This post is written as a reality check for climbers that are not experienced mountaineers.
Last summer myself and 3 others attempted to climb Thunderbolt Peak, one of California's fourteeners. Our route would be using the Underhill Couloir (right-hand). This peak along with several other fourteeners are located in the John Muir Wilderness above the Palisade Glacier. I could go on about how much work the approach to route was, but I won't. Suffice it to say, you'd better be in excellent physical condition.
After reading several on-line trip reports and Peter Croft's "The Good, the Great, and the Awesome", I felt up to the task. I'd climbed for over 4 years, several times a week in the gym and at least 30 times outside. Much of this climbing, both indoor and out, was on lead. I'm in excellent health, I'd run a 1:25 half marathon 6 months prior. Unfortunately, my climbing experience and stellar cardiovascular condition were of little consequence.
After reading several on-line trip reports and Peter Croft's "The Good, the Great, and the Awesome", I felt up to the task. I'd climbed for over 4 years, several times a week in the gym and at least 30 times outside. Much of this climbing, both indoor and out, was on lead. I'm in excellent health, I'd run a 1:25 half marathon 6 months prior. Unfortunately, my climbing experience and stellar cardiovascular condition were of little consequence.
click for photos
In my preperation for the trip, I had focused on the 5th class technical climbing (5.5 to 5.6), which was below the level of what I had lead many times outside. What actually got to me, was all the class 4 climbing. It's not the technical aspect of 4th class, it's the mental. It's not having a rope tied into my harness, or having a single piece of pro in place in case I lost my footing. On this route we did a lot of 4th class climbing, hundreds of feet above the glacier. If I had slipped or a loose rock had given way, there could have been serious consequences.
We left camp at the base of the glacier around 6:30AM and did not reach the notch above the Underhill Coloir until noon. At this rate, there was little chance we could summit T-Bolt and make it down to the glacier before dark. There's just too much 4th class involved that if you can't cover it quickly, you're simply not going to have enough daylight. So after an hour of taking in the beautiful view to the west, we swallowed our pride and headed back down the couloir.
I'd like to add that the "traverse" from the notch we gained up to Starlight is far from trivial, something I would not even begin to attempt without a rope. But I'm no Peter Croft nor am I in the league as the other folks who have posted similar trip reports on-line.
