North Palisade
The Palisades, Big Pine · near Big Pine · Eastern Sierra
Mountaineering
At a glance
- Grade
- technical
- Elevation
- 14242
- Best season
- June–September; the couloir is best early season before the bergschrund opens
What is here
- Terrain
- glacier-peak
- Amenities
- Big Pine Creek / North Fork approach · Palisade Glacier high camp · Guide services climb the Palisades · Largest glacier in the Sierra below you
- Best for
- California's premier glacier-mountaineering summit
- Features
- 3rd-highest peak in the Sierra · Above the Sierra's largest glacier · Classic U-Notch couloir line · Real glacier travel — rare in California
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Glacier travel — crevasses and a bergschrund that widens dangerously late season · Rockfall in the U-Notch and V-Notch couloirs · Committing class-4 climbing high on the peak · Altitude and complex retreat far from any road
- Beginner friendly
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Guided trips
- Yes
Mountaineering detail
- Skills
- glacier · snow-ice · roped-rock · altitude
- Style
- mixed-alpine
- Altitude
- 5
- Route notes
- The crown of the Palisades and the closest thing California has to true glacier mountaineering — the classic line climbs the U-Notch couloir off the Palisade Glacier (the largest in the Sierra) to a committing class-4 chimney and an exposed traverse to the third-highest summit in the range
- Beta note
- ~14,242 ft; U-Notch couloir (45°) + Class 4; glacier travel, rope, axe & crampons
- Intl tip
- The crown of the Palisades and California's closest thing to true glacier mountaineering. From a high camp you cross the Palisade Glacier — the Sierra's largest, though visibly retreating — and climb the U-Notch couloir (45° snow/ice) to a committing class-4 chimney and exposed summit traverse. The bergschrund widens late season into the crux, and couloir rockfall is constant, so go early-season, roped, with axe and crampons. A serious 2–3 day objective; the 3rd-highest summit in the range.
- Directions note
- Park at Glacier Lodge / Big Pine Creek trailhead — approach via the North Fork
The guide
North Palisade is the high point of the Palisades, the most alpine corner of the range, and its standard route is as close as C…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to North Palisade — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.0942, -118.5148