Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 2024

Yes, sure I know the exact weather and trail conditions for a few weeks away and I also know who will win the World Series this year. Really?

Howdy!! A group of friends and I are hiking Mt. Whitney peak this 28th. I am looking for a recent update on the trail conditions to the Mt. Whitney peak. As much as we are mentally prepared for the ice on the top portion of the trails, the thought does not MELT away easily. Anyone who has information (would be amazing if you have pictures too) please let us know. Is anyone else hiking on 28th?

Morning I will be up there on the 28th. Also looking for info on the the 97 switchbacks above trail camp. Are they passable or is it the chute? Still deciding if I'm going to attempt out and back or overnite at trail camp.

Howdy,

If you go back to page 13 you'll see that Richard P was up there on the 13th, and the 97 switchbacks are still very much covered in snow. The Chute seems to be the only means up to Trail Crest and beyond. With all the unstable weather, even if there is snow melt, night time temps are still freezing meaning that that will turn to ice; which is very dangerous to tread on. Ice axe, crampons, and helmets are still a must on Whitney. Don't put yourself into a situation that you can't get out of, the mountain will always be there...

Thanks so much saw those pics. Super cool and thanks to Richard for sharing. Def have the right gear and know how to use it. I was just curious with all the melt if the switchbacks had been trail broken yet. I'll have everything I need for a safe trip and like you said any doubt the mountain will always be there. Thanks

The WPS Crew hear lots of Summit Stories...
Doug will update us when The Switchbacks start getting used...

Forgive me if (or *since*) this isn't the right location to pose the question, but since I'll be heading up the MR in early September, I figure "2024" is as good a forum topic as any.

Might you know if the Whitney "overflow" campsite is open once again? The last time I was at the Portal, it was closed due to Covid. I imagine that's been open for a while now, right?

Thanks in advance,

Sorry about multiple posts, I realized I added my original one to the wrong section!

Hey, Mt Whitney forum! I’ve really enjoyed reading all of the convos on this forum- especially about the pizza party Richard P had at Trail Camp one year! Epic! Along with the most recent blog post about the group that summited on the 10th- cheers!

It is my first time attempting Mt Whitney and I wanted to know if anyone has updates on how to chute is looking? Also, if my group doesn’t want to glissade down, how long should we put aside to use our crampons and ice axes to get down? I saw the update response to the hiker attempting on the 28th that it is still covered, which we are anticipating, but just wondering if there are any other details. My group
Of three will be attempting on the 30th, starting on the 29th and camping at Trail Camp.

Thank you all for your time and detailed updates here! Cheers.

Hey everyone, setting out for a 6/9-10 attempt via MR. Any beta from trips between now and then would be great! Assuming it’s heating up and lots of Melting snow between now and then. Hope there will be enough snow that we can make It up without having to be on scree in the chute. Acclimating the day/night before at horseshoe meadows. Thanks for all the great info and I’ll be watching the webcam to see if that little white strip disappears between now and then.

Morning on the 28th started out 12:45 am. Dry trail to outpost above outpost some snow with minor trail finding. Didn’t need micro or crampons above outpost until close to trail camp. Trail camp 6:45am. Plenty of water to filter up to trial camp. Headed up the chute switch backs are not passable however i did see people on the upper switchbacks which appeared to be melted out. Got to 13000ft and started to feel ill so unfortunately had to descend. Came from low elevation with no time to acclimate but still was a great day.

Thanks for your post, Wannabe!

Is the chute doable with microspikes? Anyone else have an opinion on this?

Again, I do not have stiff boots that are crampon compatible.

Does anyone know of a place that rents BOOTS and crampons?

Also, can anyone give me advice on how to navigate to the "chute". Is it obvious and just to the side of the switch backs?

I saw one person w micros but def not recommended. Crampons are the way to go. They make hybrid crampons Katola and Grivel are the ones i know of. I would also recommend an ice axe just in case you slip and need to self arrest. It’s a long ways down if you cant stop yourself. Once the sun hits it softens fast and becomes slushy. You can try John at Elevation Sierra. Super cool guy. Once at trail camp head straight up to the rocks then traverse right then up. Super simple to see once there. Enjoy its a great hike and beautiful scenery.

The conditions are changing daily/hourly,Use past reports for a general guide but these may or may not indicate your conditions,we are talking with a wide range of hikers for example a woman 56yo went up with not using any traction devices,several others have gone up to the cables and then onto the slope,. Experience is the critical factor.Gear and app on the phone doesn't offset the lack of experience,
The world changes above 12000 ' so if you can wait a few more weeks and the trail will be mostly melted out and doable as a hike not a climb.

I hiked on 05/28 with four more friends. We started at 1:45AM from the trail head. We managed to reach till Trail camp on regular waterproof (couple of creek crossings) hiking shoes. Once you reach trailside medow (36°33'59.9"N 118°16'05.8"W) you can either continue onto the trail using regular switchbacks to reach TrailCamp (highly recommend), or cross the creek and climb over the ice to cut short to TrailCamp barely grazing Consultation lake. We did not use Crampons for this but hiking poles were very useful here. Once we reached trailCamp, we put on crampons (MICRO SPIKES MAY NOT WORK IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE EXPERIENCE. CRAMPONS WILL AT LEAST GIVE YOU AN EDGE IF YOU ARE INEXPERIENCED) and use Ice Axe in one hand and hiking pole in another to anchor ourselves for each step to reach about 400ft below Trail Crest. My group and I were prepared for strength activity but climbing up the chute did require some skill.

