Fishhook Arete is an 8 pitch aesthetic roped alpine climb on Mount Russell. Its haunted me since I saw the line from the top of Mount Whitney after my first alpine route on the east buttress. It is as if they invented roped climbing so we could conquer lines like this in the wild. I left it for my fourth alpine route and my fourth California 14er because of the grade: 5.9, two full grades higher than the other 3 alpine routes on our resume. The grade intimated me but the prospect was too beautiful to resist. I accidentally wrote it on my bucket list 3 times. I procured North Fork of Lone Pine Creek permits 6 months in advanced and told myself to get in the best shape of my life.

Unfortunately the world had other plans. My ascent of Shasta, Williamson, and Tyndall where in some way or another affected by the global pandemic. My climbing gym closed. My pull up strength suffered. I gained weight. I also was suspiciously ill with migraines and body ache in the three weeks leading to the entrance date. I wasn’t feeling 100%, but I couldn’t let myself sit this one out. It would be another year before we had another shot. And you never know what you can do unless you try. I also can not think of better way to socially distance than to backpack into the mountains for three days with other members of my household. So off we went despite many other peoples better judgment.

“You are strong enough to do this climb” I thought to myself while packing my backpack at Whitney Portal on entrance day.
… “Well, maybe not, but at least you are mentally strong”. I hoped that was true.

Strategy

We now have the kinks in the strategy pretty much worked out.

Day 1: We camp the night before at Whitney Portal (8500ft),

Day 2: Wake up and take the day to meander to Iceberg Lake. (12,500ft)

Day 3: Have the earliest alpine start ever to give ourselves all day to climb (14,058ft), hopefully descending back to camp again at Iceberg lake before dark

Day 4: Hike out, hopefully in time to have lunch at Whitney Portal

The Approach

We packed well. This is the third time we are doing the mountaineers approach and we knew what we needed and didn’t need. My pack was 35lbs. Robins was 50lbs. This may sound like a lot to all you ultralight backpackers out there but it a huge improvement over our first trip up the mountaineers route where my pack was 55 and robins was 70. Remember we are carrying a rope and close to a double rack of cams and we were prepared for three nights of camping. We also had water. I am pretty astounded by how light our packs were.

Our light packs were rewarded by a short trip to iceberg lake. It took us 5.5 hours. The Inyo maps describe the trip to iceberg lake as only 4 miles. My Garmin watch reported 5.75 miles. Robins Garmin watch reported 5.5 miles.

Our strategy for the hike was adopted from the training I received during my ascent of Mount Rainer. We would hike slowly without stopping for 1 hour. At the 1 hour mark we would take a full break, eating ~250 calories, a quarter to a half liter of water, “use the bathroom”, and reapply sunscreen (including chapstick). The calories were consumed as luna bars, and sport goos. This may seem extremely regimented, but I know myself and it takes this level of pacing/calorie consumption for me not to get sick at altitude. This was especially important since I was not in the shape I felt like I should be to power through bad conditions.

A quick note on the Ebersbacher ledges: Its third class. There is a way to do it without being afraid to fall. If you start doing something you are uncomfortable with go ahead and look around a little more and find something that’s more chill to walk up with your pack.

We set up camp at 2pm and just hung out napping and reading. I can see how people can do this car to car. I was so go-go-go in anticipation I was annoyed that we had enough lackidasical time to rest in camp the evening before our big climb. In the end I am glad we had a bit of dead time there to rest and acclimate to help fend off the morning migraine I’d been dealing with. We were in the tent sleeping by 6pm. We allotted more than 8 hours because we always sleep poorly at altitude. I wore a sleep mask over my eyes and that helped. The tiny warmth kick of something on my face was also nice. The weather report read 30F that night.

We woke up at 3:45am and started the approach over the Whitney Russell pass. The approach took us 1.5 hours. We were roped up to climb by 6:30am.

The Climb

The timing was perfect because we started climbing right when the sun was coming up. The timing was not perfect because it was intensely cold. Our fingers were so numb. Robin blew into his fingers for 10 minutes or so in preparation of his lead. Robin nailed it and I followed without falling. I was wearing gloves during the approach and still couldn’t feel my fingers during the climb. Robin was feeling optimistic at this stage. This was supposedly the hardest pitch on the whole climb and we crushed it. The pitch was so vertical it felt eerily like sport climbing.

I led the second pitch. It was supposed to be a 5.5 pitch. I got off route and did a scary 5.7 variation that tried to throw me off the Arete into hundreds of feet of air. At this point my confidence started to wane.

