South Guard ranks as the 103rd highest summit in California,[2] and the third-highest point of the northern Great Western Divide.

[4] The first ascent of South Guard's lower 12,964-ft peak was made July 26, 1916, by Walter L. Huber, James Rennie, Florence C. Burrell, and Inezetta Holt.

The main 13,232-ft summit was first climbed July 17, 1925, by Norman Clyde, who is credited with 130 first ascents, most of which were in the Sierra Nevada.

[7] Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains.

As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift).