Mt. Whitney East Buttress

August 2025

We made it to the top! Eventually.

The Plan

Well, we had an epic. I guess it was bound to happen at some point, but I was not expecting it so soon. The plan was simple - 2 nights to acclimatize, hike into Iceberg Lake on Saturday, climb Sunday, and hike out and drive home Monday.

The drive in was uneventful, and aside from accidently staying at horse camp for a night, we were ready to get going. We checked out the climbing store and got some beta on a hike we could do to Robinson Lake. A nice 1500 ft of gain on just over a mile of trail. This really made us rethink how we would do on the hike the next day.

After packing gear (1 set of nuts, 0.5-3 with a double 0.75, and lots of slings), we decided to aim to be at the trailhead at 9am to get a Whitney Portal Store pancake before we left.

“Hey… do we have our food.” Nope. We left it in the bear box at Cottonwood Lakes campground. So we turn around and make the 45 minute drive back up to the campground, and then another 45 to the portal. At least we got all our bad luck out of the way I actually said. All in all, we didn’t start until noon. No big deal, right? It's only 4 miles to camp, it can’t be that hard.

I am not happy with my 42lb pack.

So we start the slow trudge in, stopping in each patch of shade. It is actually quite a nice hike. The first crux of the day is the E Ledges. It is a 500ft section of cliff that starts with some chill 3rd class up blocks, then to an exposed traverse, and some more exposed 3rd class. The scariest part is the exposed traverse, pictured below. We went down the ramp, then up a slope to the left into the shaded bit. There is probably 200ft of exposure to the right.

The Ebersbacher Ledges on the approach.

The rest of the hike is hard (we lost the trail at a few points), but not too difficult to navigate. More than anything, we are tired and want to be done with the elevation gain. We have some good views of Whitney and the Needles though!

View of Whitney on the approach.

Iceberg Lake the night before the big day.

The next morning, we are up at 5am, walking at 5:30, and climbing before 7. Here are my notes on the earlier pitches, along with some photos:

Followed pitch 1, led 2, followed 3 (5.6 variation going down and right), led 4 (loose class 3 to hard chimney. Went left up left face with piton).

Followed 5 (top of 4 belay was shallow block). Top of 5 was the cam anchor where we didn't know if it went up the chimney or left up the cracks.

Part way up the route!

Led 6 left up the cracks with fixed sling (tat) on a piton. Hard moves, then easy to peewee. Moved belay to climber’s right towards sun on top of 6

Selfie with the PeeWee. Gonna fall some day.

Led 7 up 'finger cracks.' This is where we went off route following the other group. I went far right to easier climbing, then to the large horn belay.

Followed 8 over the lip, through some snow, and an interesting hand crack. Short pitch for rope drag.

Then it was my lead for pitch 9. It started with a simple traverse with some loose blocks, but nothing terrible. I placed a nut at the end of the traverse to keep the rope up high in the easy terrain, but wanted some better pro for the next moves. I started up to the right, which protected well, but seemed like hard moves. I downclimbed, removed the pro, and kept going straight.

At this point, I entered a pretty solid scree field. I took what looked like the most solid path, following the lower angle terrain to the right, then traversed left to where the horizontal scree hit the vertical face. There was a fixed purple offset nut, and I built the anchor using that, a #2, and a 0.75.

Lauren then followed 9 and a bit into the scree, a block came loose and hit her finger. All I can do at this point is take in as much slack as I can, and start prepping for different outcomes. I started by slinging a large block as a backup for the anchor. I didn't like it for the main anchor initially (it felt a little loose/hollow), but it was the best option for a backup.

As an aside, my plan initially would have been to rap down to Lauren on the backside of my clove. However, this could have knocked more down on her. Not sure the best plan if she could not finish the pitch. Lower, then go down after? Counterbalance rap?

I send tape down to Lauren (luckily I had not placed any gear in the scree), and she decides to finish the pitch. We resituated at the anchor, buddy tape the finger, and call SAR (who will not factor at all into this story, thank you very much).

The call to 911 was at 12:45pm, or so.

