Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board First time hiking Mt.Whitney as a day hike

Just to add to the data: I did a two-day without any time to acclimate besides overnight at the portal. Camped at Trail Camp, summited next day and hiked out. No symptoms.
(M, 50, longtime cyclist, fit, mildly asthmatic, training included two climbs to 10,000)

Wow, these posts make me happy for the individuals, but a little nervous in terms of how others with no altitude experience will interpret them. Particularly as we humans have a tendency to filter out the bad and focus on the good.

Sure, some people can go from LP to Whitney summit with no acclimatization and do well. And some cannot.

I've seen the results of improper acclimatization every single time I have been on Whitney. I've seen a lot of happy, healthy, people. I've also seen people REALLY sick, staggering, etc., due to AMS, dehydration, electrolyte depletion, etc, including my trip last week. And last week, while I didn't see it, one of my friends later told me about seeing a guy staggering with an ataxic walk (classic sign of possible HACE) on the summit trail being helped by someone else to climb even higher.

Great job on the hike!

For those interested, here is the article:

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/UPEEUDs7-dNIJjOmQ0vhH-VCJv6O9yuJ17UafJ6bsztBizmMdWtCOJXvY-kFvwLiIH943clQImjcxq7IeZmGRUvR32ZH21FA/MSSE_AMS_article%5B1%5D.pdf