1-day Alpine Climbing on Crystal Crag in the Mammoth Lakes Basin

Join Ryan and his professionally trained AMGA Guides take you high above the Mammoth Lakes Basin on Crystal Crag for this 1-day guided climb. Traditional, sport and endurance sport routes on North Arete, North East and Highlands Wall.

1 Day

May - Sep

High

Intermediate

Description

Crystal Crag (3080m) is for ambitious climbers who want to make the most out of the day and climb high above the Mammoth Lakes Basin. Situated high above Lake George, Crystal Crag’s jagged rock form protrudes from the surrounding landscape and is easily spotted from afar.

The adventure begins with a steep uphill hike from Lake George with increasingly good views over the entire Mammoth Lake Basin and is not for the faint of heart.

The traditional and sport climbing options here are best suited for intermediate and advanced level climbers. Routes ranging from moderate 4 pitch classics to endurance sport routes are found across Crystal Crag’s North Arete, North East and Highlands Wall.

The difficulty level here ranges from low 5th to 5.11a (Grade II).

Crystal Crag is located within the John Muir Wilderness and is part of the Eastern Sierras’ Inyo National Forest. Other climbing venues in this area include Clark Canyon and Iris Slab.

Crystal Crag is for climbers who want to place gear at a moderate level or do some high elevation sport climbing. If you are up for the challenge, we’d love to hear from you. Request to book now.

Price includes

Guiding fee

Meeting point

About the guide

Ryan

5.0

(1)

Single Pitch Instructor

I am the founder of Golden State Guiding and an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor.

I have been climbing all over California for over 10 years from Joshua Tree and the High Sierra and from Yosemite to Owen's River Gorge. I enjoy climbing in all its forms but alpine starts, long approaches and high elevation gains are my favorite. The grueling days and long routes of the Sierras are where my heart lies.

At Golden State Guiding, we hold a valid permit to guide you legally in California´s Sierras. Golden State Guiding has only professional Guides trained by the AMGA who know all the ins and outs in these mountains and we´ll take you to all the best spots!

These are some of the spots where we can take you:
- Joshua Tree
- San Diego (Mission Gorge, Mount Woodson)
- Eastern Sierra (Lone Pine Peak, Mt Humphrey’s, Mt Emerson, Mount Sill, Bear Creek Spire, Laurel Mountain, Temple Crag, Crystal Crag, Cardinal Pinnacle, Iris Slab, Mammoth Lakes Basin, Clark Canyon)
- Red Rock

Languages

English

What people are saying about Explore-Share

Man

Climbing with guide Guillaume was absolutely a highlight of my 2-week Europe vacation. Originally, we were planning on climbing in the Calanques, but the park was closed due to wind and fire danger. Guillaume chose another amazing location (Pic de Bretagne) based on my climbing abilities and preferences and kindly offered train station pick-up and hotel drop off, which I appreciated very much. The multi-pitch route we did was not only fun but also the right amount of challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The communication from the team (Gauthier) was prompt and clear—highly recommend!

Maxine

Luis Silva was a great climbing guide and belayer! He taught me how to do moves that were difficult and encouraged me to try routes that were challenging for me! Because of his encouragement, I managed to complete these routes! I really enjoyed the climbs and completed 8 routes in the Sesimbra/Azoia area. The weather was perfect, no direct sun and cool enough to enjoy the climbs. Explore-Share made booking an outdoor climbing experience in Lisbon extremely easy. Luis, our guide, was fantastic, and the platform’s organization was flawless.

Valeriya

You’re simply the best!!! :))) Explore-Share made everything easy and stress-free. Will definitely use again.

Joshua

We had Léo as a guide for our day climb in Fonty. We were blessed with a knowledgeable, warm, and instructive guide. Communication with Léo and Ivan was smooth and swift. Explore-Share was excellent in arranging everything for our day climb. The communication was quick, and the platform was easy to use, making our adventure stress-free.

Cami

Patrick was a great guide. He took us on an intermediate Via Ferrata at Passo Sella. Renato was quick to respond with any outreach on the Explore-Share platform. The booking process was straightforward, and once Patrick was confirmed, all went well. It was a wonderful experience, and I’d highly recommend the platform.

4.8