Mount Whitney in the snow

I’ve been trying to find a good challenging climb to do before the Vinson and Everest climbs are ready… and I might have found it. I was talking to John Morgan today (he did Rainier with us) and I think he is on for doing Mount Whitney in the spring.

Mount Whitney, at 14,497′ is the highest mountain in the contiguous (continental) United States (Denali and others in the Alaska range are higher in North America obviously). Whitney is normally a “walk-up” except in winter/spring when it is still covered with snow and requires genuine mountaineering skills.

The “mountaineer’s route” is located on the northeast side of Mt. Whitney is a chute angled at approximately 25-35 degrees. The route ascends this chute and tops out at a notch about 400 feet below the summit. Here the angle becomes slightly steeper to 40-45 degrees to the summit. This climb offers a much less crowded way of reaching the summit, and beautiful vistas are prevalent throughout.

During the winter and spring months Whitney is full of snow. The trip would require snowshoe approach and ice axes and wearing crampons, in addition to being roped up. The last day would require being roped together and we would ascend the snow filled chute that can angle as steep as 30 degrees with deep snow. For the last 400 feet we would use fixed lines in the same manner as we did on Denali.

The good news is that it would be a relatively short climb of around four days and the trail-head would be drivable from San Francisco and the timing is right (March 5-8). Paula said she would be up for it then also and I think we can get one other to complete the group. As it would be guided, it would not mean a lot of logistical planning in advance and it would, for once, be a genuine fun climb with lots of challenges.

However – and I realized this just now – this would be the first winter ascent of a mountain that I have done which means more risks of blizzards, extreme mountain temperatures and unknown conditions.

Not carrying a 60 pounds plus pack or pulling a sled of the same weight would be an added bonus, but I don’t think we’ll be bringing toilets, so that will be the same fun as all the other mountains!