Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mountaineers Route one-day solo - 4 June - Report & Conditions

June 4, 2005
Solo day-trip up MR:
description, conditions and report.

I decided to attempt the MR since I'd been up to Trail Crest by the main route in December 1999. After several unsuccessful attempts at trying to find a partner, I gathered the courage to do this solo. Its the first time up MR for me.

Report:

3.30 am: Started out from the portal trail head. Route follows main trail for the first mile.

3.45 am: Left the main trail to follow the MR up N.Fork of Lone Pine Creek. After the initial climb up, the route is sandwiched between slabs on the right and the creek on the left. Lots of bushwhacking through dense vegetation. Finally, one gets to a point where the creek and the slabs meet, and this is the start of the climb up the Ebersbacher ledges.

4.30 am: At the start of the Ebersbacher ledges. Some daylight now. Route is well marked with cairns as it climbs up the ledges. Ledges are an easy scramble, but quite exposed.

6.00 am: Reached Lower Boy Scout Lake. Somebody had left a pair of green MSR snowshoes on the trail. Good idea to fill water here. Route goes up the left side snow slope south of the lake. Its pretty much on snow all the way up from here. Crunchy snow with nice ready-made steps from previous climbers. No need for crampons here.

7.00 am: Clyde Meadows. Plenty of running water available. Some signs of small avalanches higher up on the slopes to the left looking up toward Thor peak.

8.00 am: Reached UBSL. Found one tent here. Nobody around. Route goes up toward the south-west up the snow ramp on the left, about 500 yards before reaching the frozen lake. One could probably find running water here, or break the ice to reach it. In retrospect, I should have topped up my bottles here. The route climbs up steadily and gradually curving rightwards until a final fairly steep snow ramp which heads up North-west to gain the bowl containing Iceberg Lake. I needed to get my ice-axe out for the first time on this slope. East face of Mt.Whitney to the left and good views of the rock routes up the Keller Needle.

10.00 am: High above Iceberg lake. Move toward the obvious snow chute coming down from the notch (col) which is just to the North of Whitney's summit. The snow here is wind-fluted and fairly soft. I followed an old trail of holes left behind when somebody downclimbed this a few days ago. Hole-posting is what I call this -- placing ones legs into pre-existing holes.

12.00 noon: Altitude is really starting to get me, and the chute seems endless. Above, the chute gradually becomes less steep and I head for the rocks topping the chute. The rocks at the top of the snow chute are very loose, caution needs to be exercised, especially if other climbers are around or one is in a large group.

1.00 pm: I'm finally at the notch. Great views of Mt.Russel and Mt.Williamson to the north. The expanse of the Sierras opens up to the West and I can look down on the sweeping north face of Mt.Whitney. The route here traverses out over the North face for a few feet, and then up the couloir to the left. The bottom part of the couloir is icy and rocky even at 1pm in the afternoon.

1.30 pm: Halfway up the couloir, the snow in the couloir is getting very icy and I decide to put on my crampons. This is the first and only place I really needed to wear crampons on the entire climb. The couloir snow/ice is very good, very secure for crampons and ice-axe. However, it's very committing, especially as I'm alone and soloing. A single slip here would be very hard or impossible to arrest.

2.00 pm: I top out on the rocky summit. Since I took the most direct and steepest route up the first couloir, it gets me very close to the actual summit. There are only about 5 other people here. I discover that one of them came up from the tent at UBSL up the MR about 2 hours ahead of me. Two of his friends are climbing up the East Buttress.

3.30 pm: I start off down the main trail. Finding the trail till Trail crest is hard, I found this part quite confusing. The descent is easy after Trail crest and it's a long glissade down to Trail camp.

9.00 pm: After a 17.5 hour day, I arrive back at the Portal parking lot.

I'll be glad to provide more details or other information on conditions to other climbers attempting this route in the coming weeks.
--Ajay

I discover that one of them came up from the tent at UBSL up the MR about 2 hours ahead of me. Two of his friends are climbing up the East Buttress.

We saw him at the top as well - he had quite a time getting up, apparently, and slept almost the entire time we were at the summit. Did his friends arrive before you left?

