Route Climbed: Mt. Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 14 Jun 03
First time. Overnighted at Trail Camp Friday & Saturday. Beautiful weather, comfortable nights. Full moon lit the huge walls. Trail is mostly clear of snow, though there were a few tricky spots--leave the crampons at home. Cables still down in the switchbacks, one toilet open at each of Outpost and Trail Camps. Water everywhere except above switchbacks--3.5 liters was plenty for me. Tired and headachy enough on top that I forgot to look over the east edge--probably a good thing! One look at the climb up Muir and this trailwalker said no thanks. Met some fascinatingly in-shape people flying up and down the trail--one couple had no packs, and we saw them on Saturday and Sunday! We took 3 days, but would like to have spent 4--lots of pretty places to stay between Outpost and Trail Camp. Portal Store's shower and burgers not to be missed. Yum!
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 2 November 2002
This was my 2nd ascent of Mt. Whitney, and I did it just to prove to myself that the first time I made it up in August wasn't a fluke. The valuable lesson I learned on this trip was that hiking out in the dark is for the birds. When I made it to the top I had it all to myself. I was tempted to move into the hut and call it home!
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 18 August 2002
My first ascent to the top of the lower 48. Started just after midnight and was pretty much freezing and falling asleep by dawn at Trail Camp. Somehow managed to stay awake long enough to make it to the top. Valuable lessons learned, such as get some sleep beforehand and wear layers of Capaline.
Route Climbed: Mountaineers Route Date Climbed: May, 11,2003
Perfect Weather, not a cloud in the sky as far as we could see. Snow was nice and firm. Climbed with Kris.
Peak Freak - May 1, 2003 4:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2009
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: April 19, 2003
2003: Met up with Daniel & Kris to do the Mountaineer's Route. Weather was perfect. Snow conditions were great. Did not need snowshoes. Will post details in the trip report section.
2009: Went back and did the East Face with Kurt & Andy Aug 10, 2009
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: July 6, 2002
Strenuous with some tricky route finding but well worth it! Accompanied by my brother and my very good friend We set out from the Portal at 5:30 a.m. and summited by 3:00 p.m., stopping on the way up to make camp at Iceberg Lake. When we arrived back at our camp we realized that had we not been carrying tents, sleeping bags, stoves, and a two day supply of food we could have done it as a single day hike. Even with the excellent descriptions in the books available, the navigation is challenging in some portions.
Route Climbed: whitney trail Date Climbed: october2001
car to car was an ill 17 hours, probably because we didn't roll into the portal parking lot until midnight and some fools ended up (not) sleeping (at all) in the car or on the asphalt. Aside from all that it's a dope climb/trek and a great intro to high(er) altitude excursions. Nice views from the top, too. Thanks, CalCC!
Route Climbed: Keeler Needle "Harding Route" V 5.10 Date Climbed: July 1999
Offwidth Training. Thats what it takes to get up this most beautiful, majestic, awe inspiring ,heart thumping, gut checking monolith of stone.This peak was the one peak I absolutly had to do. Bob Cable and I subjected ourselves to countless hours thrashing and mashing up cracks to wide for the sane man to attempt , pints of blood and pounds of flesh were sacraficed to reach our goal. Schedules were set and training climbs met before we dared to attempt this climb.
I think we over did it. The climb was great, I thought some of the lower pitch cruxes were the toughest, but they were short and sweet. The red dihedral was magnificent. The crux offwidth, a great pitch, was not as tough as anticipated but what a euphoric relief to put that pitch behind us. The upper pitches were good and scenic,the rock quality was good, and we toped out on the summit. What an awesome climb,even mere mortals made it up. It took us 13 hours to complete the climb, we decended the mountaineers route and as usual got back to camp well after dark.
