Page Type: | Mountain/Rock |
---|---|
Lat/Lon: | 37.22300°N / 118.598°W |
Activities: | Trad Climbing |
Season: | Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
Elevation: | 10400 ft / 3170 m |
The rock and route quality is excellent, and there are numerous spectacular natural lines, both on the pinnacle itself, and nearby cliffs. The longest routes clock in at four or five pitches. This is a good place to go if you don’t have a lot of time; the approach is short, and if you’re reasonably fast you can easily knock out even the longest route in a few hours car to car. Of course, you could plan to spend the entire day there, too!
Route development at the Pinnacle has been relatively recent, and the climbs are accordingly harder than most backcountry routes. Be prepared for routes 5.10 and up.
From Bishop take highway 168 (W. Line Street) west into the mountains. Pass the turn off to South Lake, and continue on towards Lake Sabrina. Above the tiny community of Aspendell there is a prominent crag a few hundred feet up from the south side of the road. This is Cardinal Pinnacle. There is ample parking on the south side of the road. A half hour walk up the talus brings you to the base of the crag.
The "Source" column indicates where to look for additional information by noting the author of the guidebook listed in the Books section of this page.
Route/Grade | Source | Description/Comments |
---|---|---|
Crack Kingdom 5.10c | Croft | Four pitches of 5.10a-c climbing lead to a short 4th class pitch to the top. Shares the first pitch with The West Face . Combines Crack of No Hope and Wild Kingdom. |
The Prow 5.12b | Croft | Shares the first pitch and a half with The West Face , then traverses over to a steep face/ bridging to a splitter .12b crack. Up slabs and steep finger/hand crack to the top. Four pitches. FA Gordon Wiltsie, Jay Jensen; FA .12b finger crack Dale Bard, Bob Harrington; FFA Peter Croft, Dayle Mazzarella |
The West Face 5.10a | Croft | Starts on either side of a prominent 20 foot-high flake near the toe of the crag. Four pitches of cracks from thin fingers to a 5.8 chimney lead to the top. |
Crack of No Hope 5.10 | -- | FA Doug Robinson, Jay Jensen |
Wild Kingdom 5.10 | -- | FA Dean Hobbs, Andy Selters |
Regular Route 5.6 | -- | Two pitches in a corner lead to an anchor and double rope rappel. |
The top of the pinnacle is a north-south ridge about 150 feet long. One 70 rope will comfortably get you from the chain anchor south end of the ridge into the notch. A 60m should also do it, but watch it near the end--the notch drops off steeply on either side. There is a good block from which you can rig a second rappel in case you’re not sure about reaching the ground and don’t want to chance it. The rap is pretty steep—overhanging in places—so it’s not for the faint of heart.
It is also possible to do a combination of rapping and downclimbing off the east side or west side. There are many suitable blocks that can be slung.