2009-05-30 East Buttress of Mount Whitney Attempt

Our plan was this:

Day 1: Approach to just below Iceberg Lake and set up camp

 Day 2: Climb the East Buttress of Mount Whitney 

Day 3: Climb the East Ridge Russell and descend

What actually happened:

Day 1: Approach to just below Iceberg Lake and set up camp

 Day 2: Climbed the first pitch of the East Buttress Whitney.  We retreated because snow on route, poor visibility, freezing cold temperature and a storm approaching. The weather did not improve so we packed out.

The Approach

Setting up camp

 Day 2 Approaching the Route

Gearing up

 Looking back with bad weather coming in - so we bailed

We made a good decision to bail.  The route will always be there.  I came back with Miguel a few years later and we simul climbed it in two pitches and made the roundtrip from Iceberg lake in something under Three hours and thirty minutes.  I was super bummed not to be able to climb this with Joe.  At the time, this route was weighing heavily on my mind.  I remember after hiking the mountaineers route with joven, I saw two men at the bottom of this route with their shirts off in the sun after climbing.  I remember thinking...if I could climb this route, I would be a real climber.