Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Whitney's East Buttress

For folks that are interested in a route less traveled on Mt. Whitney, check out some pictures of my climb with four buddies this past Saturday, 9/8. We did the East Buttress of Whitney in 11 pitches with two or three pitches being class 4 and the rest are 5.6-5.8. We chose the 5.8 variation of most of the technical pitches for a little extra flavor to the climb. It was a 21-hour car to car outing.

As we got back out to the Portal at midnight Sunday, 9/9, we were thinking... Good Times!

And... just as we thought were were hardcore, we ran into two guys just below Iceberg Lake hiking down in total darkness who did the Keeler Needles, 5.10c, also car to car but starting at 10AM.

Thanks for sharing. Nice pics!

Nice trip and pics, Kevin! Say hi to the gang!

Kevin, was it you I met on Saturday morning when I was at Iceberg with my two clients ?? If so, sounds like you guys had a great time.

Tim

Awsome photos of the 'route less traveled'. It certainly gives those of us that only have nerve and stamina enough to do the main trail a completely different perspective of the mountain. Congratulations to the entire group...

Tim, that was me & the group running into to you at Iceberg lake. It was nice meeting you. It was too bad that your clients were not up for the climb because the weather stayed relatively calm for the rest of the day eventhough the menacing clouds were rolling in.

Thanks Joe, Ken & Trekker. The East Buttress is truly a 5-star High Sierra Classic. Compared to the East Face which I did two weekends ago, the rocks are more solid, route more sustained and was more enjoyable overall. More, more, more...

Kevin:

Thanks for posting all those great pics. I have a feeling that I'll be heading in that direction in the next year or so.

It was a pleasure climbing with you and your gang on Ritter this summer. I'm still kicking myself about that unfinished business up there. I bet you were the gang standing behind my truck at the Portal on Saturday night. I was sleeping inside when I saw a bunch of headlamps around that time frame you mentioned!

Looked like a fantastic time! Congrats!
-Laura

Spectacular photos, kevin! Great climb...I am drooling. High five to all five climbers!

MC

Dude...I...uh...awesome. Nice job.