Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board TR: Winter Whitney Basin Traverse

A bit over a week ago, while it was still oficially winter, my friends Tony, Booth and Boris attempted to traverse the Whitney Basin with me. We left Saturday morning, March 17th, returning Tues around noon.

We planned to follow the desription in Moynier and Fiddler, but managed to leave the photocopied section in the car. For gear, we took two ropes, two light racks, helmets, ice axe, crampons, two tents, two stoves, boots, rock shoes, food and fuel for five days, and 8 oz of mezcal. We didn't take snowshoes (a good decision), and could have managed without the ice axe and crampons as well. The packs were heavy.

<a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20032.jpg"><img src="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20032.jpg" align="right" width=150></a>

Day one -- we ascend the N. Ridge of Lone Pine, leaving the cars around 7:30 AM. Tony and I had done this route in summer. Due to heavy packs and a fiasco on the first roped pitch (we planned on hauling the packs, a mistake), we get to the final headwell just before sunset and wisely decide to bivy on the ridge itself. We sleep soundly on our cramped perches. My air mattress leaks. That day, we had just roped up for one pitch, and had stayed close to the ridge crest (better routefinding than in my summer trip).
<a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20038.jpg"><img src="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20038.jpg" align="right" height=150 clear="all"></a>

Day two -- we finish Lone Pine, doing one roped pitch at the base of the final headwall.
<a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20044.jpg"><img src="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20044.jpg" align="right" width=150 clear="all"></a> The top of Lone Pine is an alien landscape, and would have made for nice camping. We traverse to the unnamed peak on the ridge, and find some class four (including some take-off-your-pack moves) on the way down. <a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20051.jpg"><img src="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20051.jpg" align="right" width=150></a> and struggle up to the plateau below LeConte. We skip LeConte because, by our definition, it is not in the Whitney Basin watershed. We trudge across to the base of Mallory (we did not stay on the true ridge on this section), and debate whether to try the ridge after Mallory in the two hours of remaining light. In retrospect, to have any chance of the traverse, we needed to condense the first three days into two days. However, with the amount of light, it was probably best that we decided to camp on the plateau. <a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20056.jpg"><img src="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20056.jpg" align="right" height=150></a><br clear="all">

Day three -- we climb Mallory, and the fun class two/three ridge after it. We stick to the ridge line. Our plan is to take an easy day, camp at Arc Pass below McAdie, giving us a good shot at the crux section (the ridge after McAdie) on day four. We arrive at the pass around noon. The winds are very high, and we build a little shelter. That night, the winds pick up, and by 5 AM, we've decided to bail.

Day four -- As we pack up, a strong gusts snaps the tent pole on my four season Sierra Design tent. The Mountain Hardware tent does a bit better. We descend via a hard snow slope (two of us used our crampons, the other two just kicked small steps) to Consultation Lake. From there, it's a pleasant walk out on the Whitney Trail (nice, firm snow), and we get to the cars before noon. A small storm had partially moved in, but I don't think much precipitation ever came of it. <a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20074.jpg"><img src="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20074.jpg" width=150 align="right"></a>
<a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20080.jpg"><img src="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin/slides/WhitneyBasin%20080.jpg" width=150 align="right"></a>

I have some pictures <a href="http://www.acm.caltech.edu/~srbecker/pics/whitneybasin">on my website</a> for those interested, and Tony has posted three pictures <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tpuyol/">on his flickr site</a>.

We figured the traverse isn't done often in winter (and felt like it's not often to have such spring-like conditions in March as we had this year -- the weather was fantastic until the fourth day). Anyone know how often the traverse is completed in winter (or summer)?

Awesome TR Stephen! Thanks for sharing. Climb on!

Stephen: very cool! I can't imagine that it's done too often, especially in winter.

See you tonight in Pasadena for the Banff festival... anyone else going?

What a challenging trip! I enjoyed your TR and excellent pix. mc

Stephen,

I'm planning on attempting the same route this Summer. Can you give me some beta on the crux ridge after Mc Adie. I've seen descriptions of 5.7 plus rappels and descriptions that seem to indicate class 4. What did you think of that section, especially are rappels necessary?

Cheers

Stephen: Wicked report and photos. You guys rock, especially with full packs! That sunset photo is a keeper!

