Mount Whitney (14x)

11/25 - 11/26/06

Pack Weight

32 pounds excluding water

Gear

Osprey Aether 60
G12 Crampons (not used)
Compact UL Trekking Poles
MH EV2 Tent
6mil plastic footprint
20F WM bag
40F Marmot bag
Prolite4 Regular
MSR Simmerlite Stove + 3 or 4 oz of fuel (used stove only for dinner)
La Sportiva Trango S Evo GTX Boots
No Gaiters (waiting for a new pair)
No Ice Axe (forgot and figured from reports I'd be ok)

Notes

Total pack weight TOO heavy.  Did this only to build strength.
The 40F bag inside the 20F bag worked rather well.  At 14F outside temp
I was cold at first but after an hour warmed up.  Was too warm for awhile.
I'm sure this will work fine down to at least 10F.  The combined weight
of both bags was 3 lbs 1 oz.
Was glad at times to have the Trango boots.  Toes still got a little cold now and then.  At other times (climbing class 3 rock) I wished I had my normal leather boots.
Camped at UBSL.  Pitched tent on clear ground.  No snow.
Tent worked great.  Ground too hard for stakes.  Used rocks to anchor.
Running water at UBSL outflow.  Lake frozen.
Slabs above LBSL wicked with thick boilerplate ice.  Had to avoid
this obstacle by bushwhacking through the willows.
Was able to avoid snow patches all the way to the summit.  Above Iceberg
stayed off snow and on the rock to the left.  Chute above the notch had
snow/ice in the upper half (dangerous).  Climbed up to the snow (left side) and then traversed below the snow to the right side to climb the class 3 rock to the right of the chute.
Was especially cold and windy at the notch (no surprise).  Summit had sun and though still windy was a little warmer.
Descent back down to Iceberg was very tedious due to the loose scree.
Back at UBSL I packed up (always too time consuming) and headed out.
Storm descended as I headed out (perfect timing).

Layoring (summit day)

Upper: Roffe thermal layer, Thin Fleece, Thick Fleece, Precip Shell
Lower: Light Capilene, Lowe Alpine Pants (non-insulated), Rain Shell
Gloves: Columbia Light Fleece Gloves (used most), Ski Gloves (used some),
	BD Mercury Mitts (used little - too clumsy)
Head: Black Cap, Balaclava (used both up to summit)

Stayed plenty warm up to the summit but hands got cold quickly when removing
gloves.

Low Temp Fri Night: 14F (before I went to bed)
Low Temp Sat morning @ sunrise: 16F
Low Temp at Whitney Notch: 14F + wind
Summit: A little warmer due to sun but windy