Mt. Whitney Trail - Hiking rookie

imported
#1

Sorry to bore you all with such a riduculous question, but here I go. I’ve never climbed anything more than a foothill. In early April, I will be joing some friends to hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney via the Mount Whitney Trail. I am afraid of heights, but am usually ok as long as i’m not staring over the edge of a long vertical drop. If that’s the case, i’d be making love to the mountain wall all along the trail. Is there usually space between the trail and the mountain’s edge along the way? Is it advisable for a person who is afraid of heights to hike the Mount Whitney Trail in early Spring? I hear the conditions can make the, normally easy hike in summer, much more challenging…especially when i have absolutely no experience using crampons, ice axe, etc…

Sorry… for all the questions. First time poster here, and would appreciate some advice.
Thanks.

Bojangles

#2

More details about your trip would be helpful, but as long as your in good shape, and your friends have some outdoor experience, you should be fine. Which trail do you intend to take on your adventure up the mountain? Some routes are harder than others.

Brad T

#3

Ah, I see now that you intend to do the Whitney Trail.

Brad T

#4

Thanks for the voteo of confidence Brad. Physically I think I’ll be fine. The plan is to hike from Whitney Portal to Trail camp on Thursday, Camp out, then leave at dawn Friday to hike to the summit and return down the same day. I guess my main concern is the proximity of major vertical drops from the trail itself. How often is there nothing but air directly adjacent to the trail on my left/right as I hike up/down the mountain?

I just don’t want to wig out because 6 inches off the trail is a deadly drop off, and my mind starts saying things like “don’t slip, or you dead”

What would you say to that?

Bojangles

#5

I’m not gonna lie to you, there are a couple (but only a couple, really) of ledges along the trail that you may or may not find to be a little nerve wracking, but most of the trail is generally pretty easy. I don’t like heights much either, but when I climbed Whitney I was more bummed about having to use a wagbag than the heights.

Brad T

#6

I wet my pants in high places also. However, I did the Whitney climb at the end of a John Muir Trail hike. Came from the west (Guitar lake) and descended to Whitney Portal. It is an easy hike from the point of view of steepness and you will not have to do any hand over hand.

Don’t look down. The drops are scary. Focus on the trail ahead and to the high side of the trail. I survived, you will too.

That having been said, I did it in August on a dry day. I have no idea what snow and ice are like in April.

Good luck.

swamp fox

#7

I wet my pants in high places also. However, I did the Whitney climb at the end of a John Muir Trail hike. Came from the west (Guitar lake) and descended to Whitney Portal. It is an easy hike from the point of view of steepness and you will not have to do any hand over hand.

Don’t look down. The drops are scary. Focus on the trail ahead and to the high side of the trail. I survived, you will too.

That having been said, I did it in August on a dry day. I have no idea what snow and ice are like in April.

Good luck.

swamp fox

#8

Good question!!! Actually, you aren’t going to fall, your foot is not going to slip off the trail. It’s an awesome hike. Adventure and accomplishment add greatly to your quality of life.

The guys are forgetting to tell you about the short trail distance between the needles with exposure on both sides. One trick is to carry trekking poles so you are grasping something. I have also heard of three hikers in a row all grasping the same pole in their right hands and the other in their left hands so the person in the middle walks with a “handrail”. Another trick is to walk with a mantra. My sister uses "Don’t look down. Don’t look down…) I’ve seen a person crawl hands and knees there and another was wailing loudly about the exposure. Poles, handrails or mantras work.

But, the four time I hiked (first time for my 50th birthday Oct 7 with ice frozen on the 100 switchbacks) I opted not to camp on Whitney. It’s an overcrowded, dirty and disgusting place to camp but a spectacular place to hike.

…GottaWalk

Marcia

#9

Bojangles -
If you hike Whitney in early April, it will undoubtedly be a winter mountaineering climb, not a walk up the Whitney Trail. The switchbacks which are mentioned above will be buried.

The standard (easiest) snowbound route up Whitney is directly above Trail Camp & is appropriately named “Mountaineers Chute.” It’s very close to vertical near the top and is usually heavily corniced. It’s not a hard climb, per se, but it’s exposed and the runout is directly into rocks - so you should have good ice-axe self arrest skills.

In the first week of June in '05 (heavy snow year) the entire mountain was snowbound above treeline (including Trail Camp). I had a very sketchy glissade down the face of moutaineers chute. Within the next two weeks, two climbers died on this route.

This post is not meant to scare you - I just wanted to let you know that it can be very challenging. You can easily get to Trail Camp and then decide what to do from there. The only technical spot is the corniced summit of mountaineers chute - so if your friends are experienced moutaineers and your roped in with them, you should be fine. But, on a scale of 1 to 10 the last 100 feet up the chute to the top is probably a 9 on the freaked out with heights scale :slight_smile:

Happy Trails!

freebird

#10

A good source for everything about climbing Whitney is the board run by the Whitney Portal Store:
www.whitneyportalstore.com and click on Message Board

The Mt. Whitney Trail should not be a problem for you, but do take your time because of the high altitude. As for exposure, you may hear talk about the “windows” which are where the trail approaches the crest at gaps between the peaks. Don’t panic about these. The trail there is wide and if you just look at the trail there is nothing to worry about. If you do enjoy airy views, turn and look east down the mountain.

AsABat

#11

I live in Ridgecrest - SE of Whitney. A big storm came through last week, with two more expected this weekend. The area north of Whitney received several feet of snoww - so the Whitney area was undoubtably also buried. With this much snow in mid-Feb, you are almost assured of encountering winter mountaineering conditions in April. In fact, Army and New Army Pass SW of Whitney - and lower - are usually snow-covered well into June.

Your April trip will not be a hike up a well-established trail. In many cases, you won’t be able to find the trail. If you do make it to the top, the decent will be more sporty than the climb.

Good luck - just be aware of what you might be getting into.

Booger

#12

Thank you all for your advice and insight. I must say you didn’t calm my nerves completely as I had hoped (but didn’t really expect it). But i still have hope. If I can conquer, or just plain deal with, my fear… I think I’ll be ok. …depending on mother nature of course

Bojangles

#13

Bojangles, asking here is going to get you (with exceptions) the point of view from hikers who went through in June or later. Like a couple people mentioned, this is NOT the same thing in April. Ask your question on whitneyportalstore.com 's website, or on Summitpost.org . Especially if your friends aren’t real pros at this, you might not wanna do it in April. If you do, remember to kick in hard each step when there is a drop-off. No tip-toeing across the snow. Seems obvious, but for those with good self-preservation instincts (i.e. FEAR), sometimes being careful leads to dangerously light stepping.

markv