Route Climbed: Mount Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 7/17/2002
Day hike with my son and daughter-in-law. Trained hard in Socal for 3 months and knew we were fit, but we still had 2 concerns: Socal peaks are 3000 feet lower than this one and we had no time to acclimate (drove up from sea level the evening before). Began hike from Whitney Portal at 3AM. Outpost Camp at 5AM, Trail Camp and first break at 6:40. Slowed a bit from here but reached the summit at 10:40 without too much trouble. We spent very little time on the peak as the weather had been building and was already looking fairly nasty with thunder in the distance. As we began our descent it began to snow, albeit very lightly. By Trail Crest this snow was mixed with ice pellets and then, as we descended further, rain. The rain increased in intensity through the afternoon and made conditions generally miserable. As a result, we did less sight seeing on the way down and basically did a power descent to the car so that we could dry off. Reached the portal at 4:20, bought a shower at the store and drove to Lone Pine for dinner. A wonderful day on an absolutely beautiful trail.
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 17 September 2000
17 September 2000, my first time at the summit of Whitney, was a one day effort. It was a very exillerating accomplishment, but not very fun.
14 January 2001, my second time on Whitney, my four partners and I did not get above 10,000 feet.
15 June 2001, was my second time at the summit. Although altitude still was an influencing factor, it was a lot more fun than the one day trip.
Feel free to read the three trip reports on Mount Whitney. I hope they make good reference comments for anyone contemplating doing Whitney in the future.
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Date Climbed: July 18, 2002
Spent a night at the portal, hiked to Upper Boyscout on July 17. Took about 4.5 hours with loaded packs. Rain and hail in later afternoon and evening. July 18 - 2 hours up to Iceberg. From there stayed left and climbed class 3/4 up to the based of the buttress route. (There is a really cool view of the east face if you scramble up to the notch between tower 1 and 2 on the buttress route) Then traversing right to the first gully, up to the top o fthe notch. Hail on and off all the way up to the top making the final chute a little hairy with some slippery rocks. Think it was about 2.5 -3 hours to the top from iceberg with the slight detour.
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: May 26, 1979
I made this climb during a long weekend with my buddy Blair. At the top of the notch, the chute to the summit was filled with snow. Blair climbed the face to the east of the chute to avoid the snow; I stuck to the rocks at the edge of the chute and picked my way up. There were several other parties on the route that day. During the descent, a highschool aged fellow from another party broke out of some steps across the snow in the chute and fell to end up spread-eagle, face-down on a small (20' x 20') snow patch above a cliff. The next fellow, hurrying across the same spot to help ALSO FELL and ended up in the same spot. This was enough for me. I took off down the west slopes with the intent of traversing back across the north slopes to the top of the notch. The closer I got to the notch the steeper the traverse. I was kicking steps in the snow and using my ice axe and ice hammer for handholds. Then, one kick didn't go in very far. I looked down, and noticed one crampon had come off and was stuck in the snow 3 feet to my right. Here I was, alone, unprotected by any rope or anchor, and staring at a very important piece of equipment which I would dearly like to have had, but which was not obtainable. I left it there and just kicked harder to get to the safety of the notch, which was 50 feet away. Meanwhile, the climbers above had set protection and gotten out the ropes and were able to lower the injured climbers down to me at the notch. The only injuries were bumps and scrapes, and everyone got down safely to the campsites below the east face. All's well that ends well, and this experience has provided a heck of a party story. Be careful folks. The mountains can be dangerous as well as fun!
Route Climbed: Mountaineer`s route Date Climbed: April 2000
Early spring conditions. Snow was perfect..... both in the morning and evening. Camped at 12,000 feet, and sumitted the next day at 1030am. It was sunny, but quite windy.
Knowing how crowded Whitney usually is, it was very satifying to be the only ones on top during Easter weekend!! The route and the summit view combined makes this a beautiful mountain to climb.
Route Climbed: mountaineer's route Date Climbed: sept 7,2001
A group of six from Ridgecrest summited via the mountaineer's route in 8 hours. Returned to parking lot via the "superhighway" trail. RT in 13 hours. Third ascent of Whitney, the others were in 1983 from the west side JMT and 1987 via main trail.
Route Climbed: Da Trail Date Climbed: April 14, 2002
Spring conditions. Slush during the afternoon involving body height post-holes (one guy sank in 7-8 feet!) with winds gusting up to 110 mph on the hike out. At least no quota ;-) Probably not a good idea to be on the East Face with those winds but I did run into 3 people intent on camping on the summit (they ended up sleeping in the summit hut). Lightning could be seen at Trail Camp on the night of the 14th. If you want to read an extremely verbose version of this summit log, feel free to read my SP Trip Report.
