SD,
Out of the ordinary makes no difference? A climb of 6,000' is not out of the ordinary in SoCal but not to 14,500'. Do you have to take any special precautions...sure, more clothing and a watch on the weather. But this is still a hiking trail with all the problems you have with hiking trails...not any of them extraordinary.
AMS happens in SoCal all the time, seen it and have had it. As a SoCal, I know and have written about the unprepared in SoCal. This is nothing new and no matter how much is written about them not much is going change. I have seen people walk into the electrical storms, when I have already have turned around, seen a person walk towards a mountain lion, when I already turned around and have seen people in canyons and ridges that did not know where they were. Mt. Whitney is not special in this regard, it just reflects how people hike in their local areas.
I've said and was chastised for saying 2 to 3 deaths here was an acceptable number all things considered, tragic but acceptable considering who hikes here. People die in our local SoCal mountains every year because they do nothing wrong or something very foolish...these are wild places. Nothing is going change it.
These threads about John Lively have been trying to find a solution to a problem that might not exist, since no one was there when Mr. Lively slid down that chute. The only thing that is certain is if his friends waited for him and they hiked down together, Mr. Lively most likely would be alive today.
