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38-690: Mount Whitney's summit is on the Sierra Crest and the Great Basin Divide . It lies near many of the Sierra Nevada 's highest peaks. The peak rises dramatically above the Owens Valley , sitting 10,778 feet (3,285 m) or just over 2 mi (3.2 km) above the town of Lone Pine 15 mi (24 km) to the east, in the Owens Valley . It rises more gradually on the west side, lying only about 3,000 feet (914 m) above

76-401: A climate where no month has an average temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) or higher, but as this is due to elevation, this climate is referred to as Alpine climate . Alpine climate can mimic either tundra or ice cap climate. On Earth, the only continent where the ice cap polar climate is predominant is Antarctica . All but a few isolated coastal areas on the island of Greenland also have

114-407: A different approach, he actually summited nearby Mount Langley . Upon learning of his mistake in 1873, King finally completed his own first ascent of Whitney, but did so a month too late to be first. On August 18, 1873, Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas, all of nearby Lone Pine , had become the first to reach the contiguous United States' highest summit. As they climbed the mountain during

152-600: A fishing trip to nearby Kern Canyon, they called the mountain Fisherman's Peak. In 1881, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory founder Samuel Pierpont Langley remained on the summit for some time, making daily observations of the solar heat. Accompanying Langley in 1881 was another party consisting of Judge William B. Wallace of Visalia, W. A. Wright and Reverend Frederick Wales. In his memoirs, Wallace wrote, "The Pi Ute [Paiute] Indians called Mount Whitney Too-man-i-goo-yah , which means 'the very old man.' They believe that

190-402: A gully on the north side of the east face first climbed by John Muir , is considered a scramble , class 3 ( PD+ ). The fastest recorded time up this route to the summit and back to the portal is 3 hours 10 minutes, by Jason Lakey of Bishop, California . The steep eastern side of the mountain offers a variety of climbing challenges. The East Face route, first climbed in 1931, is one of

228-608: Is analogous to a cellar door: the door is hinged on the west and is slowly rising on the east. The rise is caused by a fault system that runs along the Sierra's eastern base, below Mount Whitney. Thus, the granite that forms Whitney is the same as that which forms the Alabama Hills , thousands of feet lower down. The raising of Whitney (and the downdrop of the Owens Valley) is due to the same geological forces that cause

266-486: Is below the fixed threshold of 10 °C (50 °F) cannot support forests. See Köppen climate classification for more information. Otto Nordenskjöld theorized that winter conditions also play a role: His formula is W = 9 − 0.1 C , where W is the average temperature in the warmest month and C the average of the coldest month, both in degrees Celsius. For example, if a particular location had an average temperature of −20 °C (−4 °F) in its coldest month,

304-460: Is characterized by having at least one month whose average temperature is above 0 °C (32 °F), while an ice cap climate has no months averaging above 0 °C (32 °F). In a tundra climate, even coniferous trees cannot grow, but other specialized plants such as the arctic poppy can grow. In an ice cap climate, no plants can grow, and ice gradually accumulates until it flows or slides elsewhere. Many high altitude locations on Earth have

342-491: The Fifty Classic Climbs of North America routes , and involves technical free climbing ( class 5.7 ) but is mostly class 4. Other routes range up to grade 5.10d. South of the main summit is a series of minor summits that are completely inconspicuous from the west but appear as a series of "needles" from the east. The routes on these include some of the finest big-wall climbing in the high Sierra. Two of

380-530: The Basin and Range Province : the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched. The granite that forms Mount Whitney is part of the Sierra Nevada Batholith . In Cretaceous time, masses of molten rock that originated from subduction rose underneath what is now Whitney and solidified underground to form large expanses of granite. In the last 2 to 10 million years, the Sierra

418-495: The Forest Service issues a limited number of permits between May 1 and November 1. It holds an annual lottery for hiking and backpacking permits on the trail. Applications are accepted from February 1 through March 15. Any permits left over after the lottery is completed typically go on sale April 1. Most hikers plan to stay one or two nights camping along the route. Those in good physical condition sometimes attempt to reach

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456-954: The Rocky Mountains , Alps , and the Caucasus have tundra climate. Some mountains of the Andes , the Saint Elias Mountains , and most mountains of the Himalayas , the Karakoram , the Hindu Kush Range , Pamir Mountains , the Tian Shan Mountains , and the Alaska Range also have ice cap climates at extremely high elevations, in addition to tundra climates at relatively lower elevations. Only

494-558: The Sierra Nevada to Mount Whitney . Polar climate The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters . Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F). Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of these regions are far from the equator and near the poles , and in this case, winter days are extremely short and summer days are extremely long (they could last for

