Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Thief at Whitney Portal

Me and my buddy cruised up friday night to do the E. Face. I woke up early saturday morning and went out to his car to get ready for the day. I sat in the car for awhile and then i left for about 3 minutes to take a leak. I returned and continued preparing my stuff. He showed up awhile later and started to get ready also. He then informed me that his ice axe was missing from the back seat. We tore the car apart looking for it but it was obviously gone.
As if that wasn't low enough the axe was not his. It was rented from A16 in Los Angeles. We were super bummed to say the least. We rallied up to Iceberg lake anyway hoping the E. Face would be free of snow. No dice. It would have been suicidal to try to get to the base of the route and then handle the washboards without the tool. (He didn't have crampons either, our fault)
I have never experianced any sort of thievery in the climbing or backpacking community. I had previously thought that some sort of code of ethics existed at the crag or in the backcountry but i guess that's all sh it. Anyways if anyone trys to pawn a 70cm Black Diamond ice ace on you with a red leash and "A16" etched into the handle, don't buy it.

Hi Vinze 3.0

That is really a bummer. I agree with you that there once existed a code, to be honest and helpful in the mountains.
I am going up the Moutaineers Route with a few friend this weekend, so I guess we'll just have to be extra careful.

Hope that you still had an enjoyable trip. I am wondering what the conditions are like up there at the moment. Where does the snow start?
We are planning on leaving Saturday morning from the car to get to Iceberg Lake. I assume that we will not hit snow until after noon, so it will be soft. Do you recommend Snow Shoes? This time of year it is always a trade off between carrying the weight of the snow shoes and post holing with a heavy pack.

I would appreciate some info.

Thanks

Andreas

the snow starts right at Lower boy scout lake. there are plenty of tracks to follow up to iceberg so you really don't need the snowshoes. crampons are a must if you plan on doin the MR early in the morning as the snow is hard until it warms up....

THanks

Whew, ouch! that smarts!~

... thought I would add my own misfortune. a couple of years ago, I left my wonderful Minolta Maxxum 2xi on top of my Jeep, while I walked over to the car of the climbing guide to give him his stuff ... oh, came back a few minutes later ... 'poof' ... the old disappearing camera trick.

Oh well, ...learned my lesson ... I deserved that one ... knucklehead I was to leave it there ... I too, ahd been overly trusting of the general populace that would head out to the backcountry ...

I'd give anything for that roll of (36) film left in the camera which showed us coming down the MR ... can keep the dumb old camera ... just wish I had the pictures ...

NB

I’ve been hiking and climbing in the US wilderness for years and always been leaving my stuff without supervision. I’m more careful when camping in campgrounds, though. However, I’ve never had any problem with loosing anything till the last summer.

While descending Mt Rainier I stopped at Camp Muir (at about 10,500 feet) to rest, eat, and prepare some water for the rest of the route to the parking lot (at about 5,500 feet). After melting the snow and boiling the water, I placed the bottles in the snow near by my backpack. Just before I was ready to hit down I went to the restroom for a minute or two and after came back my bottles were gone. I spent almost 30 minuets looking and asking around. No luck. To help me, one person gave me an empty 1-gallon container. On my way down I catch up with a nice couple I met at the camp, and after telling the story they immediately offered me splitting their water.

I always get dehydrated on my way down; that day was extremely hot, which made even worse. Thanks to the couple I was OK, but still cannot believe what happened that day. It seems some people follow no CODE and no ethics. Fortunately, it happened on my way down.

Over 20 years ago, in a couple of fairly remote places, I was with people who had gear stolen. I think it's something of a myth that there was a "code of honor" among wilderness-lovers that has recently disintegrated. Ninety-nine percent of us would never steal, but that one percent is and has been around for a long time. Of course, the farther you are from a trailhead, and the heavier the gear is, the less likely it seems that it is to be stolen.