California · Rock climbing · Lone Pine

South Pile

South Pile in California has 5 sport climbing routes across 3 difficulty grades.

South PilePhoto: RuggyBearLA, CC BY 2.0 (via Flickr)
5 routes
5.6 – 5.10a
Sport

Best time to visit South Pile

Best months: February–May and October–November. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

  1. Jan

    58° / 30°

    4 wet

  2. Feb

    61° / 33°

    4 wet

  3. Mar

    69° / 39°

    3 wet

  4. Apr

    76° / 44°

    1 wet

  5. May

    85° / 53°

    1 wet

  6. Jun

    96° / 62°

    1 wet

  7. Jul

    102° / 67°

    1 wet

  8. Aug

    101° / 65°

    1 wet

  9. Sep

    93° / 58°

    1 wet

  10. Oct

    81° / 48°

    1 wet

  11. Nov

    67° / 36°

    2 wet

  12. Dec

    57° / 29°

    4 wet

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Independence, CA, 14.6 mi away at 3,950 ft. The station sits about 600 ft lower than this place, so expect it a little cooler here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

South Pile is a climbing area in eastern California on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management's Bishop Field Office. Spring and fall are the most comfortable times to climb here. Typical averages from the nearby Independence weather station run to highs around 76°F with lows near 44°F in April, and highs near 81°F in October, while summer highs there top 100°F in July and August. Other climbing sits very close by. Kearsarge Dome aka The Battle Ship and the Entrance Piles are each about 0.1 mile away, and Alabama Hills is about 0.2 mile off. For camping, Tuttle Creek Campground is roughly 2.4 miles away.

Keep exploring — more climbs worth the drive

Choss Not Proud Enough To Name aka  Entrance PilesPhoto: m01229 from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

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