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Ascent to Mount Whitney-Halfway up switchbacks on 2015-04-25

Climber: Chris Stoddart

Others in Party:	Chris P Yev M Jun
Date:	Saturday, April 25, 2015
Ascent Type:	Unsuccessful - Turned Back
Point Reached:	Mount Whitney - Halfway up switchbacks
Location:	USA-California
Elevation:	12500 ft / 3810 m
Remaining Elevation:	1998 ft / 608 m (33% left to go)
Ascent Trip Report Attempted to do a one-day hike on the last weekend before permits were required. Had a very dry winter, so we expected to be fine with micro spikes and cold weather gear. Temps dropped well below freezing after we passed Outpost Camp and made our way to Trail Camp. Quite cold, but we bundled up and pushed on. A snowstorm blew in just as we were passing through trail camp mid-morning. Had minimal visibility and very strong winds. We kept going and started up the switchbacks. It was difficult to pick up the trail and the wind blew away our tracks soon after we made them. At this point, I started feeling a bit of a headache and decided not to push my luck and started back to Trail Camp to meet up with the others later. Chris joined me shortly after, and Yev and Jun met up not too long after that. A summit was not in the cards that day. We made our way back down and had a fantastic shower and late lunch in Lone Pine.