Route Climbed: Mountaineers route Date Climbed: April 1999
Alone on Easter Weekend! What are the chances of that! This was our first CA 14er, and one of the best. Whitney in the summer on the trail is a drag. Way too many people. This is one place on God's Green Earth where having a quota is actually a good idea. Conditions were at their spring best. Windy at the notch at the end of the coulior, and way too icy to traverse to less steep ground, so we we climbed straight up from the notch. This was fun 'cause it was steeper than what we planned for, yet still doable. We couldn't believe we were alone on the summit. That will probably never happen again.
Route Climbed: East Buttress Date Climbed: 30 Aug 2000
Very classic. Started at 5:00 AM before the crowd got wild. You can start about anywhere from the Second Tower and turn it into an adventure. We had some fun after the third pitch and went way right, out into No-Man's Land. Good exposure looking down into the Mountaineer's Route. Found some fun scampering up 5.8/5.9 cracks (old pins stamped TMH...I'm assuming these were T.M. Herbert's) and a few faded fixed lines from seasons past dangling down into the M.R. Summitted at 9:00 AM. Took a good sized nap till 11:00 then hiked over to Mt. Russell for some more abuse.....
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: 2-28 thru 3-2-2002
So close I could taste it! This route takes on a whole new challange during the winter. I made it to the notch at 14,000 foot before turning back. The wind was incredible! 80+ mph gusts that literally could blow a climber off the mountain. Several times I found myself dropping to the ground, plunging my axe as deep as I could get it to keep from being blown down the gully. This was my second attempt this winter. Except for the wind high on the mountain the weather was awesome. What an incredible place to be during the winter!!!
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: 2/01/02
Turned back just below lower boyscout lake. Very nice weather.......clear.....cold.....no wind. Lots of new snow. Snow shoes a must. I broke one of my ski poles and the rivits in one of my snowshoes broke making it impossible to use. My partner continued on. He met up with a guided group led by Kurt Wedberg and hopefully will summit tommorow.
Route Climbed: the badwater route from the east Date Climbed: july '98
Summated at the finish of an endurance run, badwater, by the grace of GOD late in the evening as it got dark, it was very windy and cold. Beautiful summit.
A friend and I turned around and started down but I had been up for over 2 days and was falling asleep on my feet in the dark along the '99 switchbacks so we slept in the freezing cold till we could go on, got down to the trailhead at the portals as the sun came up. Praise GOD!
Route Climbed: See Below..... Date Climbed: See Below.....
Hiked/climbed Mt Whitney four times now. The first three times were one-day trips via the Mt Whitney trail (08/1997, 07/1998 and 08/1998). The last time I did it was via an ascent of the Mountaineer's Route, with a descent of the Mt Whitney Trail (07/1999). The last trip was an overnighter (where we stayed at Iceberg Lake). Each Mt Whitney experience I have had can be summarized in just two words: Simply Fantastic!!!
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Date Climbed: july 01
Great trip! I went with 2 friends and we had a great time, the mountaineer's route is pristine. Other climbers we met were a pleasure to talk with. The toilet on the top was pretty funny to see.
The one thing that I can remember the most was there were 2 guys smoking and had to stop at each switchback to take a puff. I don't think they made it to the summit. Don't remember seeing them there.
Marathon - Jul 26, 2002 4:28 pm
Route Climbed: Mount Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 7/17/2002Day hike with my son and daughter-in-law. Trained hard in Socal for 3 months and knew we were fit, but we still had 2 concerns: Socal peaks are 3000 feet lower than this one and we had no time to acclimate (drove up from sea level the evening before). Began hike from Whitney Portal at 3AM. Outpost Camp at 5AM, Trail Camp and first break at 6:40. Slowed a bit from here but reached the summit at 10:40 without too much trouble. We spent very little time on the peak as the weather had been building and was already looking fairly nasty with thunder in the distance. As we began our descent it began to snow, albeit very lightly. By Trail Crest this snow was mixed with ice pellets and then, as we descended further, rain. The rain increased in intensity through the afternoon and made conditions generally miserable. As a result, we did less sight seeing on the way down and basically did a power descent to the car so that we could dry off. Reached the portal at 4:20, bought a shower at the store and drove to Lone Pine for dinner. A wonderful day on an absolutely beautiful trail.
