do the climb. Here's a link to a photo album from a trip I guided there last year in late June. It's not an end all route description but it'll give you an idea of what parts of the route are like plus show you the 3rd class section near the summit. Mt. Williamson June 2008

Kurt:

Among your down-climb photos of the third-class section (or just after them, actually), there is a wide shot in which it's unclear whether the third-class section is to the left or right of the picture. Which way is it--or are there multiple ways up, one on each side; if so, which is easier, and which did you three use?

One of the photos, a few frames before the one I just referred to (it's looking high up toward your friends' posteriors), makes the third-class section look dicier than the descriptions I've read about it. Are the descriptions falsely kind to it, or is that photo giving the section a worse image than it deserves?

I apologize but I'm not sure which shot you are referring to. Can you give me a photo number on the one you're looking at? The photo gallery gives a number for each photo just above the big picture on the right.



3rd class is a very subjective rating. I've seen stuff rated 3rd class that's legitimate 5.8 in my opinion. For some people this 3rd class on Williamson is ok but for others it is pretty intimidating. It's in a very remote setting many miles from a road so that adds to the seriousness of it. I'd say it is definitely harder 3rd class than the Mountaineer's Route on Whitney but it's also shorter.

Kurt:

I think I had in mind photo 189. It almost looks as though one could head up to the right or the left, and I'd prefer to aim the correct way.

Thanks for the comment on the class 3 section. If I go, I'll be solo, and it would be a pity to get so far and realize that "class 3" really is "class 4" or higher.

OK now I see the photo you're talking about. The route goes to the left from there.