Mt. Whitney

Can anyone recommend a good guide service for climbing Mt. Whitney? I'm thinking of climbing in September.

We used IMG for Rainier, who were fantastic. They appear to be booked, though, for 2014.

http://www.mountainguides.com/whitney.shtml

Checking out that link looks like it refers to non-summer conditions via a more challenging route than most people take. September is gorgeous there with very low chances of thunderstorms and great weather and trail conditions in general (bring lots of water!!!!)... I know quite a few normal average hikers aged 20-70 who climbed Whitney via the normal routes with no special gear or guides in summer/early fall, though they did condition themselves a good bit beforehand and all had some degree of experience hiking above 10,000 ft. I wonder if a partner with some experience, rather than a guide, might be the best bet?

Depends on how the poster plans to go up

I assumed that she was interested in climbing rather than hiking ... climbing may need a guide though I agree that hiking up requires stamina but no special skills.

I recommend contacting Kurt Wedberg at Sierra Mountaineering International if you want a guide.
If you're hiking the Whitney Trail (the most oft-used approach) in September, it's a pretty straight forward, very easy to follow trail, and you'll share it with many others. Snowfall is unlikely, but, of course, not impossible. Have a great trip, it's a beautiful mountain.

Super straight forward hike on the Whitney Trail as mentioned above. I'd pack micro-spikes at least for the Mountaineers Route in September. Probably not needed, but I over prepare most of the time. Be sure to bring a helmet on that route.

The trail from Whitney Portal is very straightforward walking, agree. Even in September, there were a couple spots of ice on the switchbacks (easily avoided) and we got a surprise half inch of snow at trail crest. But no traction required; the trail is quite well graded.

Bigger concerns for Whitney are:

>It's a long walk as a day trip (22 miles round trip, 6K elevation gain), and there are only a couple camping areas en route.
>High elevation.
>Required permits.

We handled these as follows:

>We made sure to be in good shape so we could do a day trip (ADK Great Range Traverse at 25 miles and 9K is a good training hike).
>We put together a good acclimatization schedule: Sleeping at 8K in Tuolomne; Tenaya (10K); Hoffman (11K); Dana (13K); rest day; then Whitney.
>We got very lucky and got a day trip permit on the date we wanted.

I understand the reason for it, but the red tape is a pain. (Camping permits are more of a pain, although we skipped that.) Also a pain was picking up your permit in the early AM (3AM). Very little signage and nobody home at the permit station, prowling around the outside of the little building in the dark trying to figure out what to do... Also a pain was finding the trail start, once parked at the Portal. Tons of commercial crap there with huge signs about giant pancakes, etc; the trailhead is a little unlit brown-on-brown sign off to the side; took me ten minutes of my hiking time prowling around the lot in the dark to find it.

You can certainly handle the fitness and the acclimatization on your own. A guide service may be particularly helpful in handling the red tape.

The mountaineers route is the better choice and you might be more comfortable with a guide. The walk-up route is long and boring, but you could do it without a guide no problem.

Thanks for all the information. I am looking to hike, and not having any company I thought I would find a guide service so I wouldn't be alone and they could also handle the red tape. I will check out all the leads given above. I hiked Isolation yesterday, so the training begins.

jean miller said:

Thanks for all the information. I am looking to hike, and not having any company I thought I would find a guide service so I wouldn't be alone and they could also handle the red tape. I will check out all the leads given above. I hiked Isolation yesterday, so the training begins.

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If your "hike" excludes the class 3 route (Mountaineers route), then you don't have to worry about being alone on the main Whitney trail. Enjoy!

Mtnrs route is class 2 max. All I remember is a big boulder field. You'd have to forcibly strike your head against a rock to find difficulties there in summer. I don't remember any red tape either. Unless you wave a flag around looking for attention you can often just park-up-down-out without all the ranger BS anyways. Enjoy either way. Great burgers at the trailhead.

When I lived in California x 6 years, I never had any problem getting "walk-up permits" the day before my (un!)planned hike. Especially if you are solo, you have a good chance of snagging one. I would NOT attempt to do the mtn by any route without a permit because there ARE rangers out there on the trails and they will ask to see your permit, even on the Mountaineers Route. It happened to me.

If you are fit and somewhat acclimated, my suggestion is to get a very early start and day hike it. Your pack will be much lighter, and you don't have to deal with the campsites on the main route which can be kind of nasty. Mountaineers Route has better camping options, but you must be comfortable on very steep terrain and bring a helmet due to potential rockfall from other hikers above.

My *favorite* way to climb Whitney, however, is to backpack from Cottonwood (from the south) and climb the backside of Whitney after camping around Guitar Lake. This would require a car spot of course.

Agree with others that a guide is unnecessary unless you haven't hiked much.

Good luck and have fun!!

There are two guiding companies in Lone Pine with very similar sounding names. When we went to do the East Face Climbing Route a few years ago we made inquiries and applied to one company, but mistakenly sent our money to the other company. The "other" company kept us and was disappointed that our skills in climbing were not quite what he expected. Felt rushed leaving the summit. We came down the Mountaineers Route and the guide roped us up, not wanting to take any chances. For hiking, I would not hire a guide. Has anyone seen the Old Man of the Mountain on the right near the base of the Mountaineers Route?

I have not gotten a permit yet, maybe I will try, that was one reason to get a guide. The guide I spoke to said hiking one day ahead of time would be enough acclimation. That sounds too short. I climbed in Bhutan last October up to 16,000 feet, but had a week of acclimation. I will rethink the guide though. I've hiked the 100 Highest in New England, I did most of them by myself. Whitney doesn't sound too hard, it's just that I don't know the area very well. Needing a helmet is also a little scary. Thanks so much for all the input.

Is a helmet required for the Mount Whitney Trail? Clearly wild overkill if that is the case, so do not worry about it.

Acclimatization is a much more serious issue, see Hiking Mt. Whitney, California Highpoint, August 2002 for how our group did it.

Mohamed Ellozy said:

Is a helmet required for the Mount Whitney Trail? Clearly wild overkill if that is the case, so do not worry about it.

Acclimatization is a much more serious issue, see Hiking Mt. Whitney, California Highpoint, August 2002 for how our group did it.

Click to expand...

A helmet is smart to wear on the Mountaineers Route. This is NOT the standard walk-up route.

I'm currently planning Whitney in (early) September, via the Mount Whitney Trail, and my friend and I never considered hiring a guide. It really looks like just a long hike that requires acclimatization, alpine start and endurance. I don't think an helmet is required... But I'll check.

Our training include +14 hour hikes, like the Great Range Traverse like someone mentionned. We will get acclimatized by sleeping at a 10 000' high campground for few nights before, hike up to 11 500' around there, and then hike Boundary Pk NV two days before.

With your hiking experience I think you will do just fine. Just think 100 people everyday going up that peak, can't be that hard to find your way!

Good luck on getting a permit, maybe plan a three-day window?

Just a word on the helmet thing- it's really no big deal, even for this chicken. The idea is scary until you actually decide to try a trail/route with enough steepness and rockfall potential that a rock near your head would be possible if someone above you takes a misstep or is an idiot, then you wear one and realize that it's a good idea. Then it's routine, just like DEET and a headlamp would be. Imagine if the Saddle Trail on Katahdin were slightly steeper, that's about it for most of us.

But this is not really on this topic, just a thought.