Nice video. I did this hike in July 76,77, and 78. On my high school vacation. Took the Greyhound from Manhattan beach ca. Hiked over to sequoia camp ground and trumbed back home. Great memories.
Fantastic hike to Mount Whitney. Your video brings me back 50 years. My first backpack was in 1974 when I was only 15 years old. It was with a Long Beach YMCA caravan group. We started at Whitney portal and hiked all the way through to roads end. Back then we were able to stay the night at trail camp. The next day we did the 99 switchbacks and summited then picked up our packs at trail Crest and ended up at guitar lake. The shots you captured brought me back in time when I was just learning the skill of backpacking. Thank you for the excellent photography and memory bump.
Thanks for the view from the top. It was encased in clouds when I finished the JMT in 2017 - so I have no photos of the views. They were especially nice with snow covered mountains. Would have loved to see your glissade. Happy trails.
Great video. Summitted twice, both times in late June. I am shocked at the amount of snow!! We didn't need crampons or an ice ax--we came across very little snow infact... What an epic winter!
Oh yea! the winter out here in the west is crazy this year. I'm from Utah so we got hit hard just like california. There is still snow melt going on in the wasatch and the uintas right now and its almost august!!
I summited Whitney as a 15 year old Boy Scout. Of course, we went the 97 switchbacks route after camping at Mirror Lake... no snow. Hats off! Incredible.
Thanks!! I hope to the switchback version of this hike some day so I can compare the two. Everyone that does the switchbacks says the snow is easier and everyone that did the snow ascent says the switchbacks are easier, haha! I'll just have to do it again so I can decide for myself. Glad you enjoyed the video!!
@@treetop1500yep. Also at 15 or 16 from the park side, back in the '60s. Places like that can result in a lifetime love of the mountains for sure. For the tiebreaker between the two routes, you gotta go with the glissade element, don't you?
@@robertphillips93 The glissade was definitely fun. Glad I got to do that. I had practiced that in the Wasatch beforehand and felt pretty comfortable with it. The only problem glissading is that it makes the overall hike shorter! :)
Used to live in Cali, so climbed Whitney too many times to count, standard route and mountaineers route. Never get tired of the route or the scenery. Loved your video. Thanks so much! Be safe! 🏜
Enjoyed your video. We did it a week later and stayed in the exact same campsite with hammock between the same trees. Thanks for passing on the trail knowledge with the video and on the trail. Well done video and climb.
Great video... i summitted a week prior, but i barely recorded anything, as I was so exhausted. It's nice to relive the memories, by watching your video.
What a great hike. I have done it twice. September 23, 2018 and September 13, 2019. From trail crest to the shelter is 1.9 miles and 700 ft. The hardest 1.9 miles a person can hike. The last 200 yards, I must have stopped 10 times to get my breath. I was 68yo
I did this in the early 80's, no gear, just a day pack and hiking shoes and 100+ switchbacks and no snow at all. That makes it 11miles each way. I always envied the guys who could just go up and down the snow face instead of those dreaded switchbacks. I used to camp at Whitney Portal almost every summer in the 80s. Such great memories, thanks for posting!
Nice vid! My hike date is in Sept so hopefully most of the snow will be gone by then. Supposed to be in the 80s in the portal next week! That first water crossing is like the Nile River!
Great video Robert! Loved your commentary along the hike. I have rentals in Lone Pine and have been riding my bike to the Portal every time I'm up there working on projects. It's amazing how little hikers there are. I can see that you need micro spikes up the 100 switchbacks for sure. From what I understand so many hikers aren't prepared for the conditions and the amount of snow and are forced to turn around. The snowfield and the snow on the 100 switchbacks will be there through summer and before you know it winter will be here again. Last year I hiked Kearsarge Pass on 10/30 which was just beautiful! Then, on 11/05 was the first snow of winter, and it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed.....6 months and record breaking snow pack. Again, I really like the personal touch you have in this video. Very nice Robert!
