Best High Sierra Peaks for Scramblers Ranked by Difficulty

[@LifeAtHighAltitude]

Great video, I've only done 2 of these , Russell and Middle Palisades. I did Whitney's Mountaineer route day before Russell. Russell is no joke, there's a section I felt I could jump out and miss the whole face and land in that small frozen lake 1000' down

[@Wanksteez]

Thanks for checking out the video! I agree the exposure (and consequence) on Russell is massive, still a great route, makes for an exhilarating day.

[@dmbeaster]

Excellent advice on Middle Pal. The old Secor route is now a daunting class 4. The red rock route was considered class 4 for a long time, but it seems really a high 3 since there are so many good holds. It is just very steep. The rest of the way up is sustained 3 provided you stay on route.

[@betsyclarke185]

Just getting into serious hiking and wanting to try some peaks. This was very informative verified the peaks I was planning on conquering first! Love it ❤

[@Wanksteez]

I am so glad to hear that, thanks for the support! I just put out a video of Mt. Gould that has a little more footage if you want to get a better picture of what that peak entails. I hope to see you out on the trails!

[@sluggotinfantryman]

Kearsarge Pass to Mount Gould. Walk out toward Dragon down ridge. It's 6 miles up to pass. Then 1200 feet up to Gould. White Mountain to Boundary Peak is good one for traverse but two cars. I have seen a tesla at TH 12800 feet but 4x4 is better. For new person Kearsarge Pass has it all. Gould is 13000+

[@noellewilhite3479]

Wow awesome recommendations! Thanks for your contributions 🔥

[@Wanksteez]

Thank you! I hope you can get out and enjoy these peaks yourself.

[@patrickleborio]

REALLY GREAT VIDEO. I am learning a lot from people like you online.

[@Wanksteez]

Thanks, I'm glad you are finding my stuff useful and I hope you can get out there and apply some of those skills!

[@YongsungKim]

Great info. Glad that I've done all the beginner peaks. Now I know which peaks I will venture next time. Thank you so much!

[@Wanksteez]

Glad you found the info helpful, I hope you have a successful season out there. This snow is going to be something for sure.

[@rockawilliam]

Great List! I like how you sequenced this for the inexperienced. An alternative route on Mt. Russell is the South Face from Iceberg Lake (Whitney Mountaineer's Route). There is very little exposure and only one pitch of 3-4 to gain the ridge. It might be an alternative for others who might be sketched by the East Ridge.

[@Wanksteez]

Cool, thats a great option, thanks for the thought.

[@sluggotinfantryman]

Great advice. Gould is a gem.

[@mikegoesuphill5200]

Nice video. I've done Tyndall, Middle Palisade, and Russell. May hit Morrison and Cloud Ripper soon

[@Wanksteez]

Thats rad! Cloudripper is the better of the two and will feel pretty chill after all the ones you mentioned, its a great day.

[@bendaniels8572]

You should really look into Black Kaweah. It stands right on the great western divide and is a killer upper 3 to 4th class route

[@Wanksteez]

Yes fully agree, I got to see it when I did Sawtooth in mid June (video dropping aug 1st) and all the Kawaehs really stood out and called to me. I want to get in there properly someday.

[@yungthunder2681]

Just found this. Cool video. I'd love to see more of these focusing on 4th class and low 5th class scrambles

[@Wanksteez]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you so much! I don't know if I'm burly enough to make a video on that content, I think some of those riskier days are behind me, and I don't have too many ascents like that.

[@larryorabuena4941]

very cool, always try to get up here either in spring or summer. Mt. Langley x3. would like to do Mt. Williamson or Mt. Sill.

[@Wanksteez]

Thats rad you are getting into the Sierra! Sill and Williamson are wayyy bigger than Langley. Middle Palisade or Tyndall could be a good bridge. I did Langley on a Thursday and then Middle Pal on Saturday and was shocked at how much harder it was.

[@dmbeaster]

Langley is a walk up compared to most Peaks. Sill on the southwest slopes is only class 2-3, but it is a long way from any trailhead to that side. The North Col route has some class 3 and one low end and short class 4 section. It is mostly a traverse rather than a climb, but the moves are sketchy and the exposure nasty. It is proper to call it a low 4 for those reasons. If you do not have some rock climbing skills, it will appear daunting. Lots turn around there, but it is not hard. By the way, the rib on Tyndall is really class 2-3 rather than full 3. Williamson is a long scramble with only one significant class 3 section.

