FKT: Suzanne "Sunny" Stroeer, Libby Sauter - White Mountain (CA) - 2021-07-18

Route variation
West Ridge car-to-car
Multi-sport
No
Gender category
Female
Style
Unsupported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
14h 6m 14s
GPS track(s)
Report

With a bit of extra time on my hands while returning to Utah after a week in California, I came across the West Ridge of White Mountain and spontaneously decided to give it a go.  9,000ft of ascent over 7 miles, all off trail -- what could possibly go wrong! I discovered that this route exists on a Saturday morning.  By lunchtime, I had convinced my friend Libby Sauter that she should join me for an overnight adventure.  By dark, we had finished the multi-hour drive to the base of the route - and by 1am we were ready to go.  

Looking at Sean O'Rourke's trip report from 2018 we expected an unrelenting but mellow ascent along a non-technical ridge line. He put down a 7 hour FKT (4 up, 3 down) and our "conservative" estimate was that we should be able to complete the 14 mile route in 10-12 hours, without too much trouble... off the couch.  Ah the hubris. 

I won't get into much detail here.  Save it to say that...

  • The line is a lot better and more beautiful than it sounds. 
  • While most of the route is non-technical there is an extended and lovely knife-edge section, as well as an unexpected downclimb (Sean's "headwall") right before the true summit. 
  • The up requires legs and lungs but is straightforward.  The down has multiple sections that are truly atrocious. 

White Mountain served us a healthy slice of humble pie, but we both agreed that it was a worthwhile endeavor.  Libby and I ended up taking almost precisely twice as long as Sean (14:05 all in, with 8 up and 6 down), and were both reminded that training in fact does make a difference.  After all, my much harder Aconcagua FKT (9,000ft of climbing over the course of 6 miles, going from 14,000 to 23,000ft ASL) only took me ~45 minutes longer than this ascent.  Gah! Now I'm motivated to come back to White Mountain and put a respectable time down. In the meantime, ladies: go get it.  If you're fit and don't mind off-trail travel you should be able to take at least a couple hours off the time we established. Plus I'd say it is one of the best training days to be had out there.  Go White Mountain!