Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board are we ready ?

I am hiking Whitney with a friend on sept.19/20, and staying at trail camp.
I think we got the gear, the training, and the Diamox. The determination is also there.
How cold will we be ? We have 15 F bags.
ANY IMPORTANT TIPS FROM VETERANS ?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE. I HAVE BEEN READING THE MESSAGES AND I LIKE THE ADVICE.

Should be warm enough. Start early, drink lots!

Your bags should be warm enough but NOBODY will be able to predict the weather on a day that far in advance. Even our own expert dmatt who graciously posts weather forecasts almost daily.

You are liable to get lots of opinions on this but I would stay away from the diamox. Tens of thousands of people have climbed Whitney without using it. It has side effects. It is a diuretic and although doctors say it is not a severe one it is enough to dehydrate you. It also causes an uncomfortable tingling sensation in the hands and feet.

Maybe an MD who posts here can back me up on this but doctors in the know will tell people to NOT take it ahead of time. It is better to wait and see how your body responds to altitude and if you need it then take some but if you are feeling fine you save yourself the side effects. I have talked to several MD's who are also backpackers or mountaineers and all of them have told me you don't need to take it two days ahead of time like many doctors prescribe.

Have a good hike.

You can find my opinion on Diamox by doing a search on that word and inserting my member number (13). It should return these three links: <a href=http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004544>1</a>, <a href=http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003597>2</a>, and <a href=http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000173>3</a>.

While I always hesitate to conjecture, I believe that 15 deg bags will be more than sufficient for quite some time to come (I use them all winter). On Rainier four days ago I had my 15 deg Marmot Helium, but could have gotten by easily with my 40 deg Atom. Even without a tent. Of course, pay attention to the weather predictions.

I can't figure out what to do regarding Diamox on my future trip to the Sierra and Whitney. It's a tough call. I guess I'd like to try it without it, but I don't want my trip ruined by severe AMS either. I guess I'll try to do some high altitude hikes early in my trip and perhaps that will leave me time to take it before Whitney if I need to.

Cement, I'd disagree with you about the diamox, in the following sense: If one is climbing one of the very high altitude mountains, taking one or two months of acclimatization, then what you suggest is reasonable.

However, the situation on Whitney is different, in that one cannot do what is neccessary, which is to stop ascending, and allow acclimatization to happen. Taking Diamox, and ascending, is absolutely wrong.

Problem is also that people get summit fever: after they finish puking, drop a diamox, and head up, as they have only a few hour window to get to the top.

For Diamox to really have any meaningful effect, one would have to begin it before climbing Whitney. And I certainly agree that taking it before a trip is a good idea.

Also, most people take way too much. While doing altitude research at the Portal this summer, I ran into a fellow who had been taking Diamox, and having all the typical side effects, making him miserable. I suggested he cut the dose way down, which he did, and upon his descent, we had a chance to talk about how his side effects had totally disappeared, and he had a great climb/ without AMS.

So....general advice on Diamox and altitude, may not apply well to the special situation of Whitney.

Ken thanks for the clarification. I was looking at it from a general point of view for big peaks and as you say people are ascending pretty quickly on Whitney. The research I have read had more to do with Mt. McKinley where I guess they have a medical camp and have done a lot of high altitude research.

The thing that bugs me is the feeling of being dehydrated, trying to drink lots of water to catch up, then eliminating it a lot more often. I think you clarified something about it though that might help people. The dosage of 250mg twice a day might be too much. Maybe cutting down the dosage would help with the dehydration and still allow for the benefits of using it for altitude.

I'm not a drug person anyway. I don't have an ethical dilemma about it (like some people who think it's cheating) but it just seems like doing some good training and preparation ahead of time would help eliminate the need to take drugs to climb mountains. So many tens of thousands of people have climbed Whitney, Rainier, and other big peaks without it.

Thanks for the clarification. By the way, I've appreciated your posts and advice. There are a lot of great people who contribute to this being a great message board as was said on a couple different threads recently. You are one of them. Thanks for taking the time to add in your advice.