East Face of Mount Whitney | |
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Location | Sierra Nevada, California, United States |
Coordinates | 36°34′43″N118°17′35″W / 36.57860°N 118.293°W |
Climbing Area | Mount Whitney |
Route Type | Trad/Alpine |
Vertical Gain | 1,000 feet |
Pitches | 13 |
Rating | 5.7 |
Grade | III |
First ascent | Robert L. M. Underhill, Glen Dawson, Jules Eichorn, & Norman Clyde, 1931. |
The East Face of Mount Whitney is a technical alpine rock climbing route [1] and is featured in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America . [2] Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the contiguous United States.
The first ascent was on August 16, 1931, by Robert L. M. Underhill of the Appalachian Mountain Club, and Sierra Club climbers Norman Clyde, Jules Eichorn, and Glen Dawson. [3] By the standards of climbing in California at that time, the route was considered very exposed, especially the famous Fresh Air Traverse. [4] Steve Roper called this route "one of the classic routes of the Sierra, partly because of its spectacular location and partly because it was the first really big wall to be climbed in the range". [5] Porcella & Burns wrote that "the climb heralded a new standard of technical competence in Californian rock climbing". [6] Underhill himself commented that "the beauty of the climb lies chiefly in its unexpected possibility, up the apparent precipice, and in the intimate contact it affords with the features that lend Mount Whitney its real impressiveness". [7]
The Minarets are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in the state of California. They are easily viewed from Minaret Summit, which is accessible by auto. Collectively, they form an arête, and are a prominent feature in the Ansel Adams Wilderness which was known as the Minaret Wilderness until it was renamed in honor of Ansel Adams in 1984.
Norman Clyde was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self-trained naturalist. He is well known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park. He also set a speed climbing record on California's Mount Shasta in 1923. The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley has 1467 articles written by Clyde in its archives.
Steve Roper is a noted climber and historian of the Sierra Nevada in the United States. He along with Allen Steck are the founding editors of the Sierra Club journal Ascent.
Fifty Classic Climbs of North America is a climbing guidebook and history written by Steve Roper and Allen Steck. It is considered a classic piece of climbing literature, known to many climbers as simply "The Book", and has served as an inspiration for more recent climbing books, such as Mark Kroese's Fifty Favorite Climbs. Though much of the book's contents are now out of date, it is still recognized as a definitive text which goes beyond the traditional guidebook.
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The north face of the Grand Teton is a technical rock climbing in Wyoming. Today the route is usually climbed by a variation that avoids the chimneys which are often wet or icy. The route is recognized in the historic climbing text Fifty Classic Climbs of North America and considered a classic around the world.
Jules Marquard Eichorn was an American mountaineer, environmentalist, and music teacher.
Allen Steck is an American mountaineer and rock climber. He is a native of Oakland, California.
Robert Lindley Murray Underhill was an American mountaineer best known for introducing modern Alpine style rope and belaying techniques to the U.S. climbing community in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Glen Dawson was an American rock climber, mountaineer, antiquarian bookseller, publisher and environmentalist.
Charles Marshall Pratt was an American rock climber known for big wall climbing first ascents in Yosemite Valley. He was also a long-time climbing instructor and mountain guide with Exum Mountain Guides in the Grand Tetons.