Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports Fourth Needle

While there is plenty of discussion here about the popular climbs in the Mt. Whitney area, hardly anyone thinks about doing new routes. But here is a recent one, last summer: Fourth Needle, East Face. The difficulty is out of reach for many of us, but not all.

There are many other such features in the area that have seen little or no activity, especially along Pinnacle Ridge. Much of it is in the low 5th class range, or even 4th.

Adventure is where you look for it.

Is this an entirely new route? I do not think that I have seen this route in either of my guide books (over my head, of course, but I enjoy looking at the many routes)

That page comes from the AAJ list of "New routes". Nice route.

Here are some views of the feature from the other side of Pinnacle Ridge. I believe the Fourth Needle is the highpoint in each shot.







Higher-res versions at my site: http://www.qitnl.com/v/072210/?g2_page=5

Nice pictures! Looking at the pix in the article, I agree with you that the highest point looks like Fourth Needle.