Route Climbed: "The Great Book" IV 5.9 Date Climbed: July, 1999
I climbed this excellent route with Bob Cable as a training climb for Keeler. The route starts up a large chimney system in a huge dihedral right of the "Direct East Face " dihedral . Some route descriptions show the route leaving the chimney earlier and gaining the bottom of the washboard, but we stayed in the chimney system until we gained the top of the washboard. Above the washboard we encontered two great pitches of real 5.9 climbing, The best climbing on the route. We toped out @ 7:30 and decended down the Mountaineers Routes . We arrived back to our camp well after dark, a seemingly standard practice for us
Route Climbed: The snowed in trail (hike from Whitney Portal) Date Climbed: November 1980
Miguel Carmona, Andy Fried and I hiked the trail from Whitney Portal to the summit in November of 1980. Early snow storm at the high camp had us dreaming, talking about future climbs and planning the next few years. This was THE FIRST TRIP of what turned out to be 22 years of sharing the same rope (so far) for Miguel and me. What a team!
Route Climbed: East Face III, 5.4 Date Climbed: February 19th, 1983
Miguel Carmona and I climbed the East Face in full winter conditions in February 1983. I remember, that year was very heavy snow year, we were ski mountaineering in the Eastern Sierra till mid July. Miguel and I took 10 hours from Iceberg Lake (including the descent) to climb the route. This was our first technical winter climb together. Many years later, people told us we did the third (or fourth) winter ascent of the face. 1st WA John Mendenhall and a partner, 2nd WA Galen Rowell and a partner, go figure that one.
Route Climbed: Whitney Portal Date Climbed: November 3rd, 2002
After spending a very cold night at the Trail Camp (temperatures well below freezing), we took off at 7:30am. Switchbacks were covered with ice and snow, but easily managed w/o crampons. We reached Trail Crest at 9:40am, and scrambled to the summit at 12:40pm. There were maybe 15 people on the summit that day. Day was cloudy but nevertheless beautiful. After spending close to 1 hour on the top and taking lots of pictures, we descended to the Trail Camp before 4pm. We are coming back next year to climb Mountaineering Route!!!
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: June 21, 2001
Still some snow on parts of the trail by late June. "Cable Crossing" above trail camp was built up badly with snow and ice. The build up was higher than the cables, which made it dangerous especially in the afternoon when the snow softened. Afternoon thunder shower on the hike down was exciting and a welcome break from the relentless intensity of the sun.
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: Oct. 27, 2002
With Sven Feldmann, in semi-winter conditions - it snowed a couple of inches in the preceding night, adding to the snow and ice already on the trail. The bad weather discouraged hikers from showing up which means we could get permits and had the trail (almost) to ourselves. Also bagged Crooks Peak (on some accounts a California 14er) and soloed Mount Muir from the trail.The bad weather lifted as we reached the summit and gave way to a perfect day - beautiful.
After climbing Muir we continued up the trail to Whitney. It was a bit smoky but still wonderful to be there. This was day 9 of our 10-day Kearsarge to Whitney Portal backpacking trip.
engineer charley - Jun 16, 2003 11:31 am
Route Climbed: Mt. Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 14 Jun 03First time. Overnighted at Trail Camp Friday & Saturday. Beautiful weather, comfortable nights. Full moon lit the huge walls. Trail is mostly clear of snow, though there were a few tricky spots--leave the crampons at home. Cables still down in the switchbacks, one toilet open at each of Outpost and Trail Camps. Water everywhere except above switchbacks--3.5 liters was plenty for me. Tired and headachy enough on top that I forgot to look over the east edge--probably a good thing! One look at the climb up Muir and this trailwalker said no thanks. Met some fascinatingly in-shape people flying up and down the trail--one couple had no packs, and we saw them on Saturday and Sunday! We took 3 days, but would like to have spent 4--lots of pretty places to stay between Outpost and Trail Camp. Portal Store's shower and burgers not to be missed. Yum!