The plan is to finish the climb, as we are at the top of 9 now (we thought it was 8). It would take several raps to get into the mountaineers route gully, leaving gear the whole way down. Could we have made it? Probably. Was it the best option? Probably not. I take both packs, all the gear, and shorten the rope to half length for 30m pitches with my best attempt at a kiwi coil.

As much as I am always in the no fall mindset when I trad climb, I am even more so in it now. Lauren is belaying me, but I don’t really place any pro, instead being extremely cautious with every block I touch and every foot I place.

Pitch 10* (* denotes shortened pitches) went from the belay at the top of the scree up and left to a small chimney. Anchor is a #3, #1, and a slung block. I didn't really like the block though, it seemed loose. In retrospect, I should have tried for a nut or another cam somewhere. Both cams were good though. It was an awkward stance where I was sitting up on a small ledge level with the anchor.

There is a photo of Lauren at this belay at 1:30 pm

Pitch 11* was from that belay up to an angled ledge-ish with lots of loose blocks (large, frying pan to mini fridge size). Belay with a fixed tricam, and 2 cams in a single feature (.5 and .75 I think) on good rock. I was the most scared here because I heard some rockfall, and there were lots of large blocks that could have been quite bad. Later I learned that Lauren had knocked a block down below her, not above, and that was what I heard.

Pitch 12* was longer, relative to the previous 2. Up easy blocky terrain, with better rock quality. Belay was a #2, .75, and solid nut. The anchor was all on the floor, and the nut was directional "upwards" (i.e. would not hold a TR fall), so I built the belay opposite the fall line. In retrospect, I might have spent more time making it textbook, but I felt it was good enough. I belayed directly off my harness, and braced for basically a body belay. Anchor would have seen 1m 'extension' before the cams were loaded, but I had a solid seated stance and the rope was over several features that would have added friction. I tied backup knots for this belay as there was no assisted breaking.

Thinking back on this anchor, this was probably the biggest technical mistake on the climb. I knew I could hold a fall here, but any complicated rescue would have been difficult with transferring weight to the anchor and going down. I should have given myself a bit of slack through my clove (which shortened the rope) and built an anchor in the horizontal crack a little bit further on.

Pitch 13* was to the summit. Went left around a large block with a quite neat traverse to mantle, protected with #3. Easy climbing form here on out, belayed on summit with rope-feature anchor. I had to take out my rope shorten and drop a few coils to get there, but it was basically hiking at this point.

The earliest summit photo was at 2:46 pm, meaning those last 4 pitches took around 2 hours.

Some obligatory photos with the sign:

Summit picture with the sign!

Summit selfie.

It was actually very gratifying - the hikers at the top wanted to take pictures with us, and everyone was very impressed. In the words of the mountain project page, “Golly gee honey—you won't believe where I'm calling from…”

On the summit, we decided to take the hiking trail down. At the moment, we were worried about the mountaineers' route descent being too technical to do with 1 hand, and too loose to rap (bringing rocks down on whoever went first), and the e ledges being difficult to navigate in the dark (also 1 handed). Lauren wanted to get to an ER that night, and I agreed that that was the best plan.

We left the summit at around 3pm.

On the descent on the hikers trail.

Long hike down Whitney trail, pretty uneventful (except for some of the characters we passed, including:

)

Photos of us at the trailhead at 8:24pm, meaning it took about 5.5 hours to do the 11 miles. Not great, but not too bad given the circumstances.

Photos of us at the trailhead at 8:24pm, meaning it took about 5.5 hours to do the 11 miles. Not great, but not too bad given the circumstances.

We passed probably 50-100 people on the way down, and no one passed us. Not too bad for the ego.

Then we get to the car. The keys are at camp, but we had a plan. We left the windows cracked about an inch, so we would just reach a stick in and unlock it, then get the keys from the center console and drive to the ER. But no, of course it's not that simple. The unlock button does nothing. We try a few more times, then flag down a passing car. The driver and his son stopped for almost an hour to help us, looked at Lauren’s finger, and was willing to drive us to the ER if things did not work out.

Here is how we got into the car - McGuiver style:

  1. Use a quad to lower a nut tool through the window to pop the trunk
  2. Get a hiking pole from the trunk
  3. Duct tape nut tool to the pole
  4. Reach pole+nut tool through window across to passenger side
  5. Open door handle twice to unlock door
We then drive to the ER, get the finger taken care of, call our parents, and go to the motel. I don’t get to bed until 1:30, 2am ish, making for a 21 hour day. Full value.

