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"S 5"

Condition Updates  
Route: Traverse from S6
Posted On: 9/21/2023, By: SnowAlien
Info: I was happy to discover that the ridge between S6 & S5 goes. I did the "standard" gully approach on the way up, but didn't want to reverse it and went for the traverse to S5 (which deceptively doesn't look too bad from S6). I think it looks much worse from S5 and it would be difficult to find the comfortable start of the downclimb, imo. But the traverse is actually pretty short and sweet and the route doesn't exceed Class 3 (all hard sections are bypassed). I was encouraged early on by the presence of cairns and pressed on. Step 1 - from S6 summit I reversed the route to the top of the "standard" gully. The cliff is bypassed on the right/south (Class 2+/3). Step 2 - next section (spiky rotten spires) is bypassed on the left/north, by dropping about 50 feet, class 2+. I had snow in that section. Step 3 - keep going to the base of spiky gray rock spires and circumvent them on the right/south side. Step 4 - find your way back up to the S5 ridge - I used semi-solid light gray rock band (would be difficult to see from above). Overall, the traverse took me less than half the time than the traverse between S7 and Mears a month ago, and felt similar difficulty, with very little elevation gain! Both summits had registers. Great combo with S4 & S3, 5,800 ft and 11 miles according to CalTopo. 
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Route: South Ridge via Blue Lakes
Posted On: 7/25/2021, By: supranihilest
Info: See my CR for "S 3" for approach information. From the upper basin we hiked up to the saddle between "S 5" and "S 3" on talus and boulders. These were surprisingly stable for the area, but still pretty darned loose. The south ridge of "S 5" is Class 2+ at worst but hideously loose, so care had to be taken not to knock rocks on climbers below. Aside from the loose nature of the ridge there was very little scrambling, mostly near the bottom, and the majority of the ridge was a Class 2 walkup. We reversed our route before heading to "S 4". 
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