[@samrichardson2641]

Nice only a few of the 58 14,000ft mountains in colorado are 4th class and above….. would love to hike in your area some day!

[@sluggotinfantryman]

A murderers row of great peaks. Tyndall is my go to advice for 14k trip. Forget Williamson go to Keith.

[@markdesaint-rat4905]

Remember climbing Ragged Mountain Mountain, Penobscot Co Maine 1301 ft slate summit in a granite area with firepower near Millinocket did the Beehive in Acadia Park and mt Guyot the trailess 2nd summit of Smokies

[@Wanksteez]

Cool!

[@hefnhef1]

Great video. I made a second trip down to the Sierras and did Starr, Agassiz, Cloudripper & Vagabond mostly based on this video and had a great time. Any recommendations on a comprehensive Sierra guide book for climbs/scrambles? I have not been able to find anything from my own research. Thank you.

[@Wanksteez]

This is rad, I so glad you had a great time! The closest thing to what you are looking for is RJ Secor's Peaks Passes and Trails. It covers so much, meaning the depth on specific routes / peaks is low. Certain routes only get a sentence or two, and the consensus is that its a little sandbagged. Almost all the sierra peakbaggers and backpackers use it, I just also try to supplement with trip reports or photos from other sources. The other thing to consider are Bob Burd's trip reports, I just google his name and the peak and something will come up.

[@jimhamilton8997]

Hi, just found this, loved it!! I’m thinking to section hike the JMT over a few years starting in 2025 so I can take my time and do some peak bagging along the way. Do you have any videos from that perspective? Note - other than climbing Whitney std route, I have no experience in the Sierra’s but have climbed most of Colorado’s 14ers. Thanks!

[@Wanksteez]

I'm so glad you enjoyed the content, thank you! I hiked the JMT a few years ago and have a longer form video on that, where we had some side trips planned and for a variety of reasons most of them failed. I have had the idea to make a video on this topic, but it won't be out anytime soon. I would recommend Split Mountain, Mt, Muir, Mt. Goddard, Tyndall / Williamson, Ritter / Banner, Lyell, and Clouds rest as great options. Please check out my JMT video for a little info about that, and if you want to subscribe, I would love to have that video out before you try and hike the trail.

[@WillHaack]

Great video! Looking foward to hitting some of these when I make it out there!

[@Wanksteez]

Thanks, Glad you enjoyed it, if you want any more beta please reach out!

[@WillHaack]

@@Wanksteez Will do! If you ever want to hit up a hike or a video collab In the future I would love to!

[@shanehamashige6003]

Great info! Keep it up 🤙

[@Wanksteez]

You are very welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. If you would like any beta on the routes or have any other video ideas, please let me know!

[@outdoorshoesofficial]

Great video! We subscribed to your channel as well.

[@Wanksteez]

Awesome! Thank you so much

[@Matthew-px9nu]

Good video

[@Wanksteez]

Thanks so much! Hope you have a chance to get out here and climb these, please rech out if you need any additional info.

[@johntuttle9544]

Mt. Conness and Dana are perfect for the masses (esp Dana).

[@Wanksteez]

Conness for sure, I feel like Dana is more of a walk-up than scramble. I cannot think of a better peak for acclimatization than Dana however, easiest way to get to 13k I can think of.

[@codeclimbrepeat2874]

East ridge of Carl Heller by any chance? I think you would make a good beta vid on that one 🤘🏻.

[@Wanksteez]

I haven'y done that one, but its on the list. Logistically that's a tricky permit to get or a really big day. Lastly, since it isn't an SPS peak I'm a little less psyched to get there, but from what I hear the quality of the climbing certainly makes it worth it. Thanks for the support!

[@exoplanetnomad]

Can you operate a drone providing these destinations are outside the National Parks? Thanks

[@Wanksteez]

That's a great question, something I have looked into, and found a mess of regulations. My understanding is as follows: Even though some of these peaks are not in SEKI national park, they are all in designated Wilderness areas where it is illegal to take off, land, or operate a drone from. I do not know the exact regulations for non-Wilderness lands within the national forest or BLM boundaries, but it would be pretty hard to get a drone near most of these peaks.

[@runninghighOG]

I did Mount Starr and also day hiked Tyndall without problem, but I turned around at Gould summit block. It looked 5 or high 4 to me at the time. Maybe I wasn't standing at the correct approach.