532-576: The Tehachapi crest . The Sierra Crest also forms two paths (bifurcates) around endorheic cirques (e.g., Cup Lake) between the west and east Sierra slopes. Theodore Solomons made the first attempt to map a crest route along the Sierras. He was instrumental in envisioning, exploring, and establishing the route of what became the John Muir Trail from Yosemite Valley along the crest of

570-682: The gray-crowned rosy finch . The mountain is the highest point on the Great Basin Divide . Waterways on the peak's west side flow into Whitney Creek, which flows into the Kern River . The Kern River terminates at Bakersfield in the Tulare Basin , the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley . Today, the water in the Tulare Basin is largely diverted for agriculture. Historically, during very wet years, water overflowed from

608-581: The polar ice pack , keeps the North Pole from being the coldest place in the Northern Hemisphere , and it is also part of the reason that Antarctica is so much colder than the Arctic. In summer, the presence of the nearby water keeps coastal areas from warming as much as they might otherwise, just as it does in temperate regions with maritime climates . The climate of Antarctica is

646-521: The Arctic basin. Summits of many mountains of Earth also have polar climates, due to their higher elevations. Some parts of the Arctic are covered by ice ( sea ice , glacial ice , or snow ) year-round, especially at the most poleward parts; and nearly all parts of the Arctic experience long periods with some form of ice or snow on the surface. Average January temperatures range from about −40 to 0 °C (−40 to 32 °F), and winter temperatures can drop below −50 °C (−58 °F) over large parts of

684-532: The Arctic. Average July temperatures range from about −10 to 10 °C (14 to 50 °F), with some land areas occasionally exceeding 30 °C (86 °F) in summer. The Arctic consists of ocean that is almost surrounded by landmasses like Russia and Canada . As such, the climate of much of the Arctic is moderated by the ocean water, which can never have a temperature below −2 °C (28 °F). In winter, this relatively warm water, even though covered by

722-578: The Great Spirit who presides over the destiny of their people once had his home in that mountain." The spelling Too-man-i-goo-yah is a transliteration from the indigenous Paiute Mono language . Another variation is Too-man-go-yah. In 1891, the United States Geological Survey 's Board on Geographic Names decided to recognize the name Mount Whitney. Despite losing out on their preferred name, Lone Pine residents financed

760-478: The John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake. The mountain is partially dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides. Mount Whitney is above the tree line and has an alpine climate and ecology . Very few plants grow near the summit: one example is the sky pilot , a cushion plant that grows low to the ground. The only animals are transient, such as the butterfly Parnassius phoebus and

798-484: The Owens Valley. Based on the range from the highest average high of 25.7 °F (−3.5 °C) to the lowest average low of 4.2 °F (−15.4 °C) for winter temperatures in the table (December to March), every 1 inch (25 mm) of liquid precipitation equates to approximately 15–40 inches (380–1,020 mm) of snow, with lower temperatures producing the greater snow depths. There is no weather station at

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836-793: The Tulare Basin into the San Joaquin River , which flows to the Pacific Ocean. From the east, water from Mount Whitney flows to Lone Pine Creek, where most of the water is diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct via a sluice . Some water in the creek is allowed to continue on its natural course, joining the Owens River , which terminates at Owens Lake , an endorheic lake of the Great Basin . The estimated elevation of Mount Whitney's summit has changed over

874-409: The broad west and narrow east slopes of the Sierra Nevada and that extends as far east as the Sierra's topographic front (e.g., Diamond Mountains and Sierran escarpment ). The northern and central Sierra Crest sections coincide with over 300 mi (480 km) of the Great Basin Divide , and the southern crest demarcates Tulare and Inyo counties and extends through Kern County to meet

912-494: The coldest on Earth. Antarctica has the lowest naturally occurring temperature ever recorded: −93.3 °C (−135.9 °F) at Vostok Station . It is also extremely dry (technically a desert , or so called polar desert ), averaging 166 millimetres (6.5 in) of precipitation per year, as weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent. Summits of most mountains also have polar climates, despite being in lower latitudes, due to their high elevations. All mountains of

950-507: The entirety of each season or longer). A polar climate consists of cool summers and very cold winters (or, in the case of ice cap climates, no real summer at all), which results in treeless tundras , glaciers , or a permanent or semi-permanent layer of ice . It is identified with the letter E in the Köppen climate classification . There are two types of polar climate: ET , or tundra climate ; and EF , or ice cap climate . A tundra climate

988-569: The first trail to the summit, engineered by Gustave Marsh, and completed on July 22, 1904. Four days later, the new trail enabled the first recorded death on Whitney. Having hiked the trail, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries employee Byrd Surby was struck and killed by lightning while eating lunch on the summit. In response, Marsh began work on the stone hut that became the Smithsonian Institution Shelter , completing it in 1909. A movement began after World War II to rename

