Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion So, how many times have you been on the summit of Whitney??

I'm just curious how many times people who post here have hiked or climbed to the summit of Mount Whitney.

I've only done the hike 5 times. Three times up the Mule Trail (Main Trail) from the Portal, once up the Mountaineer's Route, and once as I was heading out after camping at Guitar Lake; so I'm not a Whitney expert like some of the folks who post on the forum and give advice. I'm probably still considered a Whitney novice (I don't like the use of the slang term noob for someone without a lot of experience).

Anyway, what's your number of successful Whitney hikes/climbs and why do you keep going back?

Just once, why you ask? Because it was there.

Kathy -

I've done it about 15 times, and many more times up to Trail Camp as a somewhat rigorous day hike. When I lived in Inyokern, I tried to do it twice a year - spring and fall.

As to why - well, I hike alot, and so it comes into the 'rotation' on a regular basis. It's a very pretty hike - spectacular in some places. And doing it regularly gives me feedback on my general fitness level. It's also relatively close by, so getting to the VC for a pass is about an hour's drive.

I think twice for me. Once from the West doing the High Sierra Trail and then again by the MMWT. Went West to East over the crest once but did not have time to do the summit.

Twice in 5 attempts. Backed off first attempt by snow etc in August, 1964. Summitted on second with parents and 9 year old brother, July, 1967. Backed off third by girlfriend's AMS, July 20-21, 1969. That night, we were two of very few people on the planet not watching the first moonwalk on TV. We had a better view than that. Third attempt summitted solo, up the chute June 19, 1993 and had the summit to myself for about an hour. Glorious. Last year, backed off by snow and ice below Kaweah Gap, July 12. Technically, that was backed off twice, for six attempts. Drove around from SEKI and couldn't get enough permits, mid week, no less. Interagency Center was deluged the weeks after the switches finally cleared.

I keep trying to find the rock I bivvied under in ice water on the first attempt. Oh, and taking loved ones to a favorite spot.

Let's see... once via East Face, once via East Buttress, once via Mountaineer's route, and via the trail 6 times, twice as a day hike. So 9 times. I have turned around at Trail crest 3 additional times for various reasons.

I have been to the summit 4 times and to Trail Camp 6 times. Why? Read my trip report from 8 years ago. My first few trips included people who had Summit Fever. That inspired me to take a lot of notes to share with first timers.

I did it last year for first time. Day hike starting at 3:00 am. Overall time (breaks included) 9:30 hs to reach the summit. 45 years old in good condition. Reached Trail Camp in 4 hs,long break there, 2 hs hiking the switchbacks but from Trail Crest to summit I felt the altitude with nausea but no headaches and took me a little more than 2:30 hs to cover that distance.
I'm going for my second summit at the end of july.

11 times in the last two months from all sides of the mountain in snow and dry land love the climb every time will be back at portal tonight for # 12 leaving early AM working on best time, and i don't say this with a cocky attitude i am thankful and blessed and love being on the trails.

MW85

5 times up the main trail
3 times on the backside past Trailcrest
2 times turned back due to time/weather
1 summit

Trips summary:

• Tried to get to Trail Camp first day and didn't make it. Much harder hike than expected. Made it to Outpost Camp with sore feet from much too small of boots ( black toenails for almost a year afterwords ). Summit day was getting as far as Trail Camp. Hiking slow and taking too many pictures. From now on I do multi day ascents stopping at Outpost and Trail Camp.
• Successful ascent stopping overnight at Outpost and Trail Camps. Hiking slow and taking too many pictures! Summit day I turned back at the Keeler Needle notch due to weather. Was resting late in the day wondering if we should turn back when suddenly the air went still. This usually isn't a good sign weather wise, so we headed down. Sure enough, it was raining/hailing a good part of the way to Trailcrest.
• Ditto to the previous trip except this time the weather was better and got to spend almost an hour at the summit running around taking pictures!
• Didn't even try for the summit. Spent some time exploring around Trail Camp and climbed Wotan's Throne. Found and signed the register.
• Wasn't planning on trying for the summit, but ended up giving it a try. We were staying a couple of days at Trail Camp. The first day the group I was with was going to the summit and I joined them rather than stay at camp. Hiking slow and taking too many pictures! While the pictures look great, they DON'T convey how miserably cold and windy it was. I got almost to Keeler Needle and was no longer having any fun. While I was resting along side the trail, the rest of the group, that had gone on ahead long before, passed me heading back down and I joined them. The next day I achieved my main objective for this trip when I went partway up the NW ridge of Wotan's Throne and took this Gigapan Mt Whitney ridge line and south east face as seen from Wotan's Throne ( oops, guess I need to enter a real description for that Gigapan )

Joel Baldwin wrote:
> The next day I achieved my main objective for this trip when I went partway up the NW ridge of Wotan's Throne and took this Gigapan Mt Whitney ridge line and south east face as seen from Wotan's Throne ( oops, guess I need to enter a real description for that Gigapan )


Joel!!! Where have you been hiding that picture?!!

