There may be no better first rock climb to do in California’s High Sierra than the East Face of Mount Whitney. The hardest pitch is 5.7 over 10 pitches, the route-finding is interesting and the rock is bomber granite. It’s considered an alpine rock route because it summits the tallest peak in the continental U.S.
The first ascent was on Aug. 16, 1931, by four leading climbers at the time: Robert Underhill, Norman Clyde, Jules Eichorn, and Glen Dawson. Of the route, Underhill said, “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.” For protection, they had eight nuts, some slings and a 35-metre rope.
It was…
