View of our Goal

There had been lots of talk about the difficulty of finding the correct chute, so we came prepared with maps, pictures, copies from guide books, and a printout of every trip report I could find. Peter Maxwell's report from 1993 and Kelly Maas's from '99 were most helpful. I could see the gullies Peter was talking about and I could see Kelly's large snow patch and "lower buttress". The one difficulty was the correct spot to climb the headwall. I couldn't make out Secor's "chimney and ledge system", but close to the highest point on the South Glacier and a bit to the right, we found an EASY class-3, 45 degree ramp, leading off the snow, around a corner, and into the chute.

Location: John Muir Wilderness, CA
Photographer: Ron Karpel
Email: ronny@karpel.org
Phone: 415-987-5109
Date: June 2003
ID: 20030628_02