Hello All,

I'm a new member, but semi-retired backpacker and peak climber trying to get back into scrambling up and down the local mountains and deserts.

My question is for any and all who have ascented Mt. Whitney other than snow covered and icy conditions. What sort of climbing would one suggest or recommend to make the climb to the top without suffering altitude related illnesses or injuires that would force one to turn back?

WileyCoyote wrote:Hello All,

I'm a new member, but semi-retired backpacker and peak climber trying to get back into scrambling up and down the local mountains and deserts.

My question is for any and all who have ascented Mt. Whitney other than snow covered and icy conditions. What sort of climbing would one suggest or recommend to make the climb to the top without suffering altitude related illnesses or injuires that would force one to turn back?

Preventing injuries:
-simple things like hiking a lot to develop strong legs and ankles
-keeping your eye on the ground in front of you, stop if you want to look around, so that you don't sprain your ankle or trip and fall

Preventing altitude illness:
-there's only one way, get acclimatized to altitude
-frequent training trips to altitude beforehand will give you and idea of your performance at altitude
-spend a couple of weeks in the mountains before you go to Whitney

Check out these links for hiking mt whitney: http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/
and http://sites.google.com/site/mtwhitneytrailinfo/

At the risk of turning this into a "California" thread I recommend the following sequence of local, Southern California summits to use as stepping stones toward Whitney:
1. Mt. Baldy (Mt. San Antonio), Elev. 10,064 ft. Devils Backbone trail, starting from Manker Flats without riding the chairlift.
2. San Jacinto, Elev. 10,834 ft. Devils Slide Trail, Seven Pines Trail, or Deer Spings Trail.
3. San Gorgonio, Elev. 11,499 ft. Vivian Creek Trail.
These are good overall endurance training day-hikes but you won't really know how your body will respond to the altitude of Whitney until you try it.

I read a lot about adjusting to altitude last year. I had an idea of how I wanted to climb Whitney and prepare for it but all that kind of went out the window when I did a 3 day weekend climb starting by driving from Moab, UT on a Friday evening. The highest point I had been to before Mt. Whitney was driving up to Glacier Point last May to give you an idea of my altitude experience.

My Whitney climb was tough due to lack of acclimatization but I feel that a very large portion of my discomfort was due to factors that I could've been better prepared for:

Water water water. I began to get nauseous above 12k on the second day and I wish I had drank more water before I started hiking. Same goes for food. Once my stomach was unhappy from the altitude the constant movement from hiking made it worse. Stock up on food and water early, before it becomes difficult to eat and drink. If you're acclimated this might not be a problem for you but it certainly was for me.

The trail itself is absolutely gorgeous, one of the best maintained trails out there. I was thinking the trail would be rougher than it was and wore some heavy duty boots. Trail shoes would be perfectly OK.

Water.... is life. Drink it. A lot - before during and after. At every rest stop, DRINK. Every single one. When you pee? DRINK! Every time. (not the pee, drink water or something).

Drink about a liter before you set foot on the trail. No, coffee is not a substitute, it dries you out.

Water. Its a simple recipe, H2O. Drink it.

DMT

RickF,

I hear you on the Cali thread. I've never been to that peak yet , but hope to in the near future.

I was curious to hear from current peak climbers in condition. I figured that acclimatizing is smart. My son's Boy Scout troop was/is(??) considering doing Whitney in early September if they get a permit, but they don't do any climbing locally. Not even a beginner hike like Mt. Wilson! I know with a few hikes I can bust my butt back into shape, but I would not want to have to see young boys/teens getting wiped out at 10-12K altittude or altitude sickness symptoms.

Thanks for the info.

You might also consider going to the Whitney Portal campground a couple of days before your Whitney hike and do day hikes to acclimatize. The campground is at 8000 feet. You could do a day hike up the Meysan Lake trail, which starts at the south side of the campground. The trail runs five miles to the lake and will get you up to 11,000 feet. You could also do the first three miles of the Whitney Main Trail to Lone Pine Lake (past Lone Pine Lake, you need a permit); that will get you to about 10,000 feet.

I have always done the portal the night prior. Then onto iceberg lake for night two and then onto the route of choice. I assume the OP is not doing it as a say hike? Scott

ScottyP,

I don't think so as the boys ages 13-17 have no prior long distance or altitude experience as of the time I'm writing this!

No need to overburden rangers and Mt. Rescue teams.


If I had the time, I could probably do it after some training hikes.

I would also highly recommend Horseshoe Meadows as a good place to acclimatize (if you hike beyond it, I believe you'll need a permit but they're easier to come by). The campground there is at 10,000'; a two or three-day fairly easy backpack would get you to the top of 14,000' Mt. Langley.

Wiley, I was NOT reccd the east face for them! Merely stating that I have had good luck with a base night at the portal and a second and at above 10k. I was assuming that they will overnight at trailcamp or somewhere similar. Scott

I am new to this site and climbing. I was planning on hiking Whitney this September and now have a change of plans. After a few emails to 1000pks, reading posts from this site and reading Paul Richins Jr's book I will go after Whitney next year. I have planned out about 32 peaks for this year and the same for next, starting at lower elevations and working up to those above 12,000ft. While none of them will be above an "easy" class 3, all are pretty much class 2, I don't want to be dissapointed with not summiting. With the hikes I have planned, local hikes (Mount Tam & Mount Hood/NorCal) to stay in condition, riding a bike and then ultimately the right diet prior to the hikes, I will be ready next fall/2011. [/b]

Scotty,

I figured you had reccd the easier approach, but these guys wanting to lead the boys have not done serious hiking let alone climbing in years.

I don't know if you've hiked at lower elevations, but they considered a hike from Chantry Flats R.S. to Sturtevant Falls and back a "good" day or training hike!

You guys and gals around here are talking something a little more "challenging" to say the least.

We spent about half a week hiking and climbing in Tuolumne acclimatizing before hitting up Whitney

The day before the ascent we hiked up half way from the portal and back down to see how we felt (excellent gauge to see if we were ready or not)

The next day we made the one day push with much success.

One of the members on the team trained by working on his VO2 max which helped immensely with the altitude.

The other two including myself trained by running or hiking in the hills ;-P

We all spent about 3 - 4 months training for the push.

Trekking poles help immensely!!!

Hope this helps!