Robin led the third pitch and got off route and unfortunately ended up doing what I estimated was a tall 5.10b move that I couldn’t follow. I was able to retrieve the cam that directed me to that spot, but I had to be lowered to a more assesible portion of the climb. It was embarrassing and we lost a bunch of time in the rigmarole.

At that point my confidence in leading had eroded and we discussed a change in the plan. We originally planned to swing leads, but my training had not gone to plan in the midst of a world wide pandemic and my foreboding illness. The grades were stout, more vertical than I have been leading this year, and the consequences were severe. It was easy to meander to a 5.10-11 section. 5.9 is at the top of my trad leading comfort. We were moving too slow. The exposure was out of this world. These are excuses, and perhaps the ones that keep me from getting stronger. But in this moment, I knew that it wasn’t happening for me.

Robin asked me to feel it out and offered to lead my pitch. The next two pitches were supposed to be mellow. I followed the meandry unprotected traverses over exposed rock dropping hundreds of feet to the ground on both sides. I followed the 20ft unprotected down climb into the notch. (The fish hook) That pitch was not the confidence builder I was hoping it would be.

I had a moment and cried at the top of pitch four. This is not the style that I wanted to do this climb. Robin held my hand and reminded me that we were still here, and we are still doing it. For non-climbers I’ll explain: style is incredibly important. It’s the difference between successful training and not, being a goober and not, and sometimes having a good time or not. In all cases you usually get to the top. Summiting is not the most important metric of success. I been climbing for a decade now, and I knew I should have been able to lead half the pitches. But then it turned out that I couldn’t. This was not the style that I wanted to climb Fishhook Arete.

I saw tat and a bail out ring at the top of pitch four and proposed that we bail. Fires in the lower sequoias were obstructing our views by filling the air with smoke. I was being grumpy. Coronavirus. However, it was only 1 o clock. By all objective measures we were still crushing it. As much as I wanted to leave this climb for a stronger day with better views, I realized I was just half of a climbing team. Robin asked us to press on. He was having fun. Besides, I wanted to summit Mount Russel, and this was still infinitely more fun than walking. I challenged my perfection-ist and negative thought pattern and decided that we still had a chance to win the mental game. We pressed on.

View from the top of pitch 2. Robin is having fun!

Pitch 5 was an almost 180ft completely vertical 5.6 section. It was incredible and surprisingly easy. The Supertopo high Sierra guide calls this the money pitch.

Pitch 6 was the chimney pitch that had maybe one chimney move. It was more of a wide-ish crack, but it had a perfect hand crack within in it that was easy to place gear and/or throw in a hand or foot jam. It had the strenuous quality you would expect from a chimney. Robin thought this pitch was very fun.

Pitch 7 was super long and Robin took us to the east side escape to avoid exposure. It had a fun exposed 5.8 move to get back in the face. I had to down climb a few ledges from the top of the 7th pitch from the belay station to grab one of the climbing shoes I dropped. It would have sucked if it continued to tumble the remaining 700ft to the deck. (Could I do this pitch in my backpacking boots? I thought as I downclimbed)

Pitch 8 was our last one and I found it incredibly hard. It started with a perfect yet slightly positive fingers. This was very memorable to me. It looked hard but there were little buckets to hold onto in the crack. Shortly after that, there was an “off hands” section where my hand jams weren’t quite sticking. I tried to lay back with no avail. My hands were just a tad too small. This is the only section that I fell on. I fell three times frantically working the section. When I finally whaled over the top of the lip, I had to lay facedown, forehead to deck, hyperventilating. It was dramatic. Robin looked on from 20 feet away, sympathically saying “I did the same thing”.

I was able to slowly finish the climb as Robin complained about the smoke gathering. It was objectively hard to breathe due to the smoke. The smoke was a breathing disaster coupled with the already thin air at altitude. Also, the views of the adjacent Mount Whitney were obstructed by the smoke. The smoke was so thick it was like rush hour in LA. Robin said that this partially ruined the experience for him.

We topped out at 4pm. I congratulated Robin on crushing every pitch. He congratulated me on overcoming the confidence hit that almost prevented us from having fun. We finished up our Luna bars and sport goos while taking pictures at the summit. We were unable to sign the summit register because the pen was broken. (dang it)

The descent was relatively straight forward save some vertical 4th class. I did not get altitude sickness for my first time ever in the Whitney Zone.

We got back to camp just before dark feeling super good, around 7pm. This is what I call alpine climbing success.

The next day we hiked out. I saw a few other hikers with ropes and socially asked what they were climbing. Three or four groups responded “Fishhook Arete”. Mount Whitney and the East face was so last year I suppose.

