Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Wall Street Journal article about the Whitney hike

There is a quote from Doug that, "It's the poor man's Everest".

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122005156389884849.html?mod=hps_us_inside_today

nice article and cool picture. hopefully new and old people will find some inspiration and take to the mountains. i always like to see articles and stories like that that are positive and motivating

I thought it was very well written and quite interesting. I am looking fwd to my 8th ascent a week from now and this article just got me that much more pumped for this year's hike.

Can't wait.

Nice article. But I can't help but wonder why people who've never been to the mountain insist on a summit and back in a day?

Thanks for the post -- and for the generally favorable comments about the article. I'm the guy who wrote the WSJ story. By the way, I found this board was a lot of help in getting us ready for the hike. So, thanks everyone for sharing your stories, perspectives and insights earlier this summer.

We're in total agreement about respecting the altitude. In fact I made that one of the key points in the article's sidebar about how potential hikers should prepare.

In case it matters, our four-person group consisted of people who'd hiked high before, even if this was our first time on Whitney. (We'd all been to at least 13,000 and in one case 17,700 feet, though the piece didn't say so.) In fact I turned down one potential hiker who just didn't seem to have the experience to belong on the mountain. So I'm sorry if anyone read the story as encouraging inexperienced people to try too much. I did my best to make just the opposite point. Train well. Prepare smart. Don't hike beyond your capabilities.

It's a great experience, but it's a tough mountain.

George Anders

it's the editors, that's easy to see. I just have a habit of asking questions, and am worried about my friends. I am sorry if I put you on the defense, that was not at all my intention, it was just a general observation, not at all aimed at your article. :-)

George,
Welcome to the message board, and congratulations getting your article published. Ya shudda put in a plug for the message board.

The article was very nicely written, and did not seem to enourage people to ignore the altitude. The idea of bringing a group of strangers together to climb Whitney was very interesting. Everyone seems to climb Whitney for different reasons, but it uniformly leaves everyone with a sense of awe and respect for the mountain.

George, I thought a very nice article. It's so hard to find the right compromise between detail and general info. I thought you hit it about right. It's always nice to read good wordsmithing, combined with an interesting subject.


I particularly liked your mention of the double allure:
"For many hikers, Whitney isn't just a mountain; it's part of a bigger personal quest. Getting to the top can be a way to celebrate lasting triumphs over cancer, obesity or drug addiction. It can be a decisive chapter break for people switching jobs. Or it can simply be a way for overlooked middle managers to stand tall for a moment on the summit, towering over everyone else by virtue of their own hard work."

That really captured well, an issue that we've been discussing here, recently. For folks that observe the "whitney scene", it explains a lot of the things that go on, which out of context, seem irrational (eg, lack of preparation, pushing on when conditions don't support).

Thanks for sharing your experience with many others!

Hello George -- Your article exemplifies why I love my Wall St. Journal, always something very interesting for my reading pleasure. With your description of the weather, I couldn't help but wonder if we hiked the same day; very clear blue sky, but cold and windy! (I suppose there are many such days on the mountain.)

The only item missing from the article, already mentioned in an earlier post, was the url for the message board as a vital reference for anyone considering the hike.

Excellent photos, by the way, it was nice to see so much space devoted to the entire subject. I appreciated that it was not a superficial treatment, that you delved into the psyche of the hike and hikers. Thanks for a well-conceived and well-written project.

I agree that you should've mentioned the message board. I actually wrote to the WSJ complimenting your article, but saying that it would have been even better if you had mentioned the message board. It's such a big help to anyone wanting to hike Mt. Whitney. I wouldn't be suprised if lives had been saved because people read the message board before they tried the hike.