Information Details

Private Pricing

This program is currently offered as a private program only. A private trip allows you to choose your own dates and enjoy a more customized experience with your guide.

Pricing is per person, per day:

  • 1:1 – $675; 2:1 – $485

Prerequisites

  • Excellent physical condition
  • Overnight backpacking experience in the mountains
  • Previous multi-pitch rock climbing experience up to 5.7
  • Experience using crampons and an ice axe

Inclusions and Exclusions

Inclusions: Included in the course cost are group technical climbing equipment like ropes and rock protection, all permits and backcountry fees, and the guide fee.

Exclusions: Not included in the course cost are all personal clothing and climbing gear, rentals, gratuities to the guide, meals, or travel insurance. You will also be responsible for your own lodging/camping the first night.  On private programs, you are responsible for your own and your guide’s transportation.

Travel Insurance

We strongly recommend that you purchase comprehensive travel insurance that includes trip cancellation coverage.  Ripcord is our primary travel insurance provider, offering coverage for trip cancellation, trip delay, baggage, medical evacuation and other eventualities.

Unlike many vacations that are less physically demanding, a climbing and trekking vacation can be ruined by an illness or relatively minor injury that occurs before departure. While you can still tour a city or head to the beach with a sprained ankle or a very bad cold (albeit, less conveniently), such an injury or common illness can stop you in your tracks short of your climbing or trekking destination.

Course Options

Itineraries

Our Palisade traverse Itinerary is a minimum of 5 days, however, we can extend this if you’re interested in adding other peaks onto your trip.

Snow and ice conditions on the route and the approach can vary considerably, and we keep the the itinerary flexible to account for this.  Below is a sample.

Day One: Meet in Mammoth and do a gear check in the morning.  Afterwards, we acclimate and climb a small front country objective to prepare for the traverse.

Day Two: Approach to basecamp. Early in the season we often camp at on the edge of the Palisade Glacier. Later in the season we sometimes camp in the less visited Palisade Basin.

Day Three: To gain access to the ridge crest, we typically climb the Northeast Couloir of Thunderbolt Peak and end the day with an open bivy at 14,000ft. on the North Palisade.

Day Four: We tag the remaining peaks in the traverse, finishing on Mount Sill, and return to our high camp.

Day Five:  We hike out.