Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 50:1 - Cathedral Peak - 7/11

No, 50 to 1 isn't the odds you'll get in Reno if you want to bet against me making it to 100 summits of Whitney this year...




... It's the number of times Bob Pickering (left in photo)has been on the summit of Cathedral Peak, compared to my first.

This was my first "Trad" climb in nearly (at least?) thirty years. Bob did a great job of making things easy for me and showed that he's still a bold leader.

Thanks again, Bob. I'm sure we'll do more of this after my upper body recovers and the nerves settle down.

Some photos from the high country of Yosemite.

Nice climb you guys, sure is pretty up there!!

So Richard how many days were you in Tuolumne Meadows, I just left there Monday after 6 days and one day at the store I saw two guys tailgate partying in the parking lot(westend of lot) and as I went by I said to myself that guy looks just like Richard and then said na can't be...

mark

Great climb fellas and congrats on #50 Bob.

We just met there for Cathedral Peak on Sunday. As you can see, I never get tired of doing it. I've done the SE Buttress 50 times plus two climbs up the west slabs. We did the climb in about 2:20. Richard just motored up, even when he accidentally climbed a section that wasn't exactly the easiest way up. Not bad for his first trad multi-pitch in ~30 years.

Richard that's awesome. I'm so jealous. Last year when the company sent me up to San Jose for 6 months I should have gone to Yosemite more than once. T meadows is like heaven on earth. Cathedral Peak is on my to do list but I haven't graduated from Top roping yet. Nice pics and congrats on #50 Bob...

Awesome guys! Well done Richard and Bob.

I'd like to get up there one of these days too.

Nice job Richard... I guess your hand has healed up OK?

Hey Bob, I bet you never went up the same line on SE Face of Catheral even though you have done it 50 times. There are so many ways to go up that and still keep it moderate.

please tell me 50 is an estimate, and not exact. I keep a trip log, but not accurately enough to determine the 50th time up CP; and yes, I bet you never did the same route twice, except for maybe the chimney and the summit block!

I only said Ouch! once.

I've been meaning to get in touch with you about that climb we were supposed to do earlier this year...

Thanks everybody. TM is an awesome place. In my younger days, even after I stopped rock climbing, I would head up there to soothe the soul.

Awesome Richard and Bob! What a beautiful place!!! No wonder Bob's done it x50! I haven't rock climbed since the late 80's... hoping to dust off my r/c shoes next spring/summer. Very inspirational, Richard!!!

Reminds me of the last time I was up that way with three others. We took the west-slope slabs (third class) from lower Cathedral Lake.

We came through the window just 20 feet from the summit, and there were two "trad" climbers coming up the other side. I heard the one below me radio down to his partner: "Let's hold off a few minutes. It's a little disconcerting to have these hikers up here."

Here they are, crammed on the tiny knobby slab at the top:

Slabalicious. Beautiful countryside too.

Congrats Richard! I had hoped to do Cathedral for my first time on 7/3, but my broken foot is keeping me off all things bold and beautiful.

As i drove past Cathedral again on 7/11 i looked up and wished once more i was up there. Little did i know you and Bob were that day. Small world.

careful what you wish for norma....

as i returned from Tbolt on Sat I stopped at the Cath Lakes turnout as the sun was setting and fired up my jetboil and had some soup, and talked to people returning from cathedral peak and they said they left car at 5am (and were just returning at 8pm ... they wanted to be first on the climb but got lost on the trail... said there were 150 people on the climb...) better to do it on a weekday I think!

looks like Bob and Richard had a great time though....

I missed a few posts while I was doing Williamson on the last day it was open. Here are my belated replies:

I do pretty much the same route every time. If I'm leading, I take a 70-meter rope, belay at the same places every time, and have a few feet of rope left on the summit at the end of the fourth pitch. If I'm soloing, I definitely follow the same route, climbing the easiest route I can find. I usually carry a pack, which is a major pain in the chimney. I think the fastest way up is the left edge of the face to the left of the chimney.

I try to keep an accurate log of every peak I climb. There is a list on SummitPost. I've done Cathedral Peak 52 times: 50 on the east buttress and twice up the slabs. When I was a little younger and bolder, I did the buttress in 12:54.

Nice! I have only done it a half dozen times. I think I will check out your list. Mine is only scribbled on the "notes" pages of my old guidebooks..!
My most memorable trip was once, while I was still pulling the backpack up the chimney on the tow line, my teenage son followed and arrived ahead of the gear... he had stemmed the outside face of the chimney so as not to get mauled....