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Neal's Photo Gallery

1. East Face... ... 9. Hamilton Lakes 10. Terri's... 11. Memorial... 12. Snow Creek 13. South Lake ... 14. The Yucatan 15. Music and... ... 43. Mt. Whitney
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Neal's Photo Gallery
Snow Creek
10,000 vertical feet over the course of 6 miles: Snow Creek on San Jacinto's North Face. A one day ascent with Chris LaBounty.
Date: 09/08/2009
Size: 24 items
Views: 79
The north face of Mt. San Jacinto
Item Actions The north face of Mt. San Jacinto
Date: 05/03/2009
Views: 1
The white tongue of snow creek is clearly visible. This route is famous for it's elevation gain: nearly 10,000 feet from base to summit. 05/03/2009
Approach by headlamp
Item Actions Approach by headlamp
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
We started about 12:30am, parking by the small power station outside the village of Snow Creek. It took about an hour to pick our way through the desert, stealthily avoiding the hostile village residents and the caretaker of the water authority property at the base of the mountain. 05/16/2009
On route in the dark
Item Actions On route in the dark
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 2
We had done our homework and wasted no time finding the route on the bottom portion of the mountain, even in total darkness. 05/16/2009
Sunrise
Item Actions Sunrise
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
The sun rose as we passed through 4000 feet and made the right-hand jog to finally drop into Snow Creek proper. 05/16/2009
Snow Creek
Item Actions Snow Creek
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
The snow had melted by this time of year on the bottom section of the creek up to "The Chockstone", which is the technical crux of the route. 05/16/2009
The Chockstone
Item Actions The Chockstone
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
This large boulder and waterfall are passed by easy 5th class climbing on the righthand wall of the canyon. 05/16/2009
Neal heading past the chockstone
Item Actions Neal heading past the chockstone
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
Past the chockstone lies 5000 feet of snow/ice climbing to reach the summit. 05/16/2009
Bottom of the snow
Item Actions Bottom of the snow
Date: 05/16/2009
From here to the summit was ice axe and crampons, a seemingly endless endeavor! 05/16/2009
Starting up snow creek
Item Actions Starting up snow creek
Date: 05/16/2009
Chris begins the second half of the route. 05/16/2009
Getting higher
Item Actions Getting higher
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 3
We kept a good pace and moved quickly on the hard-pack snow; excellent climbing conditions. 05/16/2009
Short rock section
Item Actions Short rock section
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
Because we were climbing late season there were a few exposed rock sections that we climbed with crampons on. 05/16/2009
More rock
Item Actions More rock
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
This section involved getting soaking wet while climbing next to the waterfall! 05/16/2009
Chris frontpointing down to the base of the waterfall
Item Actions Chris frontpointing down to the base of the waterfall
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 3
This was probably more difficult than the chockstone, but normally the entire section would be covered with snow. 05/16/2009
Chris ascending the waterfall section
Item Actions Chris ascending the waterfall section
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 3
It was warming up and the cool water actually felt pretty nice. 05/16/2009
Endless snow
Item Actions Endless snow
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 2
With thousands of feet still to go the route seemed to have no beginning and no end. 05/16/2009
Neal improvises sun protection
Item Actions Neal improvises sun protection
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
I forgot my sunglasses and my helmet, rookie move!! To protect my eyes from the intense sun I wore my balaclava like this. Silly perhaps, but I didn't burn my eyes!! 05/16/2009
More snow climbing
Item Actions More snow climbing
Date: 05/16/2009
After making several tough route-finding decisions things opened up and we knew we were still on route. 05/16/2009
Nearing the summit
Item Actions Nearing the summit
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
It gets steeper as you approach the summit, getting pretty exciting in the last thousand feet or so. 05/16/2009
More endless snow
Item Actions More endless snow
Date: 05/16/2009
The hours ticked by as we made steady progress up the mountain. 05/16/2009
Nearing the top
Item Actions Nearing the top
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 2
The final bit of snow as the route pushes above 10,000 feet. 05/16/2009
The final assault
Item Actions The final assault
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
The snow continued right up to the summit, with maybe 40 feet of exposed rock before pulling up right onto the highest point! 05/16/2009
At the top of the snow
Item Actions At the top of the snow
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 2
Chris scrambles up rocks to the true summit 05/16/2009
On the summit
Item Actions On the summit
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 1
About 12 hours after leaving the car we were standing on top- not bad for 6 miles and almost 10,000 feet! 05/16/2009
Mt. San Jacinto sign
Item Actions Mt. San Jacinto sign
Date: 05/16/2009
Views: 2
The mountain is incredibly popular to climb thanks to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway which gets you up most of the way. We hiked down the trail and took the tram back down to Chris' truck in Palm Springs. 05/16/2009