North America, United States, California, Sierra Nevada, Mount Powell, East Face

Publication Year: 1970.

Mount Powell, East Face. Mount Powell (13,360 feet) raises its turret-like summit from the crest of the Sierra near Bishop. Unlike most Sierra peaks, Mount Powell is composed of slabby monolithic granite, more like that of Yosemite than the usual Sierra “pile of bricks”. Early one morning in June, Fred Beckey, Dan McHale, and I crossed the glacier from our camp to the base of Powell’s east face. Soon we were swinging leads up the sweeping cracks formed by the intersection of huge monolithic blocks on the face. An ice-filled squeeze chimney was avoided by climbing an overhanging direct-aid crack. Pitch after pitch of steep clean face climbing put us on the summit in the late afternoon. NCCS III or IV, F7, A2.

Galen Rowell