Mt Sill


		Guided Trips to the Sierra Nevada & Worldwide!

Riding the dragon's back on the Swiss Arete. That Swiss engineering is really something...

Mt. Sill (14,153 ft.) Swiss Arete (III, 5.6)
Normally, we recommend combining this climb with another climb or 2 in the Palisades because of the lengthy approach required. We offer the Swiss Arete of Mt. Sill on its own because it is so classic that it alone is worth the journey.

Mt. Sill was named after Edward Rowland Sill, a poet and teacher in the Bay Area, by famed Sierra mountaineer Joseph LeConte. Long before that, the native Paiute identified the peak as a special one on the Big Pine skyline calling it, Nee-ma-mee-shee, the "Guardian of the Valley." The 1938 Swiss Arete is an amazing technical masterpiece of a ridge, seemingly engineered and built for climbing (by the Swiss??). The arete grows steeper as it narrows to a crescendo- a short, strenuous vertical headwall with cracks in it. This leads to fun 3rd and 4th class blocks and ledges to a lofty, and very rewarding, summit.

Trip Itinerary | Prerequisites | Additional Information

TRIP ITINERARY: Mt. Sill

DAY 1

Meet in Big Pine for breakfast and a final gear check. From Glacier Lodge we hike up the North Fork of Big Pine Creek, past Temple Crag and beautiful lakes, through Sam Mack Meadow and up toward the edge of the Palisade Glacier, stopping to camp beneath Mt. Gayley.

DAY 2

Climb Mt. Sill via the Swiss Arete and descend the peak back to camp at the end of a long and mind-blowing day in the mountains.

DAY 3

Pack up camp and make the trek down to Glacier Lodge.

Prerequisites:

Prior wilderness camping experience
Excellent fitness
Prior multi-pitch rock climbing experience to 5.6, and ability to climb 5.6 comfortably, at altitude
Prior ice axe & crampon use

Additional Information

Click here for a trip report.