My brother and I are getting ready to attempt our first summit of Whitney on this Friday July 1st 2011. We are planning on starting from Whitney Portal around 2 AM. I did have a few questions that I was hoping some of you might be able to answer:
1. We are both young 22 and 25, and in excellent shape (can both run a half-marathon or more without much difficulty). We are coming from sea-level and will not have the opportunity to acclimate to the altitude. Historically neither of us has had any issues with altitude sickness. Given these considerations and the fact that we have adequate mountaineering skills we should be able to make the summit right?
2. I understand that the switchbacks are impassable and that the Chute is the only way to the top. How difficult is it to locate the Chute? We have a map, compass, and GPS, but do not see it clearly marked.
3. Also since we will be traveling in the dark for the first 2-3 hours of our journey, and it will be a completely new moon. How difficult will it be to follow the trail to get to the Chute? My understanding is that once you get above the chute the trail is still somewhat treacherous but fairly easy to follow and more or less free of snow. According to the park service some of the trail on the way to the bottom of the chute can be somewhat hard to follow.
Thanks very much in advance to any of you who are willing to take the time to answer my questions.
-Christopher Lathen
-San Diego