I just checked it out, and in the left side, I can find nearly all the switchbacks, from Trail Crest almost to Trail Camp. By the way, I found four hikers near the bottom, and a few at Trail Crest, but none in between. Even the Trail Crest sign is visible!

Please.... Start a new thread describing it. I want to put it into the "Links to important Whitney information" post. What date did you take the picture(s), and what time of day? What sort of camera and equipment???

Once last year, day hike to summit. Going again in August and I am thinking about going Tuesday.

Yes, the first three switchbacks are blocked by one of Wotan's ribs. Excellent giga photo!

5 summits in 6 tries. The one failure was due to a thunderstorm. We turned around at the John Muir Trail junction. The last summit was 3 years ago for my 60th birthday. I might try again when I turn 65.

Sorry, I don't know how to say this without appearing elitist or given to lecturing. My intent is simply to be helpful--perhaps to open some eyes. Maybe I can edit this later to do a better job.

Mt. Whitney is just one of about fifteen fine peaks accessible from Whitney Portal: Russell, Thor, Candlelight, LeConte, and more. To say nothing of a dozen spires--Keeler, Muir, Discovery, etc.--that, if targeted in their own right, are equally enjoyable objectives.

My claim is that a person who climbs each of those fifteen once, for example, comes away with a deeper sense of fulfillment than a person who does one of them fifteen times. The audience of this thread clearly enjoys the mountain experience, and some might want to think of this wider view.

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Having sidetracked KathyW's question, I'm happy to put things back on topic. So, how many times have you been on the summit of Whitney??

I'll echo Bob R's comments. There are dozens of worthy peaks to climb in the Sierras. Some are not as easy to "climb" as Mt. Whitney, but just as personally satisfying.

Here is a short list of peaks North of Whitney, on the east side of the range, that can be actually climbed without undue difficulty - perhaps Class 2 to 3: Split Mountain, Mt. Sill, Mt. Gayley, Mt Aggasiz, Basin Mountain, Hurd Peak, Mt. Johnson, Mt. Tom, etc. The list could go on and on.

Admittedly, most of these peaks don't have hamburger cafes at the start of the climb, and most don't have well-trodden hiking trails to the summit, which might make them less than attractive to some folks. I've only mentioned a few on the East side, and the West side of the range also has dozens of peaks worth climbing.

The High Sierra, by R.J. Secor, is an excellent resource for new adventures for those who might have become burned out on endlessly repeating the same old route up Whitney. Now, my next comment is probably going to really tick-off some of you, but too bad, sports fans.

There almost seems to be some kind of compulsiveness in ascending the same route over and over again, unless it becomes easier with repetition. Is there some kind of Guiness record being sought? Who is the big winner? Tah Dah!

I have climbed Mt. Whitney 16 times. My first time was 1971 when I was 11. The second time coming from Onion Valley I spent the night ontop that was 1977. The 3rd time was with my wife back in 1996 when I got back into hiking after marriage and having kids. I go back every year for a day hike most of the times with my wife who has done it 10 times.

I am trying for #17 & 18 this summer when we take our kids from Onion Valley to Whitney in August then, my day hike in September.

I keep going back because of the challenge and the beauty.

Happy Hiking!

Scott

Thanks for all the responses.

I do hikes to Mount San Gorgonio a number of times a year because I live close to it (I was up there today); so if I lived close to Mount Whitney I'd probably do it a few times a year. Seeing as it's a 3+ hour drive to the Eastern Sierra for me, I tend to like to check out different areas and try to get up other mountains to check out the view. Also, the crowd on the Whitney trail is difficult for me to deal with - If I'm going to drive to the Sierra, I like to go where the trails are not so crowded.

I agree there are some wonderful mountains in the area surrounding Whitney - the few that I've been up were well worth the time and effort to scramble up. I've had McAdie on the list for a while; so maybe I'll get a chance to try that one this summer. I think I might try it from Crabtree Pass instead of Arc Pass.