The next day, I called the ranger station, and went in to see how we could get our gear back. Got the go-ahead to hike in overnight without permits to retrieve the gear. Then we stopped by the climbing store to see if someone could help us out, and Jonathon and Emmy (who overheard me at the ranger station) stopped by.

We started hiking that day around 1:30-1:45, made it to the ledges at 3pm, and Iceberg around 8.

I only took a running vest on the way in, so I was doing alright. We made good time considering Jonathon and Emmy were super fit, and I knew the route.

A nice photo of me right before the E Ledges.

Whitney from Iceberg Lake.

Whitney from the trail at sunset.

Me on the hike (back) in.

We hiked out the next day starting around 8:50, went to Upper Boyscout Lake by 9:50, Lower Boyscout Lake by 10:40, and out at 12:50.

Special thanks to all those who helped us. In chronological order:

And of course, here is a photo of the xray. This is a good time to mention that Lauren totally rocked it after the injury. It took 8+ hours to get to the ER, climbing 4 pitches, 11 miles.

Xray of the finger.

Retrospective

We talked quite a bit about what went well, what could have gone better, and what we would change going forward. Let's start with the good:

We had the correct technical gear to safely get up (or likely down) if needed
Of course, we had the standard rack and personal climbing gear, but we had enough miscellaneous lockers, slings, and cordelette that meant we never had to improvise or go without.

We both had jackets, I had a bivvy sack, and we were dressed appropriately for colder weather, should we have been benighted.

We brought tape (good last-minute call by Lauren) which came in handy

My med kit had painkillers, water tablets, and duct tape, all which came in handy. We didn’t run out of water, but we got close. More water tablets weight nothing.

We made logical, thought-out choices
The first major one was whether to bail up or down. We decided to go up, as bailing down would have involved rapping, leaving gear, and going through scree.

We then decided to go down Whitney trail. Though this meant abandoning our camping gear for the time being, we thought it was the correct choice as it avoided technical descent, and kept us in proximity to other people should we need assistance

Now, what could have gone better:
We blindly followed another party
Now I will be the first to say, we are 100% to blame for getting off route. But that party in front maybe also has like 15% blame. We should not have followed them, and should have stuck to the topo. Especially seeing how they were interacting with each other.

Not backing down from the scree pitch
I did not even consider bailing down from the scree pitch. I felt fine and safe leading it, but there should have been alarm bells. A classic route would not have this much loose rock.

Pitch 12 anchor
I already mentioned this above, but this was not an optimal anchor. I am sure it would have worked and held, but it would have introduced more problems if a fall happened.

Last 4 pitches belay/pro
I think I placed 2 pieces on the last 4 pitches. It was easy climbing on loose terrain, so the pro was hard to come by, but I could have done better. My thinking was twofold: I wanted to get to the top so we could make it out soon, and having a solid anchor was very important, so I needed to save cams.

In retrospect, I should have taken more time to place more gear. This would have kept me safer, and possibly kept the rope out of scree.

This leads into changes going forward:

Belay system during rescue
Even with Lauren’s finger incapacitated, she gave a better belay than a lot of people I have climbed with. That being said, if I had fallen on those pitches, she would have caught me on her harness, which would not have been comfortable. A better option would have been to belay directly off the anchor. That way if I fell, she would be free of the weight and able to do more. Though in that case, it would have probably been an outside rescue.

Alternatively, I could have lead rope solo’d. I have never done this before, but it would have given me the flexibility to bail off a piece or take and rest on the rope if I needed, without Lauren doing anything. I didn’t think of either of these until we were driving out.

Gear
Taking just a little more gear (maybe 1 more cam) would have been helpful. Not necessary, but especially if we had to bail or make more anchors.

A bivvy sack each would have been nice if we had to spend the night outside the car. I only had one

Belaying on the micro trax - not sure about this one. I thought it was great, but it could have made rescue harder if I needed to descend from the anchor?

My stats for the whole trip (inc. Robinson lake):
14,879 ft elevation gain
25.71 miles
13 pitches