| This panorama shows the entire Ritter Range, from Banner Peak and Mt. Ritter on the right to the Minarets on the left. Volcanic Ridge forms the feature sticking up between Ritter and Banner toward the right, but is, in fact, several thousand feet shorter and a couple of miles closer to my vantage point on the western slopes of Mammoth Mountain. |
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This closeup is taken from a spot about 3/4 mile south of Minaret
Summit, just a bit farther south than the panorama, so the crest
of Volcanic Ridge would appear to the north of Banner Peak. In this
enlargement, the upper part of the Southeast Glacier, the
"three-toed" buttress, and the whole of the upper bowl are
visible in the left-hand quarter of the photo. The steep
chute going nearly straight up to the ridge just to the left
of the upper bowl is the one Dana and Vince climbed. Although
doable, it is very steep and exposed, making it a much less
desirable choice for a route between the SE Glacier and the
upper bowl.
"Owen's Chute" is invisible, hidden behind the left ridge of the buttress which comes down from the middle/left part of the upper bowl. The main snow field at the bottom of the upper bowl is not particularly steep, but the upper fragment of snow is, but can easily be avoided by skirting its left (west) edge. |
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This second photo is taken from a spot about 1-1/2 miles north
of Minaret Summit, along the Jeep trail which follows the ridge
up to Deadman Pass. It shows the middle parts of the route
much more clearly, since Volcanic Ridge is no longer blocking
the view.
It is useful in this phase to point out the "three-toed" buttress which forms the main landmark for navigating on the SE Glacier. Here, it looks like a foot with three toes pointing diagonally down into the SE Glacier from the upper bowl, just to the left of and above the point where the steep ridge line intersects the SE Glacier. |