Summit photo on Mt. Whitney May 30, 2011
While guides April Mayhew and Kurt Wedberg were on Mt. Rainier, SMI guides Zach Schneider and Tristan Sieleman were hosting another stellar group on our beloved Mt. Whitney. This is a description of the trip as told by Zach Schneider.
The trip started with crystal clear blue skies and chilly temps. We made our way up the main Whitney trail that is now completely free of snow. By the time we made it to Ebersbacher ledges a system moved in and we had periods of snow and wind followed by sunshine. This pattern continued until about 6pm after we made it to Upper Boy Scout Lake.
The North fork trail is also free of snow until the steep switchbacks just before the ledges. Where the trail crosses the creek (where the water fall is) the water was high and the trail is flooded and very icy. We had to bush whack a bit just down stream to cross the creek. The ledges are in fine condition except for a giant log that is wedged between a rock and the cliff. A few stemming moves and a large step up gets one through this crux relatively easily.
Real snow starts at the notch just before Lower Boy Scout Lake and continues all the way to the summit. Sun cups are beginning to form on the slope above LBSL. Thankfully it has been cold enough and the snow line high enough that we did not need snow shoes and were not post hole-ing.
We woke up to a crystal clear Memorial day with little wind and went for our summit attempt. Conditions were about as good as they get, with firm snow and easy travel from camp all the way to the beginning of the mountaineers route. In the couloir itself we found a few inches of new snow that was over a melt freeze crust. Good conditions for kicking steps. Just below the notch the snow is melted out and is mostly rock.
Snow still covers most of the chute after the notch all the way to the summit and is great neve conditions for the last three pitches. The summit was cold and a little breezy but all in all a fine day to summit! An uneventful descent brought us back to camp and a great 4 cheese tortellini and pesto dinner. At about 11pm like a light switch being turned on we started getting hammered by strong winds that lasted all night and through the next day and the hike out.
A great trip trip with lots of laughs and all five team members getting to the summit and back safely.
Congratulations to the Hall team and thanks to International Mountain Guides for the support on this trip!
~Zach Schneider