Mount Whitney, The Chute

After climbing for two hours, we reach Iceberg Lake. I say climbing and not hiking, for this entire route from the trail head is up, up, up. This is odd because my topo map was flat as a pancake. This is a good view of the chute, the main snow gully running up the right side. Iceberg Lake is to the right (out of view), only a few more hours of intense climbing and breathing to go!

Climbing the chute was challenging for two reasons: The wind would pick up and blow very hard making it very cold. We stopped frequently to add or subtract layers. We had planned for winter conditions so it was still comfortable, just colder. The other issue was the snow condition. It was too soft for Scott's crampons because he was kicking in the steps, but my crampons (same model) did not ball up and I thought the snow was OK. Especially because last year on Torreys Peak the snow was 20 times softer, so I thought this was great. Of course I wasn't kicking in the steps!