Mt Ritter Climb 2005

These are a selection of pictures taken during the preparation and climb of Mt Ritter to place a memorial plaque for Otto Loenneker at Ritter's summit. The climb was made exactly one year after Otto and I had originally planned to climb the mountain in 2004. The Mammoth Lakes (Mt. Ritter) area experienced an unusually large snow fall this last winter with a seasonal total of 50 feet, about 4 times their normal annual snowfall. This changed the nature of the climb considerably. Last year we were expecting minimal travel (less than 5%) on snow. This year about 80-85% of the climb was on steep snow requiring crampons and ice ax for safe travel. Click on any of the thumbnail pictures to see an expanded view. Use your browsers "Back Button" to return to the thumbnails or click back again to return to the text.