South Face 5.8

It's become a bit of a theme this summer. Climb mega classic, relatively accessible routes via the most annoying approach possible. If remote passes, obscure peaks, untrammeled lakes and killer campsites are annoying, anyway. We did it for Merriam the week before, and then "on the clock" to Charlotte Dome. We didn't send Charlotte Dome, but by that point, it hardly mattered. We did cross many passes, climb 3 other peaks, and dodge the summer's worst weather. I mention it here in hopes that you'll indulge my schadenfreude and try something similar.

We also cooked up a video. But rather than make you "read between the lines", I'll break it down:

Day 1: Kearsarge and Glen Passes to a camp below Fin Dome. Epic all night thunderstorms.
Day 2: Fin Dome, then Sixty Lakes Col to upper Gardiner Basin. Evening cloudy send of Mt. Cotter.
Day 3: South Face Clarence King then moved camp over "CD Pass" (1/4 mile NW of Gardiner) and then Gardiner Pass.
Day 4: Weather-aborted attempt at Charlotte Dome's classic South Face. Moved camp to Charlotte Lake.
Day 5: Exit via Kearsarge.

Video:
[Click to View YouTube Video]