My friend and I were able to successfully climb Whitney today - much because of the preparation we obtained by reading this board so I thought I would post our experience.
Both of us are fairly in shape guys (I am 35, he is 29) with moderate backpacking experience and very limited technical mountaneering experience (first time in cramp ons for the both of us).
FRIDAY
Drove from LA to LONE PINE. Easily obtained a one day lead extension on our two day Whitney Zone permit from the visitor center. Drove to horseshoe meadows and camped. Had started taking Diamox on Thursday (125mg twice per day, I'd got sick at altitude before).
SATURDAY
Leisurely big breakfast and last minute shopping in LONE PINE. On the trail at 1pm. Arrived at Lone Pine Lake by about 4pm. Very relaxing nice place to camp. We had the pleasure of redirecting many delirious day hikers back on to the main trail as the evening waned.
SUNDAY
Up at 7, left camp around 9 (we are slow at breaking camp, it's been a while for me). Slowly made our way to Trail camp, arriving about 2. Enjoyed the scenery and stopped at mirror lake for lunch. Marveled at the glissade tracks some brave souls had taken above mirror lake. Hiked some fun snow banks in boots and poles, no more. Was crazy HOT at trail camp. My compass thermometer said 80 degrees. Met some interesting folks at trail camp and beyond including many folks spending 6 months hiking the PCT. Fascinating bunch of people. Trail camp had a fair amount of trash strewn about and made me wonder what September must look like.
MONDAY - the big day
Up at 4. Perhaps the most beautiful thing I saw the whole trip was waking up at trail camp seeing the darkened starry sky and crescent moon and the silhouette of the mountains and glowing sunrise in the east. I had the morning down to a system including making hot coffee and hot oatmeal but we still did not get on the trail till about 5:30am. This is about as late as you want to go because with current temperatures if you want ice on the chute you will need to be almost done by 7:30am because that is when it turns to slush. Reached base of chute at 6 and was eating beef jerky at trail crest by no later than 8. It was a steep go but very satisfying and fun. It was also great to see all ages of folks getting past the chute. I was particularly impressed or dumbfounded by some people doing it in Jeans including a German guy who did not have an ice axe. He put rented cramp ons on his trail runners and used trekking poles - and beat everybody up (turns out the guy runs like 8 marathons per year). Past trail crest on the west side to whitney it was a striking but very long 2 miles. The views of the sierras on this walk and at this top were amazing. There was a 14 year old kid who gave me a tour of every peak and gorge and I was very impressed. I was curious about how much of California you can actually see from the peak.
We headed down at 11. The chute was slush. Most of it was spent learning to glissade after about navigating halfway down with cramp ons and ice axe. I was generally going with the flow. In the beginning, some cautious experienced types used cramp ons the whole way but this was soon taken over by a culture of younger daredevils who looked like they were having too much fun glissading. I decided to give it a shot and found it surprisingly simples. I am a fairly facile skier and amateur snowboarder and found the ordeal not unlike other winter sports. After feeling comfortable with self arrest one gains the confidence to glissade. I glissade (with crampons OFF obviously) in a modified self arrest position with the spike which I see most people using. It seems more natural to me than using the pick as I see it formally described. One sober moment on the chute descent occurred when we saw and heard nasty rock fall as a boulder tumbled off the granite wall (thankfully far away from any people). We broke trail camp at 3:30 and was back at the car in portal by 7:30. Our descent was aided by several fun glissades including the most harrowing one which saved us about 1 hour above mirror lake. This thing looks nuts from the lake but overall not soo bad from the top. I felt very controlled in my arrest position and had a fantastic time.
Overall it was tons of fun. I hydrated well and ate carbs heartily. I took diamox twice a day. I learned new skills, made new friends and saw new places. I had the experience for one monent standing atop the highest boulder on the peak that for an instant, nobody in the contiguous 48 was higher than I was. I'm thinking about the Mountaineering route next summer if I consolidate my skills (and find a pair of hiking boots that don't hurt my feet).
SIDE NOTE: Very impressed by the heat up there. In one day the intact snow bridge we saw coming up at outpost camp (in front of the waterfall) had tumbled. Riverbank ice was cracking all around. Rocks we were hopping on to cross on 6/26 on the north frork of lone pine river were completely submerged on 6/27. If my Iphone starts working again I have pics of the switchbacks and from by my untrained eye they look fairly navigable save a few stretches of remaining snow cover. I wouldn't be surprised if they were open in one or two weeks max.