Michael Tolchard - Jun 5, 2003 12:50 am
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 2 November 2002This was my 2nd ascent of Mt. Whitney, and I did it just to prove to myself that the first time I made it up in August wasn't a fluke. The valuable lesson I learned on this trip was that hiking out in the dark is for the birds. When I made it to the top I had it all to myself. I was tempted to move into the hut and call it home!
Michael Tolchard - Jun 3, 2003 11:00 pm
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: 18 August 2002My first ascent to the top of the lower 48. Started just after midnight and was pretty much freezing and falling asleep by dawn at Trail Camp. Somehow managed to stay awake long enough to make it to the top. Valuable lessons learned, such as get some sleep beforehand and wear layers of Capaline.
tahoeclimber - Jun 1, 2003 6:52 pm
Route Climbed: Mountaineers Route Date Climbed: May, 11,2003Perfect Weather, not a cloud in the sky as far as we could see. Snow was nice and firm. Climbed with Kris.
Peak Freak - May 1, 2003 4:29 pm Date Climbed: Aug 10, 2009
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: April 19, 20032003: Met up with Daniel & Kris to do the Mountaineer's Route. Weather was perfect. Snow conditions were great. Did not need snowshoes. Will post details in the trip report section.
2009: Went back and did the East Face with Kurt & Andy Aug 10, 2009
dankras - Apr 26, 2003 1:37 am
Route Climbed: mountaineer's route Date Climbed: April 19, 2003One of the most spectacular summit days; perfect snow, cloudless sky - one can't ask for more.
RickF - Mar 10, 2003 10:49 am
Route Climbed: Mountaineer's Route Date Climbed: July 6, 2002Strenuous with some tricky route finding but well worth it! Accompanied by my brother and my very good friend We set out from the Portal at 5:30 a.m. and summited by 3:00 p.m., stopping on the way up to make camp at Iceberg Lake. When we arrived back at our camp we realized that had we not been carrying tents, sleeping bags, stoves, and a two day supply of food we could have done it as a single day hike. Even with the excellent descriptions in the books available, the navigation is challenging in some portions.
theis - Feb 26, 2003 5:38 am
Route Climbed: Normal route Date Climbed: 15/9/01Climbed in one very long day. Attempted in March too - did not succeed
mookyee - Jan 21, 2003 1:33 am
Route Climbed: whitney trail Date Climbed: october2001car to car was an ill 17 hours, probably because we didn't roll into the portal parking lot until midnight and some fools ended up (not) sleeping (at all) in the car or on the asphalt. Aside from all that it's a dope climb/trek and a great intro to high(er) altitude excursions. Nice views from the top, too. Thanks, CalCC!
agorokhov - Jan 3, 2003 3:01 pm
Route Climbed: Main Trail Date Climbed: June 2002agorokhov - Jan 3, 2003 3:00 pm
Route Climbed: Main Trail Date Climbed: August 2000Eric Tipton - Dec 10, 2002 11:56 pm
Route Climbed: Keeler Needle "Harding Route" V 5.10 Date Climbed: July 1999Offwidth Training. Thats what it takes to get up this most beautiful, majestic, awe inspiring ,heart thumping, gut checking monolith of stone.This peak was the one peak I absolutly had to do. Bob Cable and I subjected ourselves to countless hours thrashing and mashing up cracks to wide for the sane man to attempt , pints of blood and pounds of flesh were sacraficed to reach our goal. Schedules were set and training climbs met before we dared to attempt this climb.
I think we over did it. The climb was great, I thought some of the lower pitch cruxes were the toughest, but they were short and sweet. The red dihedral was magnificent. The crux offwidth, a great pitch, was not as tough as anticipated but what a euphoric relief to put that pitch behind us. The upper pitches were good and scenic,the rock quality was good, and we toped out on the summit. What an awesome climb,even mere mortals made it up. It took us 13 hours to complete the climb, we decended the mountaineers route and as usual got back to camp well after dark.
