Temple Crag

Temple Crag is one of the most impressive alpine walls in America. Rising roughly 2,000 feet from base to summit. This incredible chunk of stone hosts numerous climbing routes that range from climbs that take as few as six hours to climb, up to monstrous routes that could take up to 15! This crag requires previous experience to move safely and effectively up. Valhalla’s certified guides can help you check off your next bucket list climb!    

Some of the most popular routes include:   

  • Venusian Blind IV 5.7 13 pitches

  • Moon Goddess Arete IV 5.8 15 pitches

  • Sun Ribbon Arete IV+ 5.10a 18 pitches

Custom dates available from June - September. Contact us to book!

Course Objectives

  • Climb Crystal Crag!

Itinerary

Day 1: We’ll meet at the town of Big Pine at 8:30am, after a morning pack check and dispersing the group gear, we’ll caravan up to the Big Pine Creek overnight trailhead. Once our packs are on, we begin the four-mile hike into one of the campsites around first, second, or third lake.  

Day 2: Summit day! Depending on our objective we’ll wake up at any time from 3am-5am. After a quick breakfast we begin the relatively short approach to the base of Temple Crag. We enjoy the views of the three lakes as we ascend the wall, the higher we get, the more lakes will come into view. Finally, we scramble along the final ridge line to the top of our route! When it’s time to head down we scramble down a well-worn trail to the start of the down scramble. At the bottom of the scramble, we do one rappel to get back to the ground, and walk either snow or talus around to the base of our route and back to camp.  

Day 3: After a leisurely morning, we eat breakfast and pack up camp for the walk out! 

Prerequisites

  • Familiarity with multi-day alpine climbs. 

  • Following up a multi-pitch rock climb experience. 

  • Familiarity with overnight backcountry camping.

  • Knowledge of lead belaying.

  • Knowledge of the figure 8 knot family and the clove hitch.

  • Lead belaying

  • Knowledge of climbing knots such as figure eight and clove hitch

  • Experience rappelling

  • Recommended to take a one-day skills course at a local venue like Donner Summit or Lover’s Leap.

Required Equipment

Multi-day Sierra Technical climbs equipment list.

Group Size & Pricing

1:1 climber to guide ratio - $2,175 per person
2:1 climber to guide ratio - $1,650 per person

Please read our Cancellation & Refund Policies before booking.