It was an incredible experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. That being said, I am not in a huge rush to go back. This is my third year doing the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek approach, and 6th trip into the Whitney Zone. I stopped feeling the glory of sleeping at the base of Mount Whitney. It stopped feeling like a religious experience. I stopped feeling the fear of god as I ascended into the punishing mountains. This activity that I found life affirming and astoundingly beautiful before now became normalized. This is not the experience I want to normalize. So I will leave the Whitney Zone alone for now, and chase some other mountains. Hopefully when I get back I will be able to treat it with the respect it deserves. Complacency is the enemy.

For your reference and mine, I will provide a gear list below.

Gear list

For backpacking to iceberg Lake

Item	Notes
Chapstick with sunscreen	Important! Otherwise your lips will just fall off from being so burned
Tent. Big Agnes Copper Spur	We actually left the tent in the car and just brought the rain fly and footprint. Super light, ~1.5lb. Only got a little nervous when I saw mice at the campsite but they did not bother us while we were sleeping (I don’t think)
High top Backpacking boots: Oboz	I know super light backpackers use the low top shoes, but I knew that my goofy legs will twist my ankles when they get tired. The high tops offer the extra support I need when carrying a heavy pack.
Hiking poles with optional rubber tips:	The rubber tips are so nice moving over rock. There is some slab to move over during the approach and it’s nice that the poles had some grip.
Super thick camping jacket: Bight gear	This was a significant item. It dropped down to 30 degrees and I felt comfortable only because of this jacket. I bought it during my mount rainier glacier travel class. It packed down to a size about half the size of my sleeping bag. Incredibly worth it.
Garmin in reach mini	Why did I buy this thing. I never use it. Robin says it’s comforting to his mom, though.
Gravity water filter (platypus):	for filtering the crusteaceons from stagnant iceberg lake.
Stove	we used a jet boil and brought backpacking meals.
Down sleeping bag:	light and warm. Mine is rated to 8F
Two Nalgene bottles	One for electrolyte drink, one to make pumping water and teeth brushing easier
Power bank:	The first time I did this trip I brought a solar charger as well, but I determined that I only need as much power as a single charge on the anker 10000mA. I brought it in case our phones (with the climbing beta) my watch (for timing the hike) or the in reach (safety) needed charging. Make sure to store it in your sleeping bag at night! The cold drains the battery
Z sleeping pad
Bear Can	Required. Also nice to keep the mice out of the food
Compass
Map
Backpacking towel
Leatherman Multitool	For your very own touching the void moment. We used it to cut snacks
Toiletries	I brought a toothbrush, toothpaste, night cream, sunscreen, hotel soap, and a comb
Camping spoon	Robin suggested we share 1 to save on weight, but I decided I wanted my own.


Wind breaker pants	Light for how much warmth they provide. I climbed in these as well
A long sleeved hiking shirt	I only brought two shirts. Sleeves important because everything the sun touches will get burned.
Thermal Undies	I brought them to sleep in
Underwear	I brought three pairs, Robin brought 1
Warm Hat

For climbing Fishhook Arete:

We both carried the summit packs that came with our backpacks.

Item	Notes
Emergency blanket	Unused
Climbing Tape	Robin did not want to wear gloves. His hands were bloody by the end
Climbing gloves	By outdoor research. They felt too light and fragile when I pulled them out of the box but I put them through the paces and they haven’t torn yet
Climbing shoes:	Tc pros for both of us
Cams	Single rack of BDs with a second 3, 1, .5. Also had a .2 but it got stuck and I left it on pitch 3 3 totems (.75,1,2)
Nuts	Two racks with corresponding nut tools
Alpine draws	9 2 quad slings
Nylon webbing	creative anchors/bail out if we needed it.
Climbing Helmets
Anchors	2 20ft coordlets with corresponding biners
Grigris	both of us had grigris. I think they are just so nice for multipitch. Belaying through the anchor makes for better rope management, and being able to keep your partner on belay during the gear handoff is just one less very important thing to deal with when trying to go fast.
ATCs	Quantity 3. each of us brought a backup Atc in case we had to rappel or dropped a Grigri. and robin carried an extra because the stakes are too high for dropping these.
Harnesses	Obviously
PASs	I don’t care what they say, it’s fast)
Boots	We took our big backpacking boots on the climb so we could have them for the descent. I know some people leave them at the base, but my feet swell at altitude and I think that the descent can be more dangerous than the climb.
6 liters of water	We drank ALL of it
Gopro
Sony RX100