Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 3rd Class on the MR

Need an opinion(s) about two sections of the MR. The first is the 3rd class section to the left of the couloir between Iceberg Lake and the notch, and the second is the chute at the top of the notch, and below the summit. My understanding is that they are both 3rd class, and the only potential difficulty being the exposure in the chute. Other than that, I hear they're pretty straightforward, large holds, and the like, similar to fun scrambling at Joshua Tree. What do you think?

MountainBob,

It's sounds like you've already got a good sense of those two sections. The chute is more exposed than the section left of the couloir. I have a picture of the couloir at http://www.summitpost.com/mountains/phot...r_by____limit__

(sorry, I couldn't shorten the URL). There's plenty of good scrambling up the rocks on the left. The chute is full of great climbing routes and the use of ropes can add a factor of safety if desired.

In either section, be careful of rocks knocked loosed naturally or by climbers above (and, of course, be mindful of climbers below you, too!). Helmets would be a good idea. You just never know. If you're going up to the left of the couloir, keep in mind that you're getting close to the East Face wall and a rock falling from there can fall a long way.

Hope this helps some. Have a great climb!

gosc

MountainBob, if you have fun on the friction climbs on Joshua Tree's sandstones, you should love the big hand and footholds on Whitney's granite.

gosc -- if you want to shorten urls, you can use services such as www.tinyurl.com

As an example, your link becomes http://tinyurl.com/ywhdu

Thanks for the info everyone. I do recall the waterfall section below Iceberg, and short sections of 3rd class on the ledges. If the scrambling left of the couloir and the chute are similar, it shouldn't be a problem.