Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Helping others on the trail...

What's the etiquette when it comes to helping people on the trail? Would you intervene if you knew someone was getting themselves in trouble... how pushy would you be to help a stranger, that doesn't think they need help?

Reverse roles - you've been thinking about this day for years and nearly all of your free time for the last 6 months has been used to prepared for this day ... how receptive are YOU to help? If a stranger said that you needed to turn around because you were showing the early signs of AMS/hypothermia/etc, would you?

This happened 7 years ago and I still think about it:

An Unintentional Whitney Summit, a Helicopter Rescue and the “AMS Lady”

On a serious note...
there aren't too many times when I think about Whitney that I DON'T feel like kicking myself in the ass regarding the old man who was heading up Whitney on Halloween a number of years ago...

I knew he was already in trouble when I blew past him on the way up The Switchbacks. He was in even worse shape when I passed on my way down from the summit on the West Side.

I did ask him a few questions on the way down, but didn't bother spending any time trying to convince him to head down with me.

He died in one of the couloirs near Mt. Muir...
Was it dissatisfaction with the quality of his end of life????
Was it a real accident?

I don't spend nearly as much time in the mountains anymore, but when I do, and see someone who's obviously in trouble, and still heading up, I go into asshole mode and tell them to get their ass down off of the mountain...

...and yes, in the past I've turned 12- hour days into 20+/- hours days when someone has asked for assistance.

Unfortunately, during the hiking season this scenario plays out daily on the Main Trail.

A good resource here is Doug's recent book "The Mount Whitney Guide-30 Years on the Mountain." Specifically refer to his chapter "When Something Goes Wrong." It gives some insights into the mechanics and ethics of giving assistance to others on the Mountain.

My personal view is that the Mt Whitney community should stick together and help each other out within reasonable limits. My family (down at 50' elevation) will understand (even applaud) if I return late or did not reach a goal because I helped another hiker. But what they will not appreciate is me getting significantly injured in doing so.

Thanks for bringing up this interesting topic.

Jim