Ajay,

I'm heading up this thursday/Friday for the East Face and Mountaineers route.

I'm mostly curious about trail conditions. From LBSL up to UBSL you said it was pretty much snow? If you were to camp around UBSL would it be snow camping? Also did you have any problem with post-holing on the way up ? Or are there patches of dry ground up around UBSL and/or Iceberg lake ?

Also is snow melting necessary for water? Or are there enough openings and streams/creeks running up there to get water in the UBSL/Iceberg lake area ?

Congrats on a one day ascent. I don't know how you guys do that :-)

Warmerdm22,

>> We saw him at the top as well - he had quite a
>> time getting up, apparently, and slept almost
>> the entire time we were at the summit. Did his
>> friends arrive before you left?

That was Brian, who I met at the top. I saw his friends climbing the E.Buttress as I was going up the chute to the notch. They topped out after I had left the summit and they went back down MR to retrieve their tent and gear left at UBSL. Brian came down the main trail and caught up with me, just as I had consumed my last drop of water, and we went down to the Portal together.
--Ajay

Johnhl94563,

>> If you were to camp around UBSL
>> would it be snow camping? Also did you have
>> any problem with post-holing on the way up ?
>> Or are there patches of dry ground up around
>> UBSL and/or Iceberg lake ?

There are plenty of exposed rock patches at UBSL, so you don't really need to camp on the snow. The tent I found was also on a dry spot of rock.

Looking down at Iceberg lake, however, I did not see any dry patches of ground. So if you camp there, you'll almost surely be on snow.

Post-holing was not a problem until above Iceberg lake. Remember, I was at UBSL at 8.00 am, so the snow was still very icy and firm. I'm sure it would be quite bad, with much post-holing by noon.

>> Also is snow melting necessary for water? Or
>> are there enough openings and streams/creeks
>> running up there to get water in the
>> UBSL/Iceberg lake area ?

You'll find running water at UBSL, but not at Iceberg. You may be need to break through the ice there.

>> Congrats on a one day ascent. I don't know how
>> you guys do that :-)

Thank you. It was hard, but there was no way I was going to downclimb MR solo, so I had no option but to keep going.

--Ajay

I have Inyo permits for July 6 and will attempt to climb the East buttress with two partners. We are really fast with 3 party climbing (we just did 4 pitches (5.7) in 1hr. 40 min. last weekend)

My questions are:
1. Should we camp at UBSL or IBL?
(I want to sleep well the night before the climb!!) We will sleep at the portal (8400ftish?) the night of the 5th, enter the 6th, camp the night of the 6th, climb buttress the 7th, then either camp again or return to portal.

2. I have not been up this area before. What is the condition of the water? (I will have a Katadyne filter with me.)

3. Bear Canister...will we need one? I have heard in this area, no. But Marmots? Advice?

4. 70m ropes...we're bringing them. The SuperTopo breaks the route into 11 pitches with 50m ropes. Is communication really that bad? Should we bring little walkie talkies?

I REALLY appreciate your helpful advice! I have been really training hard for this trip for 4 months now. I am very excited...

Thanks!

Thank you. It was hard, but there was no way I was going to downclimb MR solo, so I had no option but to keep going.

--Ajay
Yes! Congrats on the one day ascent. It is amazing what your body will do to get you off a mountain, no matter how strenuous it was to get up it, huh?!?

fire_eyes,
I've never climbed E.Buttress or E.Face, but would sure want to do it sometime.

>> We are really fast with 3 party climbing (we
>> just did 4 pitches (5.7) in 1hr. 40 min.
>> last weekend)

That's really fast for 3! My fastest has been 12 pitches (Royal Arches) in 3 hours but with 2 climbers. Do your 2 seconders simul-climb?

>> 1. Should we camp at UBSL or IBL?