I think I've climbed Mt Whitney half a dozen times or so. Camped on top three times. But I must say, doing a number of other peaks has been lots of fun. I completed all the CA Fourteeners (well, except for that technical one, Polemonium) some years ago, don't have the urge to do them again.

But branching out, I've pushed a mtn bike to the top of White Mountain, and have done a few TSDHs (Trans-Sierra Day Hikes). Then I started doing a few legs of the JMT and PCT, so now I have covered everything from Mt Whitney to Echo Summit at the south end of Lake Tahoe.

I have a few more hikes and mountains on the list. ...so little time, so many mountains to climb!

Several times. But like they say, "you never forget your first."

Bob R - If variety is the spice of life, then it is the spice of hiking as well. I like to go to a lot of different places for the wonder of new discoveries. However, some of those peaks and spires require class 3 or 4 abilities which not everyone has. So, we do what we can and experience via trip reports for the ones we cannot. Although, not without a tear of disappointment

None, but I climbed Mt. Sunflower once.

Bob R

Great perspective, Bob. Laura sent me more in that direction when I was out there last year (which was also the first time I met her in person -- finally). I have appreciated the road less traveled ever since, though sadly, I have few opportunities to take advantage of that out there, given where I live.

Thanks for expanding our personal envelopes.

CaT

I think most people know my story of how Mt Whitney helped me set a goal, one goal, and in reality, one first goal after cancer surgery and after a new hip.

I was 48 years old and I had made a goal to summit Mt Whitney while at a friends home celebrating the 4th of July, 2005. I had run marathons, including the Wild Wild West in Lone Pine, done a couple of triathlons, and just enjoyed running to keep myself in halfway good shape. I wasn't a gym rat, but did like to workout. Problem was, I had injured my hip years earlier and it was just about done for. At the time I made a decision to summit Mt Whitney, it was a huge goal, as I couldn't even walk 1/4 of a mile, and the pain was excruciating at times.... which of course was helped by Valium, Vicodin, and well, some alcohol to really deaden the pain. So, here I am, sitting next to a pool, talking with my friend (who had stopped telling me about his marathon adventures because he thought it would make me feel bad,) and I tell him.... We're summiting Whitney. He was so happy and we immediately started figuring out how to do it. First, I needed a new hip. Well, God has a way of changing your plans and less than a month later, melanoma visited me. Scary stuff, in light of the fact the first doctor said I'd be lucky to be here in 5 years! So, Whitney was on the back burner and now my goal was to live. I had surgery to remove my thumb as the melanoma was under the nail. I did chemo, ate organic, took supplements and overall took pretty good care of myself.

Problem was, I couldn't walk as my hip started getting worse. I talked to my oncologist and he told me to avoid any major surgery for approx three yeas as to not stress out my body.... so, I could plan for surgery, but not have it. With my inactivity and of course loving to eat, my weight had ballooned to 255 pounds and yea, I was FAT! But, Whitney was still on my mind.... just needed to get that darn hip fixed. Well, time passed and in reality, I was pretty miserable. I was fat, out of shape, couldn't workout and just plain wasn't happy. I couldn't wait until I could walk without pain again, just didn't know how it would all work. Well, I did lose a small amount of weight and got down to about 240 or so, but being as miserable as I was, just didn't care..... Though my business was going fairly well, my personal life really sucked and it seemed like the more energy I put into my relationship, the more it took. 5 teenagers were wearing me down fast. But, I was lucky that my girlfriend did support me through my cancer and my hip surgery... and I will always be thankful for that.

After about 2 1/2 years, I started looking for surgeons. I visited many from the Inland Empire to San Diego. I just interviewed them all until I felt comfortable with one, comfortable with a personality and a professionalism and of course had a great track record. One day I saw a youtube video of a surfer who had gotten a new hip. I visited that doctor and knew right away, this guy was the guy who was going to make me well. Surgery was set. I had my deductible met from two PetScans related to my melanoma and this wasn't going to break the bank. Problem was, my doctor liked riding bicycles. On my visit to the hospital for my hip replacement orientation, I heard a nurse say, "Oh no, should we tell them". I asked her what happened and she said the doctor had been in an accident on his bicycle and he broke his arm, with one of the bones actually coming out of his arm! With that, she said my surgery would be put off until NEXT YEAR. I said not a chance as my deductible had been met and asked who could do the surgery this year. She said, "well, maybe his partner, Dr Mc Bride, the guy he was racing when he crashed!!! So, off to Dr Mc Bride, date set and a new hip put in within weeks. Surgery was October 21, 2008.

