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dingus
Apr 21, 2005, 9:55 AM
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Registered: Dec 16, 2002
Posts: 15412
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This has been bugging at me for some time and I hope I am not dogging too closely on the heels of another sad accident by bring it up now. I have no intention of referring to additional details of recent climbing accidents, other than to mention they happened.
Two people have been killed descending the Mountaineer's Route on Whitney this winter / spring.
And a lot of people, posting here, on other sites and just doing their thing in the real world, state intentions to climb Whitney in the winter / spring time frame.
As a long time Sierra rat and wannabe ski mountaineer, I am compelled to ask, "why?" Why climb Whitney during the most risky seasons?
I'm not so much looking for answers from people who have or want to do it during these times. I'm not trying to put anyone on the spot. But for this long time California climber, the ideal times to climb in the Sierra are mid-summer to late fall. Spring is the time for ski mountaineering and frankly, imo the Sierra is not the best place to practice winter mountaineering at all.
Some experienced climbers may want to for the challenge of climbing that peak in adverse conditions. But I see a lot of relatively inexperienced climbers posing 'how to' or 'when to' questions about climbing Whitney in winter and I ask...
Are these climbers doing so to avoid quota restrictions? Is the policy of the park service by default encouraging relative beginners to tackle this peak in non-quota seasons?
I bet many climbers just have the urge to climb up high, they want to scratch the itch mid-winter and its a tempting target, relatively accessible in winter by Sierra standards. If these climbers know what they're in for, so be it. Amen.
And too, some climbers may be using Whitney as the training ground for colder and more severe challenges elsewhere. Again, amen.
But a lot of the queries I read about what to take, and when to go, are obviously put forth by relatively inexperienced mountaineers. I suspect that some of them don't know what its like to get caught in a 3 day Sierra snow storm, or have no real knowledge about avalanche risk, etc.
Surely some of those are just noobs, doing what noobs do... biting off more than they can chew, miscalculating, learning the hard lessons the same way us salty dogs learned them. Amen to that as well.
But I suspect a certain percentage feel compelled to tackle Whitney outside of quota season and head up there unprepared mentally, physically and more importantly, skillfully, simply to bag the highest peak in the lower 48.
To such folks I would urge caution.
I have climbed a couple of hundred Sierra peaks and have done so in all seasons. It is my opinion the best times to climb up there, especially for the less experienced, are after the snows have melted and before the new snow flies. Quotas notwithstanding, I would urge caution before attempting Whitney in winter.
A peak bagging list is not worth dying for.
Food for thought, offered without judgement, other than my own as it applies to my own climbing.
Discussion?
Cheers
DMY
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floridaputz
Apr 21, 2005, 10:46 AM
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Registered: Dec 30, 2002
Posts: 136
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Great post. You pose an interesting question. Just to put my post into perspective I'll start with a personal story. In 1982 I left to hike the PCT across Oregon & Washington in mid May. After a long winter in Minnesota, I could barely contain my enthusiasm for the trip, so I left early. I either ignored or disreguarded reports of snow and trail conditions. After all, I had hiked a good bit of the appalachian trail. I arrived to find 15 ft of snow covering the trail and spent the next month traveling with out an ax or crampons in dangerous conditions. Now my experience leads me to do much research prior to a big climb. I've climbed the East face of Whitney in a day and the East buttress. Descending the mountaineers route is not a gimme. This is a icy, loose and difficult decent if you lack experience. Many climbers today lack the basic all around outdoors skills needed to travel safely in the back country. Hiking is seen as unnecessary punishment. I climbed the east face in a tee shirt (July) but I had a full set of Gortex just in case. To climb early in the season or winter, I would think, would fall in to categories. An experience team wanting to experience harsher conditions, or someone as I was, youthful and chomping at the bit to get out there, ignoring the increased risk. I'm sure what baffles you is that you as an experienced climber try to do things under the best circumstances. Nothing else makes sense. For me no climb is worth dying for. But if I have made a responsible decison to take a risk, I will stack all the factors in my favor if I can. That means I climb 14'ers in july and August only !
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