My first Mt. Whitney summit was in July of 1967. Six mountaineers from the Las Vegas Sierra Club made the drive over on Friday night. Half planned the regular route and half the MR. Whitney Portal at mid-night was quite, so we tossed our pads and bags on the ground and slept. We were on the trail at dawn, and soon separated for our separate routes.
At LBSL my two companions decided they were going to be fishermen and not climbers, at least this weekend. I had lunch and a nap a Iceberg Lake, but was awakened by voices. I introduced my self to Sy and Anita Ossofsky and was invited to join them on the MR.
These days I suffer from CRS, but my recollection was good snow all the way to the notch. As we scrambled up the blocks to the summit I wondered out loud how I was going to be uncomfortable scrambling down on my own. Sy and Anita were doing a traverse, and my gear was at Iceberg Lake. The summit was still and clear and relatively unpopulated. This was my first Sierra summit! Sy accompanied me back to the notch relieving me of my discomfort and I made it back to Iceberg Lake without incident.
The night was incredibly clear and in periods of wakefulness I counted six artificial satellites pass overhead.
I met my buddies at LBSL and continued down and home. Six months later I moved to the LA area and became an active member of the RCS and SPS section of the Sierra Club.
I returned two more times to re-climb Whitney, a winter climb in March of ’69 and then the East Buttress in October of 69
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My Sierra travels are among the best memories of my life, including friendships with Ron, Jerry, Elton, David, Rick, Ed and many others.