Chucky - Jul 21, 2002 7:52 am
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 17 September 200017 September 2000, my first time at the summit of Whitney, was a one day effort. It was a very exillerating accomplishment, but not very fun.
14 January 2001, my second time on Whitney, my four partners and I did not get above 10,000 feet.
15 June 2001, was my second time at the summit. Although altitude still was an influencing factor, it was a lot more fun than the one day trip.
Feel free to read the three trip reports on Mount Whitney. I hope they make good reference comments for anyone contemplating doing Whitney in the future.
Go for it and have fun!
kdonaldson - Jul 20, 2002 11:44 am
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Date Climbed: July 18, 2002Spent a night at the portal, hiked to Upper Boyscout on July 17. Took about 4.5 hours with loaded packs. Rain and hail in later afternoon and evening. July 18 - 2 hours up to Iceberg. From there stayed left and climbed class 3/4 up to the based of the buttress route. (There is a really cool view of the east face if you scramble up to the notch between tower 1 and 2 on the buttress route) Then traversing right to the first gully, up to the top o fthe notch. Hail on and off all the way up to the top making the final chute a little hairy with some slippery rocks. Think it was about 2.5 -3 hours to the top from iceberg with the slight detour.
IdahoSummits - Jul 19, 2002 2:41 pm
Route Climbed: Tourist Route Date Climbed: July 12, 2002Hiked into trail camp on day 1. Sat around, then hit it at 4:00 AM on day 2. Had the summit to ourselves!
ocelot - Jul 9, 2002 11:24 pm
Route Climbed: Whtney Portal Trail Date Climbed: summer, 1979First attempt summer 1967 via mountaineer's route with Dad. Got snowed out at Iceberg Lake.
First summit summer, 1979
Second summit summer, 1983
Third summit July 4, 1988 from base camp at Sky Blue Lake to the south.
Forth summit September 2001 added it as a side trip to Mt. Muir
What can I say? Its there, and its great!
Wildtrail - Jun 28, 2002 3:27 pm
Route Climbed: Mountaineers Route and East Face Route Date Climbed: May 2001Got AMS bad. Had to turn back. Doing it again in September 2002. Wish me luck!
phomchick - May 19, 2002 2:48 pm
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: May 26, 1979I made this climb during a long weekend with my buddy Blair. At the top of the notch, the chute to the summit was filled with snow. Blair climbed the face to the east of the chute to avoid the snow; I stuck to the rocks at the edge of the chute and picked my way up. There were several other parties on the route that day. During the descent, a highschool aged fellow from another party broke out of some steps across the snow in the chute and fell to end up spread-eagle, face-down on a small (20' x 20') snow patch above a cliff. The next fellow, hurrying across the same spot to help ALSO FELL and ended up in the same spot. This was enough for me. I took off down the west slopes with the intent of traversing back across the north slopes to the top of the notch. The closer I got to the notch the steeper the traverse. I was kicking steps in the snow and using my ice axe and ice hammer for handholds. Then, one kick didn't go in very far. I looked down, and noticed one crampon had come off and was stuck in the snow 3 feet to my right. Here I was, alone, unprotected by any rope or anchor, and staring at a very important piece of equipment which I would dearly like to have had, but which was not obtainable. I left it there and just kicked harder to get to the safety of the notch, which was 50 feet away. Meanwhile, the climbers above had set protection and gotten out the ropes and were able to lower the injured climbers down to me at the notch. The only injuries were bumps and scrapes, and everyone got down safely to the campsites below the east face. All's well that ends well, and this experience has provided a heck of a party story. Be careful folks. The mountains can be dangerous as well as fun!
synne.chadwick - May 18, 2002 6:01 am
Route Climbed: Mountaineer`s route Date Climbed: April 2000Early spring conditions. Snow was perfect..... both in the morning and evening. Camped at 12,000 feet, and sumitted the next day at 1030am. It was sunny, but quite windy.
Knowing how crowded Whitney usually is, it was very satifying to be the only ones on top during Easter weekend!! The route and the summit view combined makes this a beautiful mountain to climb.
sierragator - May 5, 2002 6:04 pm
Route Climbed: mountaineer's route Date Climbed: sept 7,2001A group of six from Ridgecrest summited via the mountaineer's route in 8 hours. Returned to parking lot via the "superhighway" trail. RT in 13 hours. Third ascent of Whitney, the others were in 1983 from the west side JMT and 1987 via main trail.
