Type: | Trad, Aid, Alpine, 2000 ft (606 m), 12 pitches, Grade V |
FA: | Bruce Bindner & Alex Schmauss 1987 |
Page Views: | 9,725 total · 111/month |
Shared By: | Richard Shore on Aug 31, 2017 · Updates |
Admins: | Chris Owen, Lurk Er, Mike Morley, Adam Stackhouse, Salamanizer Ski, Justin Johnsen, Vicki Schwantes |
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Access Issue: Certain Peaks: Access limited from May to October every year
Details
Some of the peaks in this area are restricted (not all). See the Inyo National Forest's Mount Whitney Zone regulations webpage fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/pas… for current information. Access is usually limited from May to October of every year from the highest elevations of most of the Lone Pine Creek watershed.
Description
Hairline tackles the line of highest resistance up the steepest portion of Mt Whitney's full East Face. Brutus of Wyde claimed this was his "proudest first ascent", but even with these grand accolades the route has seen little traffic since the late 80's FA. The logistics of technical big-walling at 14,000' and the heavy aid rack have likely kept many potential suitors at bay. The topo does an excellent job of describing the route, so I will keep things minimal to preserve the adventure. 2 pitches of free climbing lead to the crux of the route - 3 pitches of dramatically and continuously overhanging clean aid. Above P5, sustained and quality crack climbing are the name of the game. The route crosses the standard East Face line at the end of P9, and there is some rockfall hazard below that point from parties above. The route was rebolted by the ASCA in 2004 during the second ascent. Additional info here - http://www.summitpost.org/hairline/163476
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