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Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
#46017 05/01/16 11:49 AM
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Summitted Mount Whitney yesterday via Mountaineers Route. It was a big day - started from Whitney Portal at 4:15am, summit at 2:30pm, back at the car at 7:35pm.

While weather forecasts initially looked OK they kept worsening in the 24 hours prior to our climb. We were not disappointed - 55mph gusts, snowed all day sometimes heavily. Visibility was very marginal making route-finding challenging at times.

E-ledges were dusted in snow in the am, but had melted out by the afternoon. Hike up to iceberg was very pleasant - hiking on mostly consolidated snow as of Lower Boy Scout Lake.

Things got more challenging going up the chute above Iceberg with winds dumping large quantities of fluffy snow into the gully. The top half of the chute had powder sometimes up to our waists - felt more like swimming than hiking at times...

We went straight up the section above the notch which required mixed climbing skills using technical ice tools, climbing on snow covered rock. As we didn't have goggles, and glacier glasses iced up within 60 seconds, this felt pretty epic with ice pellets hitting our eyes consistently at high speeds - ever tried climbing snow-covered slabs with your eyes closed?

Spent 15 minutes at the summit hut melting some snow on the stove to warm up after what felt like full on winter mountaineering conditions.

Getting back down to the notch was again challenging wIth the blinding winds and heavy snowfall. Wish we had brought a rope as some basic protection would certainly have made this section less intense. Descent was straightforward once past the notch - actually quite pleasant in the fluffy snow! Easy descent from iceberg with snow almost all the way to e-ledges.

Yesterday was a good reminder of how serious the MR can be when weather does not cooperate. We believe we were the only party to summit in the 36 hours prior. Saw several parties turn around mid-way up the chute.

Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
danishclimber #46019 05/01/16 12:10 PM
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danishclimber, welcome and Thank You for the report!

That had to be pretty intense getting down the Final 400 section in the stormy conditions. Are you aware of the Easy Walk Off route for getting back down to the notch? I think in those conditions, it might have been a good option.

Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
Steve C #46023 05/01/16 12:23 PM
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Agreed - good option. We were in a hurry to get down so went straight down but fully agree that could have been a better alternative!

Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
danishclimber #46076 05/02/16 04:13 PM
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Congratulations! Our rather large group from SB abandoned our planned attempt via the Whitney trail on the same day; conditions were pretty brutal. Kudos to you for powering through!

Did we talk at the portal? Your account is rather familiar.

Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
manusvelox #46085 05/03/16 06:53 AM
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Yes, I think you may have talked to my superfit climbing partner at the Portal. It was a great day in the mountains, summit or not! Can't wait to be back later this summer. I am hoping to climb the East Buttress route (5.7) in July.

Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
danishclimber #46089 05/03/16 11:33 AM
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I'd like to climb the east buttress and/or east face route sometime this summer. Let me know when you're going!

Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
goldscott #46136 05/05/16 06:31 PM
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Goldscott, I saw your awesome trip report from earlier this year. Well done! We will attempt the East Buttress in a single car to car push on July 12. Should be tons of fun.

Re: Whitney Mountaineers Route, 4/30/16 winter conditions
goldscott #50562 07/03/17 10:25 PM
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Goldscott, did you end up climbing the East Buttress?

I omitted to write a trip report on our own East Buttress climb on July 12 2016. This particular was a good reminder of the importance of a good mental gear checklist as forgetting a headlamp led to an extended descent: more on that in a second...

We had a great time on the climb itself. Left the car around 4:30am, and hiked up to UBSL via NFLP - awesome morning alpenglows, and just great atmosphere all around. Took a little detour on the way to Iceberg as we ascended the wrong gully (turned too early) and ended up climbing some class 4 or low class 5 on the ridge towards Iceberg. No big deal.

Iceberg lake was busy with campers getting ready to climb Mountaineers Route, East Buttress and East Face routes.

East Buttress climb was mostly eventless - it is simply a wonderful moderate (5.7ish) rock climb with ample time to rest at each belay station on ledges large enough to park a minibus on. We really enjoyed the last few pitches as you are really free to pick your route, harder or easier depending on how you feel.

On the descent via the MR it became apparent that my climbing partner has a little less mountaineering experience as it seemed to go on forever. We descended together with another group of climbers who completed the East Buttress with us and were kind enough to wait for us.

As we got down to Iceberg Lake it became very clear that we would be descending in the dark with the sun already behind the horizon. At this point we remembered that earlier this morning my partner had realized he had forgotten his headlamp. Luckily I had mine. Past UBSL it was pitch dark.

My partner wore my headlamp as he felt this would make him a little more comfortable moving fast down the trail. As we got to what we thought was the e-Ledges around 10:30pm, we had trouble route finding. Somehow, every direction seemed to lead to a big drop off. We searched for the way out for an hour or so, even hiking back up a third of a mile or so to try to find a better way. Shortly before midnight we made the decision to honker down for the night, feeling slightly embarrassed, but certainly keen to stay safe.

The night was fine, albeit a little cold given I wore shorts, a t-shirt and a very light shell jacket - some shivering involved, but definitely bearable. At some point during the night we saw the lights of cars driving up to Whitney Portal and realized we were a very short distance away... so close!

Around 4:30am we got up and started looking around which confirmed our fear - we were situated on a ledge system ~200 feet above the valley, cliffed out. We were probably a mile past the E-ledges. At this point we considered our options - we could certainly hike back up 1.5 miles or so and get back on trail, but that would further delay the gargantuan Lone Pine breakfast we were now really craving... At that point we noticed a rappel anchor with a bunch of slightly worn webbing and decided to rappel down to the bottom of the valley. My 60 meter rope got us to another ledge roughly 30 feet above the valley bottom and we down-climbed from there.

After 5 minutes of bushwhacking through the alder jungle we hit the trail maybe 200 feet above the intersection of NFLP and the main Whitney trail - 30 minutes after leaving our improvised bivy spot we were in the car racing down to get the above-mentioned gargantuan breakfast!

A little bit more of an epic climb than we had anticipated as it took us around 25 hours car to car, but still tons of fun! Lessons learned besides bringing a headlamp? Make a real alpine start (1-2am) for long car-to-cars unless you want to sleep on a ledge... Oh and always be ready (warm clothing, safety blanked, maybe even a super light bivy sac) for an unplanned overnight on a long climb as things don't always go according to plan!





Last edited by danishclimber; 07/03/17 11:50 PM.

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