The Upper Whitney Glacier

March 27, 2010 - It is another 800 ft of 30-45 degree snow and ice climbing from here to the summit plateau on what I dubbed 'joyous hill'. Misery Hill is on the skyline to the right. The right side of 'joyous hill' sports a fourth icefall that looks like it has a number of pitches of easy glacier ice fin climbing that is still steep enough to require placing screws and setting belays. This was the last photo I took before my last night with Tom and the tragic repercussions of us choosing to bivvy on the sub-summit. Here the wind was calm, and we had no idea that the crest of the mountain was being blasted by 100 mph winds. Even the summit plateau was quiet . . .