I'd recommend UBSL for the following reasons:

a) You can camp on dry ground, thus warmer, and you wont' need to dry your tent out when you unpitch. At IBL you'll almost surely be on snow. However, July may be different from June.
b) It would take about 1 hour from UBSL to gain the altitude you would have if you camped at IBL. But carrying loads at the end of your first day would easily be 2-2.5 hours more for the same distance. Similar logic applies to the reverse trip on your way down if you clean up and exit on day 2.
c) Running water can be found at UBSL (you may need to look, but it's there and I heard it). At IBL, you'll probably be melting snow, thus taking hours out of your sleep time. Again, July will be different from June.
d) I sleep a lot better if I'm 1000 feet lower and that more than compensates for the extra energy needed on the climbing day. If I don't rest well, the climbing day is already doomed for me.
e) Both IBL and UBSL seem wind sheltered, but UBSL more so than IBL.

>> 2. I have not been up this area before. What
>> is the condition of the water? (I will have a
>> Katadyne filter with me.)

Personal choice - I'd filter it and be content.

>> 3. Bear Canister...will we need one? I have
>> heard in this area, no. But Marmots? Advice?

A bear cannister is bomb-proof and guaranteed to work. At UBSL, you could suspend the food off of a rope tied across rocks or hang it off a ski-pole on a high rock, thus save the weight of the bear canister. Marmots are plentiful and on a past trip I even had my foam mat chewed into. Didn't see any rocks at IBL, it all looked white to me from above, when I looked down at IBL.

>> 4. 70m ropes...we're bringing them. The
>> SuperTopo breaks the route into 11 pitches
>> with 50m ropes. Is communication really that
>> bad? Should we bring little walkie talkies?

If it's a windy day, you can shout till you're blue but your partner ain't gonna hear you.

BTW, one of the things that really helped me gain time:
I got to Lone Pine the previous afternoon, and since the route was new to me, I used the daylight time I had in the to reccee the Mountaineers Route for about 2 hours, until I got onto the Ebersbacher ledges. This initial part involves some pretty thin trails through very thick vegetation. The next day, I was able to cover this same ground very quickly by headlamp before daybreak, thus adding 2 hours extra hours into my day.

Hope that helps,
--Ajay

Hi Ajay!

What great advice and answers. THANK YOU!

Yes, seconds do simulclimb a bit. Only on really solid terrain. We are all fairly decent climbers. Our leader is AMGA certified (but not guiding, he is also my boyfriend )

Your advice to camp at UBSL is what I had hoped to hear. I too will sleep much better at a little lower altitude, and am more than willing to trek and hour before the climb without a 45lb pack!

We too have plenty of time for our trip. We are planning to sleep at the portal the night before (July 5) enter Inyo really early the 6th (get across Eberbacher before it gets too hot!) then set up camp and rest. I'm sure we'll do some exploring of the remainder of the approach (up to IBL) and maybe even the first pitch of the route if there's time and we feel good.

One more question I forgot:

IS THERE WATER AT THE SUMMIT? If not, should I bring a jetboil and melt snow? I get really thirsty at altitude...wish I could say the same for my appetite Don't want to carry more than 3-4 liters of water up the buttress...

Thanks so much Ajay!

IS THERE WATER AT THE SUMMIT? If not, should I bring a jetboil and melt snow? I get really thirsty at altitude...wish I could say the same for my appetite [Big Grin] Don't want to carry more than 3-4 liters of water up the buttress...

No water at the summit. Carry the stove. One jetboil shared across 3 people is much less weight than each of you lugging extra litres up the buttress.

--Ajay

Congratulations Ajay! Impressive solo hike.

Thanks again Ajay! Jet boil it is...looks like we may have to get into the MR gully before we get good snow though. Summit looked barren a week ago according to pics posted here:
<url>http://natew.smugmug.com/gallery/575584/4/24056059</url>
These are worth looking at! Beautiful photos from a group that did the trail recently. Found them in another thread.

I dunno, maybe the summit always looks like this during the spring? (Since I have not been on it before!!)

I'll post-up before I leave looking for conditions close to my departure.

Fire-eyes,

Someone posted they melted snow they got from inside the summit hut... from earlier pics, there should still be some in there.

Someone posted they melted snow they got from inside the summit hut... from earlier pics, there should still be some in there.

The summit hut door has been broken this season, and there's snow from the floor to the roof in there. I expect much of it will still be around early July.

--Ajay