[@Wanksteez]

That's interesting, I would say the moves on Tyndall were comparable to Gould, with Starr being a little easier unless you stuck to the top of the ridge. If you watch my whole Gould video, I have a shot of my wife descending the easiest approach to where the register was. It was the climbers left side if the pass is to your back. I went straigh up from the pass at like class 4, but didn't think it was super challenging or scary. A day hike of Tyndall is rad, good for you.

[@runninghighOG]

@@Wanksteez I saw that. It looked very different from the bottom. I need to go back to Gould. I day hiked Tyndall with my wife. Took us about 20 hours coming from sea level. It was the hardest thing we've done together.

[@schmeebot7903]

Mt. Williamson is easy. It's Williamson Bowl you should be afraid of. Make sure you have enough reserve to climb back out of that thing!

[@Wanksteez]

I wish I knew from experience, but sadly I cannot comment, someday.

[@sluggotinfantryman]

Livehardlovehard is great channel for recon videos. They kill SOCAL. At Palisades I go left at Moraine then up towards Temple Crag. Just stop when uncomfortable enjoy view of lake and ripper. As for Russell go right Instead. Sister peak.

[@gromgang548]

if you've ever peaked matterhorn in california what would you rank it?

[@Wanksteez]

I did Matterhorn from Horse Creek Pass, video will be coming out sometime in the spring I hope. What do you mean by rank? Difficulty or enjoyability? Difficulty I would give it 3rd class for accessing the final ridge, I looked all over and didn’t see anything that kept it to second class. In terms of enjoyability, I wouldn’t put it super high. From the pass to the final ridge was a SLOG through some very loose stuff, with less than 100 yards of actually fun solid rock. The summit is nice, but nothing on Agassiz or Middle Pal. I am not itching to do Matterhorn again.

[@gromgang548]

@@Wanksteez sounds like an uncomfortable scramble. i haven’t peaked anything in the sierras yet but plan on going to matterhorn this week. you said that it’s not the most enjoyable scramble but im pretty dead set on trying it. is it a reasonable endeavor for someone like me who is just getting into hiking up mountains?

[@Wanksteez]

​@@gromgang548 How new are you to this? If you are just getting into hiking mountains, I would say it is not a reasonable endeavor. The gain is pretty big if you are trying to do it in a day, and the altitude will not be doing you any favors. When we did it we weren't acclimated, and moved less than a mile an hour from the pass to the summit. The trail is a little tricky to follow in many places and you can make your life much harder if you end up off trail. If you are going to be in Bridgeport, I would say Mt. Dana or North Peak are more reasonable, I have vids of both, but didn't do the hiking route on North Peak. Dana is prettier but North peak is more of a challenge if thats what you are looking for. Be safe with whatever you decide.

[@gromgang548]

@@Wanksteez thanks for all the info! Despite your advice I did end up hiking up matterhorn and got to the top 😭. The wind was pretty damn nuts though.

[@gromgang548]

@@WanksteezAlso I’m thinking of quickly doing mount star before i start college next week but I can’t find any routes on alltrails. Where should I find a good route that I can follow online?

[@stephaniewankowicz9016]

This is key!

[@Wanksteez]

Thanks, hope to see you out there on some of these peaks soon!

[@aaronmencher4978]

gould to me was so annoying because of all the sand and everything was so loose

[@Wanksteez]

How many other sierra peaks have you done? I feel like Gould is pretty par for the course. I don't enjoy it either, but thats the tax you pay to get to these beautiful summits.

[@FlyingPigNJ]

Dragon peak?

[@Wanksteez]

I was looking at that route today, have you done it? Is it that good? I could totally see that making a future video of mine if it lives up to its reputation.

[@FlyingPigNJ]

@@Wanksteez No:( Onion valley road opened up after I had left....very sad

[@nothingtodowithgolf]

Have you done Mt. Ritter?

[@Wanksteez]

Yes I have, here's the vid. kzbin.info/www/bejne/goXHgJV7psiBlbM This didn't make it on the list as the technicality is massive including the snow travel. Not really the intended audience for this vid. If you have any other sierra questions, please reach out.

[@sluggotinfantryman]

Ritter is good one. Long approach. But scenic. Way easier to do Mount Gould. Whitney. Tyndall is epic. Long approach two day is better. Has Keith also. GREAT VIEWs. Really located in sweet spot.

[@kevinstarski1598]

"The" is pronounced "thee" if followed by vowel ("thee" apple), or sometimes to emphasize something ("thee" single most important element....)...

[@chaseleary5515]

Umm… It’s pronounced Mo-no

[@frankbrowniii3057]

Not Mon-o pass Mo-no pass.