Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Success - summit on Oct. 11....

I just flew back into Charlotte an hour or so ago..so this will be brief..

Richard and I made the summit on Wednesday via the Main Trail. It was a long, but spectacular hike for this guy..I can tell you that much. With three unsuccessful trips up the MR I've seen a good bit of that side of the mountain so the trip up the Main Trail was all new territory for me. It was gorgeous. Having a hiking partner like Richard made a great trip even better too...I can't say enough good things about him after spending 3 days with him while I was out there.

I also had the privilege of attending the Baldy hike on Tuesday and meeting Kurt, his father, and a bunch of other regulars here on the forums. The scenery there was awesome...only surpassed by the great company. I also managed to squeeze in a trip down to A-16 down in Tarzana last night to catch Kurt's slideshow on Kilimanjaro. The pictures, the music, the narrative were all fantastic. It was inspiring and it is a foregone conclusion that we'll (Marisa and I) be going to Africa with SMI in the near future (within the next 2 years for sure!). Great job on the slide show and it was again nice to put some names and faces together with other folks that were at the presentation.

Richard and I also took a nice & short hike up to Heart Lake in Onion Valley the day after our Whitney climb. It was good to stretch the aching muscles and the scenery there was also incredible. I can't wait to get home and check out the photographs and video.

I'll post a true trip report for Baldy, Whitney and Onion Valley tonight and tomorrow with photographs and stuff. I know conditions reports are important to people that read the boards...but I'm no expert and won't pretend to know what is safe or not for everyone. It looks like there is some weather moving in tonight looking at the satellite imagery.

But for what it's worth the conditions on Wednesday were really nice. As Richard has indicated there were a few inches of snow starting after a few turns up the Switchbacks. There is a dusting of snow below that point..but most of it has melted off the trail in the daylight. The snow on the switchbacks was only a couple inches deep and getting packed down with each passing foot. In some of the corners of the switchbacks the snow might be drifting to a foot or more. The cables, where Richard had said that last week the "ice hump" was visible, the hump was now covered in snow. This made the footing very good and we didn't need crampons, just slow and careful foot placement. I pretty much stayed away from the cables on the way up, prefering the snow against the wall. On the way down I stayed closer to the cables and used them twice just to make sure in case my foot slipped. The ice is still there under the snow (obviously) so if the snow gets brushed away, as it had in a few tiny spots, there can be a slick spot. We were back at the cables on the decent at exactly 2PM...funny because that was the time suggested by so many to be back through that section. I credit Richard with the great timing, pace, and knowledge of the route to get us up and down in good time on a nice schedule.

Above the cables the trail is no problem..good footing..no problems. Near the summit there is pretty much the same amount of snow..just a couple inches..no real ice to speak of. Keep in mind that was two days ago now though..and if temps warmed and the snow melted, got packed down by feet and refroze your mileage may vary.

Hey..gotta go right now..I just stopped by my office to post this..I'll post more later.

One last thing. My sincere apologies to Tomcat for not grabbing him a Main Trail permit Tuesday afternoon. I didn't really think of it and I was waffling between going up the MT or the MR depending on last minute condition reports. I wanted this fourth trip to have the highest possibility of success and felt the MT was the way to go. I should have thought about Tomcat though and would have loved it if he could have gone up the MT with us instead of going solo up the MR. I'm sorry Tomcat and I hope we can get together next summer or fall and hike the MR together.

Oh..and one last finally..thanks so much to Doug (we had a chance to chat with him in the store Wednesday night after we got down) for providing this awesome resource..without which I wouldn't have met a bunch of these great people to hike with and get advice from. This place truly is an outstanding resource. And thanks to the other members and posters that have contributed so much. Pics and stuff to come later..

Regards..
Chris

(Thanks again Richard!)

Until later

Way to go, Beach! I knew karma would turn your way.

Congrats Chris! I've been following your "quest" for the summit online now for a while and am glad that you finally made it! I'm looking forward to your pics. After your last adventure on the MR I'm sure this makes up for it. You deserve it...as they say "good things happen to those who wait!"

Congratulations, Beach. Took me four times too! Every trip is a great adventure regardless if you make it or not. Looking forward to viewing the pics.

Kind regards,

Mark A. Patton

Way to go, Chris!

It was good to hike with you on Tuesday.

Well, it must be awfull sweet to have this victory under your belt. You sure deserve it. Many of us have been hoping for your success for a while now.

Congratulations!

Congrats on your successful Whitney climb Chris!

Right on, Chris! It was fun climbing Baldy with you on your "tune up" hike. Enjoy your accomplishment, but don't forget to keep an eye on the traffic whilst flying that ambulance!

Yea, Chris! I wish I had your access to quick air transport -- I'd have joined in with gusto! Excellent, and I'm looking forward to the pictures!

nice Chris way to go...
Great guide you had(Richard)..
Now you and I are still 0 for 3 on the MR maybe next year I can meet you up there..take care
glad you had a good time...mark

Congradulations on your great trip to California and successful summit of Whitney.

I would be interested to know which Charlotte you are near. I will be moving to the Charlotte, NC area late next year and will be looking for good places to hike back there.

Since Wednesday I kept coming back to the message boards over and over again in suspense, hoping to see this post showing that Chris had made it.

Way to go!!

It has been worth the wait!!!!! What a great thing to read you made it with Richard P to the top of Mt. Whitney. We are all very happy for you and look forward to seeing your writeup.

Kurt W. was right about you (Adventure 16 meeting in Torrance). He said Richard P would take good care of you and get you to the top of Mt. Whitney.

We knew you had it in you. Way to go!!!

Excellent!

It's good to see you finally made it Chris. You certainly earned it. The hardships you went through on previous attempts probably only added to the sense of accomplishment you must have felt when you finally reached the top. Congradulations!

-Rick

Thanks for the encouragement over the years....it has helped so much. And reading the trip reports and viewing the photos of other trips kept the bug in me. One of Rick's photos of the north face of Whitney has been my screen saver for the past year or so.. :p

BTW - The first part of the trip report is up..detailing the hike up Baldy..tomorrow I'll finish up with the pics and report for Whitney:

http://tinyurl.com/yx8zlg

Regards..
Chris

PS - You guys and gals that live out there are sooooo lucky!

Congratulations Beach! Im glad everything worked out for you and that you had a wonderful trip with Richard. I was happy to read your success story.