Climbing a 14,500' Mountain for the first time is exciting and not without some risk. People evaluate risk differently. I would not recommend climbing Whitney solo to a first timer. Well, maybe if the person had a fair amount of experience over, say, 13,000' and a fair amount of trail knowledge, but that would be an individual assessment. The fact that this is October, with even fewer people on the trail and the potential for big snow and ice, doesn't help, either. And no rangers on the mountain.
Again, just a different perspective, reflecting that we all have different experiences and approaches to risk.
