Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Second Attempt W/O Getting Sick

I am headed up Whitney again this year with our group. Last year we were cought in a snowstorm and had to turn back. I started to get very dizzy, assume from the elevation or something I ate, around outpost camp. We did spend the night prior at the portal, to get acclimated. My question is this, if I start to get sick again, I am just going to keep on trucking. Is there any long term effects of just hiking through elevation sickness? Will I get to a point where I just pass out and then we could have major problems like having to carry me down?

Oh yeah, Hi John and gang.

Socal, you will probably just feel worse and worse, until you just want to sit, and going forward will be so slow that there is no way you could make the summit in a day. At some point, you might be barfing terribly, too.

Since you are so sensitive to the altitude, you need to get up to Horseshoe Meadows, and stay 48 hours before you start up the Whitney trail. Take some reading material, take some short hikes, and just relax.

And take a little Diamox each evening before you go to any altitude and continue taking it until your summit day.

Socal, Steve is correct. You need a couple of days at altitude along with a slow steady gait up the hill. Don't forget to bring along a regular thirst for water and be sure to keep eating! If you start to puke settle down for a few minutes and get some GU or something down. You'll be needing the electrolytes because you'll be losing them from the barfin'. If you are getting dizzy or turning blue get down the mountain. I'm a big proponent of a powdered elixir called Green Magma every morning with about 4 ounces of water. It seems to help my red blood cell count and allows for decent oxygen saturation when coupled with acclimation at altitude.

Great info, much appreciated. We are taking two days to summit. Hiking to base camp, then summit the following day. I am not even sure if I will feel bad again, it could have been something I ate the night before down at the pasta joint in Lone Pine. I just know myself, this time, I just want to hike through it and get back down. Again, I appreciate the advice.

Severe AMS can progress to HACE, and that can kill you. Lots of places you can read about it, like

http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com

http://www.ismmed.org/np_altitude_tutorial.htm

Have pity on the rescue teams: Don't do it.

It was not something you ate, it was the altitude, plus the strain of climbing. Have you ever gotten dizzy from eating anything before? I doubt it.

If you are doing an overnight on Whitney, you should STILL spend at least 36 hours at Horseshoe Meadows.

Hey guys,
Just a side question. We are hiking in from Horseshoe Meadows, to Guitar, summit, and down next week. Expecting 2-3 days/nights at >10,000 feet before we summit .
Should be ok, right??
Thanks,
bumps

In the 4 days that I was involved with the survey, I don't think we ran across anyone who had come in on a backside multiday trip who had significant altitude issues, whether from Cottonwood, Kearsarge, Shepard, or Crescent Meadow, and certainly not the JMT.
You should be fine.

Bumpass,

There's no way to tell how people are going to be effected by altitude. There was a post on this board not too long ago when a group of boyscout hiked in from the Giant Sequoia Forest via the High Sierra Trail. We're talking minimum 7 nights on the trail, all with elevation right around 9000 feet+. On the day he went for the summit he got extremely sick and had to evacuated out.

This is obviously an extreme case. If you are properly conditioned and take your time, you will PROBABLY be fine. Know the symptoms, and if someone starts to feel sick remember that descending usually does the trick.
Gusto

Bumpass, on my Onion Valley to Whitney Portal hike several years ago, I camped at Onion Valley on night 1 and was ok. On night 2 and 3, both at 10,000 elev. I had altitude symptoms -- major loss of appetite. But on the third day, I was quite a bit better.

However, my three companions had no symptoms. On night three, they gladly gobbled up my share of dinner. I never saw such appetites!

Thanks guys, you are all awesome!
Another question.
I've read the AMS notes on the link. Will sleeping at 8500ft. one night 4-5 days prior to the above multi(4)day hike make much difference in prep for AMS? Can you really "build up" in advance? Aren't we talking more about consecutive days of acclimatizing before summiting as the multiday hike will do?
again,
bumps

I saw few people ill from altitude sickness on top and near outpost camp and the looks on their faces told how miserable they felt. I can't imagine tryimg to push past that to make the summit. I assume it's usually impossible.

I did Whitney for the first time two weeks ago. I had never been over 11,500 prior to that. I did not experience any altitude sickness.

In the 6 weeks prior to Whitney, I did 2 day hikes of Mt. Baldy, backpacked San Gorgonio via the Vivian Creek Trail, dayhiked Cloud's Rest from Tenaya Lake and the Yosemite Valley 4-mile Trail to Glacier Point and backdown via the Panorama Trail. I kept hydrated on Whitney and always had 16oz of Cytomax handy.

The night before our hike to Trail Camp I spent at Horseshoe Meadow and then a night at Trail Camp prior to summiting. I can only assume that my altitude training, hydration and good hemoglobin made my first trip AMAZING and thankfully uneventful.

I will be back!! I'm looking forward to hiking the Mountaineer's Route next.

hey socal- when did you hike whitney last year and get caught in a snowstorm? I'm going again this year but not until early October and wondering what that'll be like.

Altitude is weird like that. I spent one night at portal camp after driving from San Diego. I summite d the next day in a day hike without much problem. And I'm not in all that great shape. Others in who were in better shape got sick. It didn't make sense to me.

John is that you? ANyway, we went Sept 26th. THis year we are headed up a week later. We were turned around at outpost camp. The whole sickness thing was interesting to me as well. I am not in the worst shape, but i was the only one in the group who felt bad at all. At least I was the only one who said anything about it. I am just a bit concerned about this year. I want to do anything I can to make sure it doesnt happen again.

norma r - well done! Your accomplishment through preparation is inspiring. I plan to summit Sept. 11. In the meantime, prepare, prepare, prepare.