How to Climb Mount Whitney
Mt. Whitney, the pyramidal potentate of the Sierra Nevada, is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. The sheer height of the bare granite summit, combined with its dramatic appearance — rising more than 10,000 feet from the town of Lone Pine, Calif. in the Owens River Valley — means bagging the summit is on the list of every serious mountaineer.
The good news is that due to the grade of the trail and accessibility of the peak, anybody in decent shape can add it to their quiver. The bad news is two-fold. One, due to the popularity of the hike, you need to enter a lottery to get a permit. Two, due to the grade of the trail and accessibility of the peak, people underestimate the overall difficulty of executing a strenuous hike at high altitude.
Approximately 30,000 people try to summit Mt. Whitney every year. Only 10,000 succeed. No doubt poor conditioning, and difficulty with altitude play a large role in the relatively high failure rate, but there are other factors to consider as well.
The Facts, Jack
At 14,505, Mt. Whitney is the tallest peak in the “lower 48,” but ranks 11th in the United States (the top ten are all in Alaska) and 24th in North America. It’s 65 feet taller than Mt. Elbert — the tallest of the Rocky Mountains located in Colorado.
Whitney sits only 84 miles away from the lowest point in North America — Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park. It is situated on the Sierra Crest, running north-south and is surrounded by several other Sierra Nevada high peaks. The United States Geological Survey brass marker incorrectly states the peak’s measurement as 14,494, as the shape of the earth has been measured more accurately since it was installed.
Muir, Whitney, and the Three Fishermen
The California Geological Survey named the peak after Josiah Whitney, California’s state geologist. Whitney often publicly squabbled with the famed naturalist John Muir. Muir attributed the shape and form of the Sierra Nevada to glacial activity, while Whitney maintained it was faulting. Muir’s theory is the one generally accepted by today’s geologists.
Muir climbed Mt. Whitney in 1873. He was almost the first, but not quite. Three locals from Lone Pine — Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas — summitted the peak about a month before as a part of a fishing trip. As a result, he christened it Fishermans Peak. It didn’t stick.
On our way up Mount Whitney.
Different Paths
There are several different ways to climb Mt. Whitney. If you have technical experience, you can choose from a bevy of lines that take a more direct route to the top. John Muir climbed the famed Mountaineers Route a hefty Class 3 scramble that presents a cardiovascular challenge. The East Face of Mt. Whitney, a technical rock climb, is listed as one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America. It is rated 5.4, but has the challenge of thin air. But the views on the way up are incredible.
If you posses the know-how, by all means, bag it this way. Here are a few additional tips.