Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mount Muir 5.29.10

a little late in getting this out there, but i wanted to let you know that the conditions for summitIng Mount Muir are GREAT!

with my friends Phil and Jim we took off from the portal last Saturday at 4:30 am. it was a clear morning, though a bit chilly and the freezing temp's at night left ice on the creek crossings. both Jim and Phil fell when they hit some ice crossing the creeks, so please be very careful in the dark.

we left the MWMT at Lone Pine Lake for the slabs and the winter traverse and found the snow in great condition. though near rocks the snow has greatly thinned and caution must be maintained. we arrived at the chute and had a nice ascent on snow that was still firm enough for a good step up. once we left the trail for Mt. Muir we had a nice ascent in good snow with easy route finding. last year i attempted this peak in old hiking boots and found myself sketched out when i got to the undercling move on the friction slab. this year i not only brought my rock shoes to stick to the rock and my alpine harness but Phil brought a rope and i was grateful to use it on that move. from there the climbing was Class3 and we all easily made the summit after having viewed the photos of Bob R, Dave G and others who gracisously post them online. plus i pretty much remembered the route from last year, especially the crux move that i choked on! in case anyone else wants to try this with rock shoes it's good to know if they touch snow they become ice skates. absolutely slick! it probably would have been better to bring my approach shoes but i opted for carrying the lighter rock shoes in my pack.

summiting Mt. Muir, elev 14,012 feet, affords you a beautiful view of Whitney, Langley, the switchbacks and Trail Camp among other views. it was a great day hike and my 7th fourteener. quite exciting! thanks to Phil and Jim for being great companions and to Phil for being a great partner on the ascent and descent of Muir.

Our objective


I ran into Martinigal from this board on the backside


I followed Phil up the Muir Class3 route


The switchbacks still covered in snow


Looks like quite a crowd on Whitney Saturday at 1:45 pm


rest of my pix are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ryan.norma81/MountMuir52910#

Congratulations to the group on a successful Muir summit!

Been waiting to hear about MartiniGal's trip. Seeing her in the photo with you leads me to believe they must have been made it.

Looks like hard class 3!

yes, she did. Jim said she took a photo of him with his camera at the summit. i look forward to her TR too.

Hamik, the Class3 is typical Class3, but that one move is just a bit hard for me. if i was 6 feet tall and had longer arms i think i could do it without a belay, but combined with that exposure as you are reaching laterally is a bit daunting for me.

Congratulations Norma on your 7th 14'r! How many have you got on your list for 2010?

Nice work, Norma! (I think it's worth noting that the view of the switchbacks is pretty much all that's on your right side of that class 3 section, which can be unnerving---especially if it's windy and you're on snow.) Fun stuff, though.

I've got the East Buttress of Muir for later this season on my tick list if you're up for a more "direct" route...

twist my arm!

Good Job Norma. Muir is always a fun scramble, Love the G Baby pic.

Dave

Congrats, Norma! Great pics. That nose/blind step-around thing sketched the hell out of me, too. blech... Can't wait to head back to that later...

Great work on Muir... Norma, Phil and Jim (and Jim on his 2-fer). Congrats on your 7th 14er, Norma! Your reports and pix are always so informative. You have become an important 'reporter of the eastern Sierra' along with your peers.

So glad Martinigal made the summit. Will also look forward to her TR.

Awesome climb Norma!!! And as usual, stunning pix and great captions.

Great Job, Norma, Phil & Jim!

Nice TR and pics Norma, looks like you guys had great weather and a good climb. Congrats to all!

thanks for the kind words everyone!! we all had a great time. how could we not have a great time on such a beautiful day!

Nice! very glad I backtracked a few weeks on the WPSMB to see what I had missed. Great weather, great climb... and nice pictures to remember it all. I'm gonna tell James and Mike to get their butts in gear, because Norma is in high gear!!