John - Apr 16, 2002 2:53 am
Route Climbed: Da Trail Date Climbed: April 14, 2002Spring conditions. Slush during the afternoon involving body height post-holes (one guy sank in 7-8 feet!) with winds gusting up to 110 mph on the hike out. At least no quota ;-) Probably not a good idea to be on the East Face with those winds but I did run into 3 people intent on camping on the summit (they ended up sleeping in the summit hut). Lightning could be seen at Trail Camp on the night of the 14th. If you want to read an extremely verbose version of this summit log, feel free to read my SP Trip Report.
jeffn - Apr 3, 2002 8:03 pm
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Date Climbed: July 2000Dragged 2 Brits up to show off what we Yanks have. It worked. Took the Trade Route down. Mistake and a let down after the trip up.
darinchadwick - Apr 2, 2002 6:19 am
Route Climbed: Mountaineers route Date Climbed: April 1999Alone on Easter Weekend! What are the chances of that! This was our first CA 14er, and one of the best. Whitney in the summer on the trail is a drag. Way too many people. This is one place on God's Green Earth where having a quota is actually a good idea. Conditions were at their spring best. Windy at the notch at the end of the coulior, and way too icy to traverse to less steep ground, so we we climbed straight up from the notch. This was fun 'cause it was steeper than what we planned for, yet still doable. We couldn't believe we were alone on the summit. That will probably never happen again.
Dave Daly - Mar 6, 2002 3:27 pm
Route Climbed: East Buttress Date Climbed: 30 Aug 2000Very classic. Started at 5:00 AM before the crowd got wild. You can start about anywhere from the Second Tower and turn it into an adventure. We had some fun after the third pitch and went way right, out into No-Man's Land. Good exposure looking down into the Mountaineer's Route. Found some fun scampering up 5.8/5.9 cracks (old pins stamped TMH...I'm assuming these were T.M. Herbert's) and a few faded fixed lines from seasons past dangling down into the M.R. Summitted at 9:00 AM. Took a good sized nap till 11:00 then hiked over to Mt. Russell for some more abuse.....
mdostby - Mar 4, 2002 9:38 am
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: 2-28 thru 3-2-2002So close I could taste it! This route takes on a whole new challange during the winter. I made it to the notch at 14,000 foot before turning back. The wind was incredible! 80+ mph gusts that literally could blow a climber off the mountain. Several times I found myself dropping to the ground, plunging my axe as deep as I could get it to keep from being blown down the gully. This was my second attempt this winter. Except for the wind high on the mountain the weather was awesome. What an incredible place to be during the winter!!!
sidhayes - Feb 23, 2002 3:00 pm
Route Climbed: Trail Date Climbed: 8-20-2000Climbed the peak on a good weather day in 2:24 and walked down. Third time to the top.
mdostby - Feb 2, 2002 2:31 pm
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: 2/01/02Turned back just below lower boyscout lake. Very nice weather.......clear.....cold.....no wind. Lots of new snow. Snow shoes a must. I broke one of my ski poles and the rivits in one of my snowshoes broke making it impossible to use. My partner continued on. He met up with a guided group led by Kurt Wedberg and hopefully will summit tommorow.
steve simmons - Jan 3, 2002 5:26 am
Route Climbed: the badwater route from the east Date Climbed: july '98Summated at the finish of an endurance run, badwater, by the grace of GOD late in the evening as it got dark, it was very windy and cold. Beautiful summit.
A friend and I turned around and started down but I had been up for over 2 days and was falling asleep on my feet in the dark along the '99 switchbacks so we slept in the freezing cold till we could go on, got down to the trailhead at the portals as the sun came up. Praise GOD!
dshoe - Dec 21, 2001 10:15 am
Route Climbed: See Below..... Date Climbed: See Below.....Hiked/climbed Mt Whitney four times now. The first three times were one-day trips via the Mt Whitney trail (08/1997, 07/1998 and 08/1998). The last time I did it was via an ascent of the Mountaineer's Route, with a descent of the Mt Whitney Trail (07/1999). The last trip was an overnighter (where we stayed at Iceberg Lake). Each Mt Whitney experience I have had can be summarized in just two words: Simply Fantastic!!!
sirusvirus12 - Dec 6, 2001 11:30 pm
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Date Climbed: july 01Great trip! I went with 2 friends and we had a great time, the mountaineer's route is pristine. Other climbers we met were a pleasure to talk with. The toilet on the top was pretty funny to see.
mtngirl - Nov 18, 2001 2:22 pm
Route Climbed: trailhead Date Climbed: 1984The one thing that I can remember the most was there were 2 guys smoking and had to stop at each switchback to take a puff. I don't think they made it to the summit. Don't remember seeing them there.