I gotta tell you, for me, hip surgery is a blessing, a miracle, a gift from God. It's as if God put his hand on your hip and you can walk again. The first week was a walker and pretty embarrassing for a 48 year old. But then, crutches. I still remember walking around the block with crutches and no pain. I told everyone. I felt like I had already summitted a huge mountain. I went to the gym a few weeks later and rode the bike. Then I started the stairmaster. I also started walking more around the block and then the mountains.

I set a date for Whitney and got permits for my friend, his son, my stepkid and my girlfriend. Months later, I "thought" I was ready, only to find that the switchbacks were a bit harder than I thought. And my girlfriend gave up at Trail Camp. So, I really didn't have the mental frame of mind that day, which was the first Monday in September, 2009. BUT... when I got home, I wasn't happy I hadn't made it, so I went to San Jacinto the next weekend, then San Jacinto again two weeks later. All in all, I went above 10,000 feet 4 times in 6 weeks, including my failure on Whitney. Now, I thought I was ready. I called my friend DJ and he said, "lets' do it", though he had summited Whitney the month before. We picked a date to go, October 11th, 2009, less than a year from my hip replacement.

We summited Whitney on that day. I cried at the top. Since then I've summited with Gary and summited with a woman I met on the trail, a Sheriffs officer named Michelle. So, to answer the question, how many times have I summited? Three. Mt Whitney gave me a goal. My friends helped me accomplish it...... and one more thing. Remember when I was 255 and couldn't walk? Well, now I'm 186 and can tell people I've summited the highest mountain in the continental United States. I thank everyone on this site as well as the WPSMB for helping me achieve my goal. I will see some of you in a few weeks.

An honor and a privilege to have gone up this mountain with you twice, my friend. You're an inspiration to us all. Looking forward to doing it again in August.

Joe, what an inspiration!

I never knew the whole story. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks for sharing

I(with my husband Larry)have summited Mt. Whitney once: what a beautiful climb.

3 times-2 on the MR and 1 on the main trail. I got shut down last spring on the chute, so 3 out of 4 attempts.

As of this morning.....once.

At least 25 times. Not out of compulsiveness, or trying to set a record or impress anyone. Like others have noted, it's always a good test of fitness. It's close by (relative for the Sierra) to Los Angeles, and there is something magical about the top, even with all the people. I finally did the MR and I don't think I'll do the standard route as a day hike again.

Last time to the summit was on the last day of doing the High Sierra Trail. I never realized how miserable on the knees and ankles the trail down from the switchbacks to around Mirror Lake is!

Well, On June 19th, I reached it for the first time on an overnight from Trail Camp. I still can't believe how beautiful the whole trip was. I would love to come back sometime soon to do the Mountaineer's Route or attempt it in a day. Being from the East Coast, and noticing how the altitude slowed us down (compared to our pace hiking in NH), a day hike would be extremely challenging, and something I look forward to someday.

For me, I have reached Trail Crest 6 times, and the summit three times (weather shortened the trip twice, and insufficient desire once). My last summit was Wed. June 20th with my daughter and a family friend. For them, it was their first attempt, and first summit. You go girls:-)
Why? You know, I keep asking myself that. It is painful, but in time I forget the pain. The views are magnificent. I do love an "adventure". Etc....
But I guess the "bottom line" is that we all like a challenge, and to achieve something "significant". After all, who wants to do something simple? Although there are several folks on this board that can make "easy work" of the climb, I think that for the most of us mortals this hike is a "significant" challenge, and being able to do it does gratify me.

Four Attempts

Three Summits

33 attempts.
33 summits.
5 different routes.

Once, 16 years ago and 40 lbs lighter. God willing, July 19th with the extra years, pounds and 14 year old son will be twice.

I've been once,& am eager to try again,next hike will be in Oct,any tips for a fast climb,the first and last was 13 hrs total,am hoping to do much better.

Three attempts (MT (2010), MT (2011), JMT (2012)). Three summits.

Thinking of the High Sierra Trail for next year.....

Aki:

I have become a huge fan of the HST. You are in for a treat. What a great approach to MW. When you think about it, its not that much longer than acclimatizing for Whitney for a couple of nights and then doing it as an overnight on the MT. Its what will keep me coming back to MW.

Good to know! Saw a program at an REI about going West-to-East, and became very intrigued. Saw where the trails converge with the JMT this last trip ... seems like a marvelous adventure.