California · Rock climbing · Swall Meadows

Upper Elbow Room

Upper Elbow Room in California has 12 climbing routes across 9 grades, offering sport and trad styles.

Upper Elbow RoomPhoto: Ben Chun, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)
12 routes
5.6 – 5.12c
Sport · Trad

Is Upper Elbow Room open right now?

Alert in the area

The Forest Service lists 4 alerts for Inyo National Forest.

As of · Source: USFS · Inyo National Forest. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

Best time to visit Upper Elbow Room

Best months: April–May and October. 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

    56° / 24°

    4 wet

  2. Feb

    59° / 26°

    4 wet

  3. Mar

    67° / 31°

    3 wet

  4. Apr

    74° / 37°

    2 wet

  5. May

    83° / 44°

    2 wet

  6. Jun

    94° / 51°

    1 wet

  7. Jul

    100° / 57°

    1 wet

  8. Aug

    98° / 54°

    1 wet

  9. Sep

    90° / 47°

    1 wet

  10. Oct

    78° / 37°

    1 wet

  11. Nov

    64° / 27°

    2 wet

  12. Dec

    55° / 22°

    3 wet

Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Bishop Ap, CA, 16 mi away at 4,102 ft. The station sits about 1,600 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.

Upper Elbow Room is a climbing area in California's Inyo National Forest, within the White Mountain Ranger District. City Land manages the land, and the area sits right beside two other climbing spots: Sanitarium and Failsafe Wall, each about a tenth of a mile away. Spring and fall are the most comfortable times to visit. Typical averages from the Bishop airport weather station, about 16 miles away, show April highs around 74°F and October highs near 78°F, while July averages about 100°F and January lows drop to around 24°F. The climbing here is a mix of sport and traditional routes, with 10 sport routes and 2 trad routes. Grades run from 5.6 up to 5.12c. Some of the named routes include Sunset Sam (5.6, trad), Stella (5.8, sport) and Serial Driller (5.12c, sport).

Routes (12)

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