Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board How many times have you summited Mt Whitney?

I think I've done it 20 times on the MT, once on the MR (which I would never attempt again, it scared me). I did one back to back in 2001, which I would like to try again.

20x is very respectable. How long did the back to back take?

What time of year did you do the MR that it scared you? Was your concern exposure or conditions/snow/ice?

Only 6X, the first time was from Mineral King over Franklin Pass. Watch out for the marmots at Mineral King. I've done numerous other mountains in the area including shorter ones like Irvine & Mallory.

5 Times...twice from Happy Isles, once from Onion Valley, once from Horseshoe Meadows, and once on the MR…
Tried doing the Muir South to North, but lightning at Trail Crest persuaded us to abandon that summit attempt for the safety of the lower climes of Guitar…otherwise it would have been 6.

I’m 5 for 5.

1997 – Dayhike on the main trail (it was a “before I turn 40 thing”)
2004 – Day hike of Mountaineers Route
2005 – Two nighter on the main trail with Muir as our primary goal, but we made the side trip to Whitney
2006 – Three nighter via the East Buttress, I followed on all the technical pitches.
2007 – Four nighter via the East Face, I lead all but one short pitch, also did Russell via the East Ridge.

I had though about returning to do the East Face again this summer, but the new North Fork permit requirements have soured that plan. Hopefully I’ll get back to do a winter ascent in time.

Eight times....

1959 - My first trip up the MT - I was 7-yrs. old
1968 - from Cedar Grove
1971 - From South Lake
1995 - Day hike (MT)
1996 - From Onion Valley
2001 - From Onion Valley (last backpacking trip with my Dad)
2003 - From South Lake
2006 - From Happy Isles

I tried the MR once... didn't make it, so it's still on my "to do" list.

2009 will be my 50-year aniversary!! OMG! where does the time go!!! Anyway...that will probably be #9.

Nice going! I was 7 in 1959 but it never occurred to me to hike up Mt. Whitney. I think I was busy playing baseball that day. I did do it in 1971 and from Happy Isles in 2006. My total is 7.

2009 will be the 40th anniversary of my first marathon (second also). I think I'll do Whitney instead of doing another one of those. Last year was the 30th anniversary of my last marathon and I may hang onto that for a while.

That's awesome, 50yrs of climbing. Something you should be proud of. Reading the posts, I am getting the itch to get out into the hills sitting here at my desk! Stairmaster will have to do until vacation :-(

A total of nine summits for me. Four times in the 1970's (1972, 1974, 1976, 1978), including a night on the summit in 1978. Then a long lay-off until 2003. The 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 trips were all single-day hikes, with 2006 being to celebrate my 50th birthday (complete with a bottle of Dom Perignon on the summit). 2007 was a five-day hike from Horseshoe Meadows, with the 4th night spent on the summit once again. I will be coming back this year for my 10th summit, and plan on spending the night once again on the top. I for one, have a special attraction tho the Eastern Sierra's, and Whitney keeps calling me back every year. Whitney Mike

Three successful summits and one incomplete: The first time was coming off a 2-week backpack on the JMT sometime around 1962. In 1998 (age 62) I summited in one-day on the MT. In 2006 I tried a one-day again but didn't make it to the top. In 2007 I did summit again as a one day on the MT.

I had to do it one more time after 2003, when I had a hip replaced. I had asked the surgeon if I would be able to hike up Mt. Whitney with the tin hip. He said if I could do it before I would be able to do it with the replacement. I wanted to see if he was right.

14x
1998: 1 (dayhike from the Portal)
1999: 4 (dayhikes from the Portal)
2000: 1 (dayhike from the Portal)
2002: 1 (finishing JMT hike starting from Happy Isles)
2003: 1 (finishing JMT hike starting from Happy Isles)
2005: 1 (Crescent Meadow - Mt Whitney Yo-yo hike)
2006: 1 (overnight from the Portal)
2007: 4 (3 dayhikes from the Portal; Crescent Meadow to Happy Isles HSTJMT hike)

For those of you who have done "doubles," I salute you! I would like to be able to do that too. Maybe this will be the year for me to give it a try. This thread has inspired me to give it a shot.

When you say Happy Isles, are you referring to Happy Isles in Yosemite?

All of the mentions of Happy Isles refer to JMT hikes starting in Yosemite.

On May 24 of '02 I celebrated the 50th anniversary of my first climb of this mountain by—what else?—climbing this mountain. Coincidentally, that ascent put me into the triple digits. Since then I have simply written XXX in the summit register. The exact number (I know what it is) is meaningless, but I hope to be around to write XXXX before I retire my boots.

eight summits, seven nights on top (after completing JMT) and looking for #9 and a wake up, Aug 08.

With so many fantastic peaks in the Sierra, and so many beautiful areas to explore, I'm curious as to why Whitney is so often repeated?

Please, don't read this as a knock on those who do repeat! Everyone has favorite spots they return to time and again, I'm just wondering about Whitney's alure.

BTW, I have zero summits, but hope to remedy that in July. If I ever hear back from the lottery, that is.

Suppose someone does Whitney every year: He goes to those other fantastic peaks all the time and then Whitney too -- it's only one day out of the year!

Good luck in July!

Largely for the same reason that there is a website devoted to it. But also because of easy access, moderate routes, and attractive surroundings. It isn't alone in being a peak that is often repeated.

three times, via:

Mountaineer's Route, May 2004
East Buttress, September 2007
Mountaineer's Route, January 2008

am very much looking forward to hiking the Main Trail, and to sleeping on the summit

If Whitney's elevation was only 12,497 I do not think she would be climbed as often.

Summited 5 times last year - peak count was over 100 - so that makes it less than 5% of my summits