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Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 11:07 am
by desainme
Inconvenient gain allowed? Corcoran Ca. to Mt. Whitney 80 miles and 14,300 elevation gain. 80 miles for a crow that is.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:27 pm
by blackhawk
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Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 2:35 pm
by lcarreau
I know you said in the Lower 48, but the Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii is somewhere between 13,675 to 13,680 feet above sea level, and you wouldn't need an ice axe or crampons.

Be aware : (Mauna Loa is still considered active). There is no shade and there is absolutely NO WATER (no snow to melt either).

I would stick with the Mojave desert peaks for this time of the year.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:20 pm
by mstender
Take a look at White Mountain Peak in CA. If approached from the East from outside the town of Dyer, NV, it is over 10000 ft elevation gain and 25 miles round trip.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 3:24 pm
by Palisades79
Take a look at Spanish Mountain in the Sierras which is above the deepest canyon in the 48 States. I do no know if anyone ever starts at the Kings River . The view from the summit of Tehipite Dome is grand.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:39 pm
by MoapaPk
If you want a "hike," Telescope via Shorty's Well and San Jacinto are most convenient... but both have weather windows, and both are currently snow climbs (at least above 7000') of a sort. Telescope peak via Shorty's Well is probably worse in snow*; there is a steep, talus-covered part from about 8000' to 9900', which is already slippery enough when there is no snow. When there is substantial snow, there can be slippery hard pack on the east, from about 9700' to the summit of Telescope. San Jacinto and C2C are so popular that within a few days after a snowstorm, the path from the tram to the summit is often broken and packed, and even the C2C gets packed on the upper part. I'm told that the most dangerous part of C2C in winter is about 7400', where the trail winds to the north side and traverses a steep slope; I went by there when the path was well-packed, but I can imagine that with harder snow, the bad runout could be fatal.

Telescope from Shorty's Well is more of a logistical problem. Unless you want to go all the way back down after the climb, you arrange for a shuttle car at Mahogany Camp, which is closed much of the year. In the shorter days of winter and late fall, people can almost always take the tram down from San Jacinto.

* there was little snow visible on the east side of Telescope on Dec 10, but I'm guessing that conditions have changed a lot recently.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 5:48 pm
by Vitaliy M.
NE ridge of Williamson is one of the biggest routes (about 9000ft of gain straight from owens valley).
Non standard routes on Rainier and Shasta have A LOT of gain. This year my friends and I did Whitney glacier from Bolam TH (5,500ft). That was 9000+ to the summit if you include up and downs. Liberty Ridge from White river TH is a lot of gain. Isn't white river TH at about 4500ft or something? And you have to climb over a pass and Curtis ridge on the way..So probably over 11K of gain from TH?

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:03 pm
by Baarb
lcarreau wrote:I know you said in the Lower 48, but the Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii is somewhere between 13,675 to 13,680 feet above sea level...


Still not in the lower 48 but might be worth mentioning that Mauna Kea is slightly higher at 13,796 ft. This discussion probably wouldn't take long using some GIS software. You would just need a snow cover layer or two, and a topomap. Then remove all the area that has snow and look at elevation changes within specified radii from summits in the remaining area. Or something like that.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:04 pm
by ExcitableBoy
Vitaliy M. wrote:Liberty Ridge from White river TH is a lot of gain. Isn't white river TH at about 4500ft or something? And you have to climb over a pass and Curtis ridge on the way..So probably over 11K of gain from TH?


White River is 4,400 and you have to drop about 1,000 feet to the Carbon so I think you are correct, 11k+. If you starat at Ipsut Creel TH @ 2,300 ft that would be a 12,100 ft ascent. Climbing Tahoma Glacier from West Side Road would be like 12,200 ft. I am guessing these are the largest elevation gains in the contiguous U.S. starting from the highest normally used trailheads.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:35 pm
by blackhawk
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Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:42 pm
by Vitaliy M.
EB, how much elevation gain does Ptarmigan ridge have (approximately)?

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:43 pm
by lcarreau
Lionel wrote:Learn to read.



BTW, please give us the DIRT on Dirton, AZ. Where is it located ??? :D

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:53 pm
by ExcitableBoy
Vitaliy M. wrote:EB, how much elevation gain does Ptarmigan ridge have (approximately)?

'That depends. If you start at Mowich lake and approach via spray park, like 9,000 ft. However, by the time Mowich Lake road is opened (August some years) Ptarmigan Ridge will be very out of shape - essentially a vertical bowling alley. If you attempt it early season when you have a hope of good conditions you have to start at the gate at Paul Peak which adds a couple thousand feet and 5.5 miles. And you have to decide how to descend and most likely shuttle a car. If you approach via White River (allows an easy peasy descent down the Emmons, no car shutttle) you can figure on 12,000 ft + since you basically make the approach for Lib Ridge but from the 10k bivi on PR, you have to drop almost 1000 ft to start the route proper.

If you come this way to attempt PR, I'd be interested in going with you. I have a score to settle with that route :D

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:58 pm
by ExcitableBoy
To the OP; Sunset Ridge on Rainier does not require glacier travel, but word on the street is it is not especially straight forward.

Re: Most elevation gain in the 48 States.

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 7:49 pm
by MoapaPk
Lionel wrote:In other words not the prominence it has from its nearest saddle, but over it's local terrain. Also, only by hiking, or requiring no specialized gear like crampons or an ice ax? I have and have used both of those, but some of the folks I would hike this potential mountain with, do not.


Folks, remember what Lionel wanted. Even with his caveats, he has to watch whether it would be wise to have microspikes and "specialized" equipment (like bread bags :) ) for San J.