By acclimating fully I also meant the idea of sleeping at altitude a couple nights. But my point is, there are a lot of people who don't have time or are not going to take the time to do that. I was one of those people and if I ever attempt again, its likely I would be doing the same thing.
I've only been above 13,000 ft three times.
#1 was Mt. Dana the year before our Mt. Whitney attempt. No AMS symptoms
#2 First Whitney attempt. Turned back on first 3rd of Switchbacks (probably short of 13,000 ft actually). 15 minutes after start of descent became very sick with vomiting. Made it down safely
Acclimation Plan: Red eye from Alaska, rest one day, hike the next
#3 Second Whitney attempt. Made summit fine with no AMS symptoms.
Acclimation Plan: Red eye from Alaska, rest one day including a drive to Horseshoe Meadows, hike the next. Took Diamox the second attempt and concentrated throughout hike on breathing technique
I was in very good hiking shape before both Whitney attempts. All summer long I had done 3-5,000 ft elevation climb hikes, sometimes 2/3 times a week. But the peak elevation on any of those hikes was just over 5,000 feet because most of the time I was starting at sea level.
I actually had people ask me why I didn't train at higher altitudes in Alaska. The answer is because anything over 6-7,000 feet in Alaska quickly turns into a mountaineering snow trip 12 months a year.
Just last night after work I did my first climb up 5,200 feet O'Malley and we ran into quite a bit of snow.