Well played. Had no idea the hike started that early. Nineteen-mile round trip takes a while, especially in those conditions. Not a fan of snow, cold-weather hikes, but you went on the correct date to maximize day light. May never get there so thank you for the great video.
haha, the Marmots wait at Trail Crest so they can chew into the packs left there at the junction. They were there 30 years ago when I jogged up Whitney on my 40th birthday. I wonder how packed Whitney is today? Is it like going to the mall?
Ha. yes the marmots are entertaining. I'm not sure if going up Mt. Whitney is like going to the mall. I don't spend any time at the mall so can't really make a comparison. I didn't run into vast amounts of people if thats what you mean. As for myself, I had a great experience! I hope yours was too.
Thanks for the awesome video. I've been to the top twice and often think about one more time. At the time, while hiking it, it was beautiful but had its very tiring moments but when I look back to the entire hike and experience, I have nothing but great memories.
Thanks Joe! same here. I was exhausted making it up that hill questioning why I was doing this, but looking back, I'm so glad I did. Congrats on your two summits!
Robert, I am so fortunate that RU-vid recommended this video because your trek was absolutely incredible! You must be in great physical and mental strength to have made a journey that looked absolutely terrifying to me. Thank you so much for sharing because I loved it. I hope that you have more amazing videos on your channel. Have you ever done the Pacific Crest Trail?
I did this July 4th in just over 6 hours from start to finish. I left camp at sunrise, like 5:15am or so. The snow was pretty annoying coming up to the pass but overall the trail was fine. I did it in a long sleeve and shorts, no crampons, no ice axe, etc, just Altra Lone Peaks. So if anyone thinks they need 50lbs of gear, they have to camp overnight before the climb to the pass just be aware that you really don't need that much. It's obviously based on your experience and what you're comfy doing. But I will say that packing all that gear adds so much to the danger and effort that I don't really see it being worth it. That much gear slows you down SO MUCH that it creates this cycle of, "I'm taking so much longer that I need to bring more food, and I need more food because I'm carrying the food, so I take longer, so I need more." If you go minimal you need so much less which lets you go quicker. There's a misconception that runners are putting out a lot more effort and that is so wrong. Runners are done in half the time, carry no weight, and use gravity to reduce expended effort. Hikers are doing so much more work.
Thanks and good info! I will say that one of the best lessons I've learned about hiking is HYOH. Hike your own hike. What works for me may not work for others and what works for you may not work for me. I turn 50 this year and move a lot slower than I used to. I bring the gear that makes me feel safe and ensures I'll be returning to my family. There is no single, right way to do this. Congrats on your summit, and have fun out there!
Thank you so much for this and congrats for your accomplishment ! Going to hike Whitney in 3 weeks and can't wait for the experience (and kinda little scared ahah). Got nano spikes for the hike: do you think it'll be enough ? Thanks again ! :)
Thanks! Its hard to say on the spikes, as its been a month since I was there and a lot of snow has probably melted by then. So I can't really give you advice on that. Check the Whitney Portal forum online and there are typically more recent reports there that offer good advice on gear and what the current conditions are like.
Tough to say. Honestly I don't know that all the snow will be gone before it starts snowing again. It was just an incredible year for snow fall out there.
Congratulations! I really enjoyed watching this video. I thought a little crazy beginning at 2:00, but what do I know. In 1988 I and a friend reached Consultation Lake when he felt really sick. We spent the night and he woke up worse so we turned back around. I never went back to complete the task. I then got into scuba diving and changed my lifestyle. Dumb question, did you do this hike alone?
Nope. This is actually the Whitney Trail. The one kinda famous for the 99 Switchbacks. On this particular day tho, that portion of the trail containing those switchbacks was covered in ice and snow, so there are no switchbacks to ascend, therefore the use of axe and crampons to make an ascent straight up that chute to the ridge, just past trail camp.