1026-664: The ice cap climate. Summits of many high mountains also have ice cap climate due to their high elevation. Coastal regions of Greenland that do not have permanent ice sheets have the less extreme tundra climates. The northernmost part of the Eurasian land mass, from the extreme northeastern coast of Scandinavia and eastwards to the Bering Strait , large areas of northern Siberia and northern Iceland have tundra climate as well. Large areas in northern Canada and northern Alaska have tundra climate, changing to ice cap climate in

1064-611: The most northern parts of Canada. Southernmost Argentina ( Tierra del Fuego where it abuts the Drake Passage ) and such subantarctic islands such as the South Shetland Islands and the Falkland Islands have tundra climates of slight temperature range in which no month is as warm as 10 °C (50 °F). These subantarctic lowlands are found closer to the equator than the coastal tundras of

1102-535: The mountain for Winston Churchill , but the name Mount Whitney persisted. The most popular route to the summit is by way of the Mount Whitney Trail , which starts at Whitney Portal , at an elevation of 8,360 ft (2,548 m), 13 mi (21 km) west of the town of Lone Pine . The hike is about 22 mi (35 km) round trip with an elevation gain of over 6,100 ft (1,859 m). Permits are required year-round, and to prevent overuse

1140-431: The needles were named after participants in an 1880 scientific expedition to the mountain: Keeler Needle for James Keeler and Day Needle for William Cathcart Day. The latter has been renamed Crooks Peak after Hulda Crooks , who hiked up Mount Whitney every year until well into her nineties. Sierra Crest The Sierra Crest is a roughly 500 mi (800 km) generally north-to-south ridgeline that demarcates

1178-566: The polar region in Nordenskiöld's system, but part of the island (including Ushuaia , Argentina ) is reckoned as being within the Antarctic under Köppen's. In 1947, Holdridge improved on these schemes , by defining biotemperature : the mean annual temperature, where all temperatures below 0 °C or 32 °F (and above 30 °C or 86 °F) are treated as 0 °C (because it makes no difference to plant life, being dormant). If

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1216-490: The summit and return to Whitney Portal in one day. A one-day hike requires a day-use permit that prohibits the use of overnight camping gear (sleeping bag and tent). Day hikers often leave Whitney Portal before sunrise and hike from 12 to 18 hours. Longer approaches to Whitney arrive at its west side, connecting to the Mount Whitney Trail near the summit by way of the John Muir Trail . The Mountaineer's Route,

1254-462: The summit of Mount Rainier has an ice cap climate in the Cascade Range . There have been several attempts at quantifying what constitutes a polar climate. Climatologist Wladimir Köppen demonstrated a relationship between the Arctic and Antarctic tree lines and the 10 °C (50 °F) summer isotherm; i.e., places where the average temperature in the warmest calendar month of the year

1292-552: The summit, but this climate table contains interpolated data for an area below the summit. In July 1864, the members of the California Geological Survey named the peak after Josiah Whitney , the state geologist of California and benefactor of the survey. During the same expedition, geologist Clarence King attempted to climb Whitney from its west side, but stopped just short. In 1871, King returned to climb what he believed to be Whitney, but having taken

1330-585: The warmest month would need to average 11 °C (52 °F) or higher for trees to be able to survive there as 9 − 0.1(−20) = 11 . Nordenskiöld's line tends to run to the north of Köppen's near the west coasts of the Northern Hemisphere continents, south of it in the interior sections, and at about the same latitude along the east coasts of both Asia and North America. In the Southern Hemisphere, all of Tierra del Fuego lies outside

1368-468: The years. The technology of elevation measurement has become more refined and, more importantly, the vertical coordinate system has changed. The peak was commonly said to be at 14,494 ft (4,418 m) and this is the elevation stamped on the USGS brass benchmark disk on the summit. An older plaque on the summit (sheet metal with black lettering on white enamel) reads "elevation 14,496.811 feet", but this

1406-522: Was estimated using the older vertical datum ( NGVD29 ) from 1929. Since then the shape of the Earth (the geoid ) has been estimated more accurately. Using a new vertical datum established in 1988 ( NAVD88 ) the benchmark is now estimated to be 14,504 ft (4,421 m). Whitney's eastern slope is far steeper than its western slope because the Sierra Nevada is the result of a fault block that

1444-408: Was pushed up, enabling glacial and river erosion to strip the upper layers of rock to reveal the resistant granite that makes up Mount Whitney today. Mount Whitney has an alpine tundra climate ( ET ) under the Köppen climate classification . Summer temperatures are highly variable, ranging from below freezing (32 °F (0 °C)) to highs near 80 °F (27 °C) during extreme heat waves in

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