Hiker rescued on Skyline 6/10/15

[backpackpack]

On the other side of the temperature spectrum, I, with 2 friends attempted Mt.Whitney yesterday. When we encountered near blizzard and whiteout conditions less than 2 miles from the summit, we aborted and went back down. To our astonishment (or not!), several hikers in $4 ponchos and tennis shoes continued up. We did encounter a few hikers that made a successful summit with equipment and attire appropriate for the conditions.

That sure sounds fun. Whitney is a goal of mine, I just need more experience and conditioning.

[Ed]

To our astonishment (or not!), several hikers in $4 ponchos and tennis shoes continued up.

To my astonishment, I once saw someone on the summit of Hood in tennis shoes. With crampons on, of course.

[zippetydude]

It is funny how differently people respond to conditions. I got to Trail Crest once, wearing shorts and a tank top, keeping my body temp normal by running. I had a light windbreaker in my pack, but I did not need it at the time. The temps were not that cold, probably in the 50's, but there was a strong wind. People were up there in snow pants and parkas. Now, I would have wanted those too if I were sitting and relaxing, but these people were climbing the mountain at the time. Since my running was not really all that much faster than their hiking, the difference struck me as odd. Of course, we exchanged playful comments about the other's attire, but I couldn't figure out why there weren't sweating horribly inside all that gear, and they couldn't figure out why I wasn't freezing without it. Weird.

z

[backpackpack]

It is funny how differently people respond to conditions. I got to Trail Crest once, wearing shorts and a tank top, keeping my body temp normal by running. I had a light windbreaker in my pack, but I did not need it at the time. The temps were not that cold, probably in the 50's, but there was a strong wind. People were up there in snow pants and parkas. Now, I would have wanted those too if I were sitting and relaxing, but these people were climbing the mountain at the time. Since my running was not really all that much faster than their hiking, the difference struck me as odd. Of course, we exchanged playful comments about the other's attire, but I couldn't figure out why there weren't sweating horribly inside all that gear, and they couldn't figure out why I wasn't freezing without it. Weird.

z

I am like you. If I am running or even hiking at a good rate, I usually go with a tank top because unless it is below 40f or so, I will be sweating and hot. The only part of me that gets cold is my hands, so sometimes in the winter I go night hiking/climbing with a tank top and gloves

I also don't mind being cold too much, as long as I am not in danger of hypothermia.