Jason, sincere condolences on your loss. You and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.
I admire your father for tackling big mountains at 75 YO - it speaks to a zest for life and a refusal to limit the type of challenges the vast majority of people his age would not even consider, let alone actively pursue.
Serious or fatal accidents on Mt. Whitney are discussed and debated on this board and others in the hope that an instructive lesson might possibly prevent another such accident. Unfortunately, these situations often occur when a hiker is alone and there are no witnesses, so it becomes educated speculation. I think Steve's scenario is about as good a hypothesis as the limited known facts of your father's case allow. He's the senior moderator of the Whitney Zone and was actually on the north slope a couple of weeks ago specifically to document in detail a traverse that board members had been inquiring about.
I hope you can find closure to this awful event. We're all family in the mountains, and we've lost one of our own to some degree as well. Rest in peace Dawson.