-Laura

Sadly, we didn't make it that far, so I don't know (we were quite curious ourselves). I assume you can do the rappels with a single rope, though don't know for sure. I plan to attempt it later this spring in a fast two-day push with Tony, so maybe I can shed some light on it then. Moynier and Fiddler are the ones who said 5.7 plus rappels, and a Moynier/Fiddler 5.7 is the real deal. Where did you hear that it was class four?

On the descent to Consulation Lake, we got a good view of the ridge after McAdie, and it didn't look too long, so that's at least a good sign. It does look steep though.

Other considerations for summer: I'd recommend doing it as soon as it's warm enough to go without a tent. Once all the snow is gone, there's no source of water. We had no difficulties with too much snow (other than a brief section on Lone Pine, which forced us onto what turned out to be a better line). And keep the packs light -- on fourth class, not only does it slow you down and make it harder, but it just drains the energy out of you.

*****
Julian/rootpi, see you at Banff. Next year we should advertise it on the forums (sorry everyone in LA, but we're already sold out) ahead of time. By the way, what inspired you to choose such an irrational username?

-Stephen

Stephen,

I really don't remember where I read it was 4th class...it was some time ago. Good luck when you return and post your results here.

Tom

Very nice report, and very adventurous. I was amazed you carried those heavy packs up those rock climbing routes. Cool pictures.

The north wall of Mt. McAdie sure looks like it would be a class five, if you stayed on the ridge itself. However if you climbed a little more to the northwest, this picture shows options a little easier.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1225914009061435028pqrNwF

Here is another picture of the north ridge of Mt. McAdie, from Rick Kent, from a little further back.


http://www.rickkent.net/ViewerPlus/viewphoto.aspx?ID=69798

Has anyone here actually climbed or descended the North ridge of McAdie? The photos sure look like there would be options easier than 5.7 and not requiring rappells.

Impressive!

I can hardly imagine hauling heavy packs with tents (and everything else) up the LPP North Ridge and then beyond. Definitely hard work.

How many days do you think the full basin traverse would take? Does this include Russell/Carillon, etc.?

-Rick

It's hard to say. When we planned the trip, I hoped to get to Arc Pass by the first day (instead, it took three), expected to make it to the base of Mallory by the first day (instead, it took two), and at the very least, assumed we'd make it to the comfy plateau on Lone Pine on the first day (again, wrong). So my estimates aren't worth too much.

During the trip, had our weather and food/fuel been indefinite, our plan was to do McAdie to Trail Crest (or Whitney Pass) on the next day, then the Whitney Crest down to a good camp at Iceberg Lake, and a third day on Russell and Carillon. So, all together, ideally:
Day One and Two: Lone Pine to Arc Pass
Day Three: McAdie section
Day Four: Whitney section
Day Five: Russell and Carillon

There's another peak past Carillon that's still in the drainage, so a good ascent should cover that as well, although Moynier and Fiddler leave it out. Has anyone climbed this peak?

In summer conditions (i.e. light packs), my hope is two days, with a single bivy at either Arc Pass or at Whitney Pass.

Has anyone done the ridge crest from Trail Crest to Whitney? I've never actually hiked this section of the Whitney Trail, so I've never had a good look at the ridge. Would it take long?

Brogant/Tom, another good piece of advice for the traverse: bring gloves, and wear them as much as possible, even if it's warm. There's so much rock you'll be covering, a lot of it sharp (and cold in the morning). I tore through a pair of gloves, as did my fellow climbers. Glad it wasn't my hands. If you can find a pair with leather in the fingers, that'd probably be ideal.
-Stephen

Hi Stephen -- I haven't been on the top portion of the main trail either, so others from this board should step in... But: to do a full ridge traverse from trail crest to the summit, that would mean going over all the needles etc, right? I know I've seen discussion here about people trying to do most or all of them in sequence (not sure if they stayed observantly along the ridge), but I would imagine that adds an appreciable amount of time since it's quite a bit of linear distance, presumably mostly 3rd-4th class.

****
And as for my username, I saw it on a license plate at Caltech (naturally) seven or eight years ago and stole it to use as my internet handle. I'm a true nerd - what can I say?