Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board But have you really done Whitney...

...if you haven't climbed up on top of the summit hut?

Technically, it seems that the structure is not the Summit Hut. The foundation of the Hut is below the Summit of Mt Whitney. The roof of the Hut might not rise above the Summit of Mt Whitney.

I believe there might be a local surveyor who could settle this matter!

Jim

But didn't they build the hut so people didn't get hurt falling off the cairn...?



(Photo courtesy of the Eastern California Museum and features in "The Mount Whitney Guide - 30 Years on the Mountain" -- the best book I've ever read (repeatedly during the editing process) on all things Whitney ;-)

Bob R did...
I was there...
He carried a Level up to the summit...set it level on that highest Benchmark...sighted to the Hut...saw that the Benchmark IS higher than the roof of the Hut...

I'd guess that he probably wrote about it somewhere.

Richard, thanks for recalling that Bob R provided the definitive answer.

Of note is that the Summit Hut is likely the highest permanent structure in the lower 48.

Jeff, perched on top of the old Summit Cairn is not where I would want to be if there was lightning in the neighborhood!

Jim

PS Enjoying Richard's updates from Ladakh and Nepal.

Back in 2006, I took a level to check the summit BM vs the Summit Hut.
It was tricky getting a good photo as this was back in the dayz of the early digital cameras (pre smart phone) and the view-finder was separate from the lens.
So, lining up the view-finder & lens with the level didn’t work out as well as I had hoped.
Anyhow, it looked to me that the BM is just a bit higher than the Hut roof.
But the chimney and some of the lightning rods are higher.



Photos from the rest of the big day
https://grahamcracker.smugmug.com/2006/Whitney-5-peaks

I was going to say that I remember Bob saying the Chimney Stack was higher, but that would have been a weak recollection...

Summarizing the chronology of these measurements:

June 22, 2006: Richard and Bob R ascended the Main Trail (snow conditions). Greats photos of the hike and Bob's Summit measurements are documented in Bob's 6/22/2006 entry in the WPSMB Member Photo Album Link.

June 25, 2006: Rick does a monster day hike (ascending Carillon, Russell, Whitney, Keeler, and Muir) and makes measurements at the Whitney Summit. See his collection of photos for his hike in the link to his recent entry in this thread.

Strong work fellows!

Jim

Thanks, guys.

Yep, once in a while I gotta lob a mush ball into the fray when the "What are the conditions...?" and "Is it safe to...?" and "Would someone like to...?" questions reach a fever pitch.

Expect more nonsense like this as I sit in my office and pine for the now-very-distant pines of the Eastside.

Can I get credit for a 14er if I climb on the roof of my hut at Pangong Lake. The bed is at 4277m…hoping I don’t end up with a massive headache…

I heard that if you do a headstand for about two minutes it really helps with altitude headaches (in addition to being right-side up on this side of the globe for the 14er to count...)

But have you read the complete works of Irene Kritz?

You mean Mad Dog, the little round pack cook, guide and occasional storyteller?

No.

...and beloved former schoolteacher in Lone Pine.