March 30, 2012

Almost There. (Photo by George Dunn)

Or in this case two words, “Almost There”, because that’s all we got out of George this afternoon. It’s either ‘stoic mountain guide talk’ or George not wanting to type on his phone (my guess is the latter) but hey we’ll take it.

From the looks of it they’re closing in on their camp just below Iceberg Lake on Day 2 of their Whitney climb.  The weather looks great and if all goes as planned they’ll wake up early tomorrow morning and give it a go.

Tye Chapman

March 30, 2012

In classic George Dunn fashion we got an “all is s well” message after Day 1 of George’s current climb on Whitney, and not another word.

However, I’ll give George a ton of credit for snapping this photo in the morning and attaching it to his, albeit brief, text message last night.

Team Photo At The Whitney Portal. (Photo by George Dunn)

Tye Chapman

March 29, 2012

Our Mt Whitney trip got off to a great start as all nine folks were super strong heading up to Upper Boy Scout Lake (Camp 1). Unfortunately, the weather turned for the worse as winds picked up throughout the night and a low pressure system settled in. With that in mind, we got everyone together for a team meeting to discuss our options. In the end, we decided that descending was our best bet.

Once back in town and settled-in, we met back up for a pitch-in BBQ, told some stories that were way too good to be true, and made a plan for our next few days in the Sierra. Just because Whitney was out of the question didn’t we were packing up and heading home – we had options. There is great rock climbing, ice climbing and backcountry skiing in the area. We discussed all these options and some folks decided on going ice climbing, while others did a day of rock climbing. The snow stability ruled out the backcountry skiing.

Lee Vining, the local ice climbing area, is massive this year! We spent day honing our skills and getting comfortable on WI3-4 type terrain. We were all psyched on the climbs. The next morning we woke up early and headed into Owen’s River Gorge for a great morning of rock climbing.

We didn’t climb Mt. Whitney, but we had one heck of a trip!

Karsten Delap

March 24, 2012

George called in this afternoon with some good news! Despite the wind and unseasonably cold temps, most of the team made the summit.

“An absolutely incredible effort by everybody today!.” said George after all had returned to High Camp.

It’s all downhill tomorrow. If all goes as planned they’ll have a hot pizza and a cold beer in hand by 3pm.

Tye Chapman

March 23, 2012

One of the many views along the way.

George called in from a chilly and breezy High Camp on Mt. Whitney just after 2pm today.  The team made good time up to camp as it took only three hours of walking.  George said that the team is strong and everyone is doing well.  They will do some training  for the next couple of hours, get some dinner and then get to bed early.  The plan is to get up around 2 am for the summit push.

Good luck team!

Clarissa Morford

March 22, 2012

Almost to Lower Boy Scout Lake.

George called from Lower Boy Scout Lake on Mt. Whitney today at 3:14pm.  The weather was great with mostly clear skies and a nice warm & easy breeze which made for good climbing. They went without snowshoes on this climb, making things a little easier for everybody.

The team made awesome time to camp and is getting ready to set up tents and cook some Thai food for dinner tonight.  A good first day in the Sierras!

Clarissa Morford

April 8, 2011

Our Whitney climbs continue to be successful after the first two stormy climbs.

The third trip summitted 100% as previously reported. So did the fourth trip, April 2-5!

A private climb of 4 persons (April 4-7) summited April 6, and they descended that same day all the way down in the face of approaching windy conditions. Word is the conditions are about as good as they get on the route right now.

Now we are awaiting news of success from the sixth climb of the season, April 7-10. They should be summiting tomorrow a.m. It looks like the weather may just be OK for them, we’ll post as soon as they let us know of their success.

George

April 5, 2011

Heading down to Lone Pine for some pizza and beer!

We summited Whitney over the weekend (Saturday) around 9:15 a.m. in windy conditions. The whole team made it in good style. The weather improved as we descended and we were back at high camp by around 1:30 pm.

It was a beautiful afternoon in camp, resting and enjoying the sun. Sometime after midnight it started to blow and snow and got pretty wild. The guides’ tent suffered two broken poles and we had to collapse it to survive the winds. Working outside I clocked some of the gusts at 70mph. Luckily the rest of the tents held up OK with minor damage. The guides spent the rest of the night in their collapsed tent with no ill effects, and by about 5:30 a.m. the winds died and the day began with clear, sunny skies once more.

We packed up, and started walking down a little after 8:00 a.m. We passed the next climb as they were preparing to depart from Lower Boy Scout Lake and move up to high camp. It looks like they will have great weather for their climb, high pressure is building over the area for Monday and Tuesday. Our team continued on down and we were in Lone Pine for a lunch of pizza and beer shortly after noon. It was a great climb and a great way to finish my visit to Whitney this year. My thanks to all the members who share these climbs with me. I’m already planning next year’s visit.

George Dunn

April 2, 2011

Mt Whitney Plaque.

George called in this morning from the summit of Mt. Whitney.  “100% on top! A beautiful, but cold, morning here on the summit of Mt. Whitney.  Strong team. Great climb.”

They’ll spend a few minutes on the summit before heading back to camp for some hot drinks, dinner and some well deserved rest. Tomorrow they’ll head back to Lone Pine, celebrate and fade back into life.

Tye Chapman

April 1, 2011

Heading to high camp on Mt. Whitney.

George Dunn called in today to report that conditions have improved since his last go-around on Whitney last week. They’re en route to High Camp now and given that the snow is settling nicely they should have an opportunity to climb tonight/tomorrow.

Good luck guys & gals!

Tye Chapman