Awesome! I am doing this next week and a bit nervous. Snows going to be a lot worse than when you did it supposedly so it will be a lot of slush and postholing. Not sure if ill be able to complete it.
Necessary, no. But perhaps helpful. I did not wear them on my hike, nor really wished I had. I got a small amount of snow in my boots glissading, but that was about it. My pant legs were covering my boot tops however. Might depend on what type of pants/footwear you choose. Good luck next week!
Hi, I am an experienced hiker from Germany and want to hike Mt Whitney in 3-4 weeks early to mid september. Would you say an ice axe is required that late in summer? On alltrails nearly every recent review states that ice axe and crampons are dead weight. But I am a bit confused, because in your video are lots of ice and snow fields. Best regards, Lorenz
Its hard for me to say what conditions will be like later in the year. Your best bet would be to follow the whitney portal message boards for current conditions.
@@treetop1500 Already did the hike was amazing I was pretty lucky one day before my hike was a heavy snow storm on the summit But when we hiked a day after it, most of the snow melted away
Thanks! Here's a link to the Strava activity I recorded during the day. Should give you all the times and details you're looking for. www.strava.com/activities/9356749509
I'll add to this... Get to the chute as early as you can if using crampons. It really starts to turn to slush around 10am as it warms up. Be careful out there!
@@gregper Thanks! but.... Strava's moving time is a bit misleading. I had a 2am start and got back about 6pm I think. So much longer than strava indicates. They kinda pause the timer when you're resting or moving very slowly. Cheers!
Microspikes are only good if the surface is frozen (think shoveling icy driveways) or very hard packed snow. Crampons are better if the snow is a bit softer or the ice has a thicker layer of snow over it or any time climbing a slope like in this video. Once the temps warm up during the day and the snow gets soft and slushy, neither are much help, but crampons would be the choice if one had to pick.
I agree with the above. I will add that if you plan to ascend that chute to the ridge while its still snow covered, get to it as early as possible in the morning. Wether you're in microspikes or crampons you don't want to ascend it after it warms up and turns slushy. Much easier to ascend if its frozen.
Sure! As I came up the hill those two gentlemen asked me if I knew how to descend with an axe. Assuming they were referring to glissading. The first thing I told them was that they needed to remove the crampons. While it seems 'wrong' you don't want to wear those on a glissade. Picking up speed you may have the subconscious impulse to press your feet down hard, and if you did that with crampons on, you could have a serious ankle or leg injury and put yourself into a fall thats harder to control. The rest of the conversation was just basic glissading technique, how to hold the axe, position your body, etc. I recommend some training in that area if you're reluctant, and there are also some mountaineering instructors with videos that go through it here on RU-vid that are much more knowledgeable than myself.
@@treetop1500 hey I get it that you wanted to stay safe. However the black bears we have in the sierra will not just attack humans, they just want you food. I'm 99% sure bear spray is illeagal in the zone anyway. I was in Yosemite last year and someone in the camp discharged a can of that shit and it was miserable for everyone in a massive radius of them, choking spitting up etc. If anyone wathing this thinks they need to carry this stuff please don't
Ran into a female black bear on trail up in Humboldt county some years ago. She just looked at me from distance of about 20 feet, smiled, and continued picking and eating her blackberries.
The author of this video is incorrectly holding the iceaxe and he gave wrong advise to the hikers he met. One should not take crampons off when descending. However, once one falls and slides down the slope one should not try to use crampons for stopping. One should use the iceaxe-arrest technique which is most effectively performed when holding the iceaxe in the opposite way the guy does in this video.
This was a glissade, not a foot descent. The folks in the video were asking me how to glissade. You absolutely never wear crampons during a glissade. You can look up any technical instruction on glissading or talk to any professional mountaineering instructor, and they'll tell you the same. Also, I was holding the Ice axe correctly for glissading... again this was not a foot descent. If you'll notice in the video, I'm sitting on my rear while explaining all this.
