Mount Whitney (10x)

4/29/06

Knowing that the weather was going to be quite warm for the weekend I knew an early start would improve my chances. The earlier the better. I set my alarm for 2:00am. As usual I got little to no sleep. It had been a bit breezy in the Alabama Hills where I bivied and the wind blowing on my face kept me up. Four minutes before 2am I turned off the alarm, packed up, and headed to the Portal.

At 2:54am I was on my way. Despite not having spent any time acclimating I felt good. When I reached the bottom of the North Fork gully I put on my crampons and followed the path I took twice on the prior weekend. There were a few soft spots but overall the early start time was paying off. The snow was nice and firm. Crampons weren't really needed but they made the traction much better. I reached Lower Boy Scout Lake in less than an hour and half.

Stopping only briefly I continued on to UBSL. I almost succeeded in getting there in under 2 hours. By then I knew things were going well. I took a slightly longer break and continued on. Part way up to Iceberg Lake it began to get light and I knew the sunrise would not be far off. I could also tell that this would be one fantastic sunrise. Indeed it was. As I neared Iceberg Lake the early morning glow off Whitney's East Face was spectacular. Though unintential my timing was perfect. I reached Iceberg Lake in 3 hours 9 minutes. Here I met the first of many groups that I would meet during the day.

After another short stop I continued on. Up to that point the condition of the snow had been ideal. As I began to ascend above Iceberg Lake I quickly found the snow to be far softer than the nice firm stuff I had been on all the way to Iceberg. It wasn't too bad but it also wasn't ideal. It was extremely draining. With one or two groups some distance below me I reached the Notch in 2 hours 17 minutes from Iceberg Lake. This had taken a seemlingly endless amount of time but finally the goal was near.

I surveyed the upper chute above the Notch. Snow had filled in the steps from prior ascents. I dropped off my pack and then hit the chute. The snow in the chute was very different than the soft stuff below the Notch. Here the snow was hard ... very hard. I wished now I had brought my heavier crampons instead of my newer lightweight pair with short front points. Each step was laborious. To form even a partial step I had to kick repeatedly to dig out a hole big enough to get part of my foot into. Except for a soft spot in the middle this continued all the way up the chute. My grunting could probably be heard half way down the mountain. I grunted with each hard kick.

I reached the summit at 9:19am. It had taken 6 hours and 25 minutes from the Portal. On top it was a bit windy and chilly. I wished I hadn't left my wind shell down at the notch in my pack. I took the usual photographs and zoomed in on anything interesting. With such amazing scenery it was hard to take a bad photo.

Now the moment I had been working toward was at hand. This would be my third sign-in on the same page in the register. I opened the register box. Inside it was empty. There wasn't even the smallest slip of paper.

I waited on the summit behind the hut to get out of the wind. I was hoping the next group would show up so that the chute would be clear. When a significant amount of time had elapsed I headed back to the chute. Two roped climbers were just nearing the top. I could try to take a different path down but kicking steps on the way down would be difficult. Another option would be to front-point down using just the front points of my crampons. Unfortunately since I only brought my light-weight crampons that would mean using only 2 points. It would be better to wait.

Among the two climbers was fellow poster and climber kelleyts. We talked for a bit, took photos, and then parted. The chute was still clear so I downclimbed as quickly as possible to get out of the way of the next group that was getting ready to come up. I passed that group toward the bottom of the chute. They too were roped up.

At the Notch I took off my crampons for the descent. I noticed at the Notch that they were balling up badly (rendering them useless) so I figured it would be safer without them. I was also hoping for a little glissade time. Just below the notch I met a large group and talked with them for a couple of minutes before continuing down. A little more than half way down from the Notch I met a couple of climbers from another group who yelled up to me something about an avalanche. I knew what they were referring to. Not far from me was the path of a small surface slide. I didn't deem it to be of extreme concern but it had spooked them a bit. I talked with them for a bit and then continued down trying to avoid the center of the chute. When I felt clear of danger I glissaded much of the remaining way down.

Back at Iceberg I switched back from ice axe to trekking poles and began the long postholing hiking out. Fortunately with my light pack the postholing wasn't too extreme. I talked with quite a few more groups on my way out. I met GigaMike above UBSL and we talked for quite a bit. After his Iron Mountain hike he was looking strong.

At a very leisurely pace I finally returned to the trailhead at 3:30pm. It was a fitting end of the day to meet up with Bob Rockwell. He and Daryl Hinman had parked just two cars from mine and were up hiking on the Main Trail side.

A great day and lots of nice people. It doesn't get any better.

Log

02:54am - Left trailhead
03:09am - Reached North Fork junction
04:20am - Reached LBSL
04:56am - Reached UBSL
05:05am - Left UBSL
06:03am - Reached Iceberg Lake
08:20am - Reached the Notch
09:19am - Reached summit
09:56am - Left summit
10:18am - Started back down to the Notch
10:43am - Returned to the Notch
11:56am - Returned to Iceberg Lake
01:12pm - Passed by UBSL
01:45pm - Returned to LBSL
02:43pm - Returned to Main Trail
03:30pm - Returned to trailhead

Stats

Trailhead to LBSL: 1 hr 26 mins
Trailhead to UBSL: 2 hrs 2 mins
Trailhead to Iceberg Lake: 3 hrs 9 mins
Iceberg to the Notch: 2 hrs 17 mins
Trailhead to the Notch: 5 hrs 26 mins
Iceberg to the Summit: 3 hrs 16 mins
Trailhead to Summit: 6 hrs 25 mins
Summit back to Trailhead: 5 hrs 34 mins (very leisurely)