Eric Tipton - Dec 10, 2002 9:56 pm
Route Climbed: "The Great Book" IV 5.9 Date Climbed: July, 1999I climbed this excellent route with Bob Cable as a training climb for Keeler. The route starts up a large chimney system in a huge dihedral right of the "Direct East Face " dihedral . Some route descriptions show the route leaving the chimney earlier and gaining the bottom of the washboard, but we stayed in the chimney system until we gained the top of the washboard. Above the washboard we encontered two great pitches of real 5.9 climbing, The best climbing on the route. We toped out @ 7:30 and decended down the Mountaineers Routes . We arrived back to our camp well after dark, a seemingly standard practice for us
aidclimb - Nov 26, 2002 7:58 am
Route Climbed: whitney trail using winter variations Date Climbed: November 25, 2002started on 11-24-02 to trail camp.
left trail camp at 2:30am 11-25-02 and summited at 8:00am.
returned to trail camp packed out and went to get some real food at 4:30pm in town.
asmrz - Nov 14, 2002 1:43 pm
Route Climbed: The snowed in trail (hike from Whitney Portal) Date Climbed: November 1980Miguel Carmona, Andy Fried and I hiked the trail from Whitney Portal to the summit in November of 1980. Early snow storm at the high camp had us dreaming, talking about future climbs and planning the next few years. This was THE FIRST TRIP of what turned out to be 22 years of sharing the same rope (so far) for Miguel and me. What a team!
asmrz - Nov 13, 2002 7:44 pm
Route Climbed: East Face III, 5.4 Date Climbed: February 19th, 1983Miguel Carmona and I climbed the East Face in full winter conditions in February 1983. I remember, that year was very heavy snow year, we were ski mountaineering in the Eastern Sierra till mid July. Miguel and I took 10 hours from Iceberg Lake (including the descent) to climb the route. This was our first technical winter climb together. Many years later, people told us we did the third (or fourth) winter ascent of the face. 1st WA John Mendenhall and a partner, 2nd WA Galen Rowell and a partner, go figure that one.
Misha - Nov 9, 2002 3:33 pm
Route Climbed: Whitney Portal Date Climbed: November 3rd, 2002After spending a very cold night at the Trail Camp (temperatures well below freezing), we took off at 7:30am. Switchbacks were covered with ice and snow, but easily managed w/o crampons. We reached Trail Crest at 9:40am, and scrambled to the summit at 12:40pm. There were maybe 15 people on the summit that day. Day was cloudy but nevertheless beautiful. After spending close to 1 hour on the top and taking lots of pictures, we descended to the Trail Camp before 4pm. We are coming back next year to climb Mountaineering Route!!!
notinkansas - Nov 9, 2002 11:25 am
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: June 21, 2001Still some snow on parts of the trail by late June. "Cable Crossing" above trail camp was built up badly with snow and ice. The build up was higher than the cables, which made it dangerous especially in the afternoon when the snow softened. Afternoon thunder shower on the hike down was exciting and a welcome break from the relentless intensity of the sun.
Romain - Nov 2, 2002 9:40 pm
Route Climbed: Whitney Trail Date Climbed: Oct. 27, 2002With Sven Feldmann, in semi-winter conditions - it snowed a couple of inches in the preceding night, adding to the snow and ice already on the trail. The bad weather discouraged hikers from showing up which means we could get permits and had the trail (almost) to ourselves. Also bagged Crooks Peak (on some accounts a California 14er) and soloed Mount Muir from the trail.The bad weather lifted as we reached the summit and gave way to a perfect day - beautiful.
You can find a full TR with photos on my webpage.
Dave K - Nov 1, 2002 10:47 pm
Route Climbed: Trail Date Climbed: August 2001After climbing Muir we continued up the trail to Whitney. It was a bit smoky but still wonderful to be there. This was day 9 of our 10-day Kearsarge to Whitney Portal backpacking trip.