The
San Gabriel
Mountains afford numerous mountain peaks and canyons to go
rock climbing in, and while the Crystal Lake Recreation Area basin has some
very good hiking trails around the rim, the best actual mountain climbing
is to be found outside of the campgrounds.
The San Gabriels are the steepest average gradient mountains in the
American
Southwest, at times climbing to heights in excess of 10,000 feet in very
short order, much of it extremly
friable and
lose
metamorphic granite
mixed in with
sandstone shale and the
occasional volcanic
lava rock (you can find
sea shells on mountain tops which were once ancient sea beds.)
The fractured geology of the region is so unstable that
major
highways and
roads have
had to be abandoned due to the expensive and constant repairs and rebuilding
that must take place as roadways endlessly spall off and slide in to the
canyons below.
Approximately 25 miles long situated in an unusual East/West layout, the
San Gabriels are still being created through
volcanic uplift
(growing approximately 2 inches a year) with a major
San Andreas Fault
contact point
visible my looking generally North from the USFS Visitor
Center in the Crystal Lake Campgrounds.
Climbing the San Gabriel Mountains is hazardous but can be done safely with
caution and experience.
Mountain climbing isn't something that should be done without first acquiring
years of experience rock climbing. On the Internet there are extensive web
pages dedicated to the
Basics Of Rock Climbing, and there are numerous how-to books available
anywhere which cover the basics of safety, tools, equipment, methods, and
procedures.
Though rock climbing can be hazardous, when you start mountain climbing you
enter in to a different and more hazardous arena where altitude and fewer
opportunities for rescue add more danger to the sport.
Mountain climbing
is much like rock climbing taken to the next level.
Here are a set of videos taken by experienced climbers, some of which use
safety equipment to climb though usually the climbers in these videos are
experienced enough that using protective climbing equipment (ropes, pitons,
chocks, friends et al.) aren't used. As interesting climbing videos are
posted by climbing expert
Frozen Carnitas, they will be added to the top of the list of climbing
(and related) videos featured here.
Have fun and please climb safely!
Professional climbers with lots of experience are shown in these videos.
Regional Climbing Vidoes! We Got Them!
This web site is not operated or maintained by the US Forest Service, and
the USFS does not have any responsibility for the contents of any page
provided on the http://CrystalLake.Name/ web site. Also this web site is
not connected in any way with any of the volunteer organizations that are
mentioned in various web pages, including the
San Gabriel Mountains
Trailbuilders (SGMTBs) or the
Angeles Volunteers Association
(AVA.) This web site is privately owned and operated.
Please note that information on this web page may be inaccurate.