My 2 cents: Push ice axe with dominant hand as deep as you can on the elevated side, use hiking pole (with appropriate height) on the non dominant hand on the lower elevation side to push yourselves up, and make sure that your one foot is properly set in the ice before you repeat the process with axe, pole and other foot. HAVE ATLEAST THREE POINTS OF CONTANT ALL THE TIME.

We were exhausted, out of water and wisely decided to return with clarity that 400 more feet climb would have put us at TrailCrest and is only a mile walk to summit from there.

While returning, we did try to walk slowly, but with exhaustion I decided to glissade (Do not recommend if you have not practiced). I used the ice axe to slow myself down but had two failed attempts. I did scrape my skin on hands and legs but my friends had followed the glissading trail I left and they were able to slide safely. If you do decide to glissade, may be take a path left by someone and DO USE ice axe appropriately to arrest yourselves or slow your speed.

Ask me more questions if any and I will reply with what I know and let the experts correct the information.

Few useful photos about the Chute and gear and TrailSideMeadow location.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3BKLgRp2tAY1DYq19

Hey thaks for the details great use of the ax and crampons.

I would only hint recall the bobsled run some years ago that took the thing that sits above the shoulder off , Using existing tracks late at night can turn to ice and be very slick also many will try to stay dry and use a tarp or rain gear turning the old COF to 0.0 and out of control until hitting the blunt force event at the rocks at the bottom.

Judging by recent photos, use the chute still on main trail; not 99 switchbacks(switchbacks will take a couple weeks or so more to clear up.)

Crampons(not microspikes[know the difference]), ice axe, good boots still MANDATORY. Mitigate your risk. Stay on the snow up the chute. Three points of contact ALWAYS. Feel it out. When in doubt, zig-zag up/down the snow, keeping ice axe uphill from you. Practice proper ice axe self-arrest techniques before you go up if you're not experienced with this(watch YouTube videos on how to do this). DO NOT glissade if you haven't practiced, or if snow quality is questionable(like Doug Sr. mentioned, if you can't stop you will slide straight into the rocks and sayonara).

1 mile or so from Trail Crest to the summit, but feels like 3 miles at elevation so plan for this time-wise/endurance-wise/water-wise.

Recommended to bring an extra meal in case you're forced to stay another night up there.

Take your time, make good choices. If something is ever questionable, make the safe decision. There's a difference between challenging yourself and living to see the next day. Enjoy!

Conditions are always subject to change and accurate conditions are realistically never available until a couple days or so before you head up. Glancing at previous photos can only give you an idea.

Do your best to gauge the weather/temperature with projected forecasts. Cold fronts/heat waves can be spontaneous and leave you in a snowstorm/extreme melt conditions. Be prepared for anything. You are at the mercy of the mountain.

If you hit up the portal store or hang around and buy a burger(FANTASTIC pre-hike meal btw), you may run into those who have just descended and they will be able to provide you some info. Good luck!

Hi, for those interested in another update with another point of view/experience.

My son and I summited yesterday. Thanks to various research and those who posted updates on this forum we were prepared and while we struggled quite a bit with altitude sickness symptoms we feel proud of our accomplishment.

We started at 11:30pm on 5/30 and ended at 4:15pm yesterday (5/31). I’ll share our general experience and note a few things that we wish we knew before we went that I felt could have or should have been mentioned here and would have been helpful.

The weather was perfect and while a little chilly in the morning at trail camp we mostly just hiked in a shell with a one layer under.

Everything was pretty uneventful until we got around mirror lake. The trail between mirror lake and trail view meadow was harder to navigate in the dark for us as there was snow on most of the switch backs and a lot of human tracks in the snow up snowbanks that made it hard to follow. We lost 30-40 minutes confirming we were on the right trail as a result of this and there were some areas of correct trail that were not clearly trail. We made our way to trailview meadow and got water (pleasant of water) and noticed a backpack and what looked like a tent that had tent poles strewn around to the left of the trail. Thinking that someone might be sleeping under the tent we passed quietly and worked our way up a few switchbacks… my son and I both discussed how strange that was and wondered if there was someone that needed help or was under the tent in some kind of crisis (too weak to set up a tent even though camping was not allowed in that area) and we decided to go back and check. When we arrived I approached the tent and bag asking if someone was there and if everything was fine and when I heard nothing I lifted the tent but nobody was around. We later learned that the gear was left by a hiker weeks earlier before they headed down. But we decided nobody was there and we proceeded up to trail camp where we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. We got to trail camp at just around 5am and noticed that there were already many hikers on tue mountain. We saw their headlamps in the dark. We noticed several going up 99 switchbacks and several at the top of the trail just before 99 switchbacks which appeared to be crossing over the bottom of the chute, which they eventually did. We had planned tk take the chute and as we headed to the bottom we noticed several hikers on the 99 switchbacks and they seemed to be making good time. We probably saw around 18 hikers ahead or behind us as we went up the chute and the majority took the chute. The snow was hard early and the ascent, while trying for our sea level lungs, was in great shape and pretty easy to ascend. My son had crampons and I used microspikes and we both felt safe and didn’t have any trouble. In fact we put our gear on after we climbed the first 30 meters on one of the first boulders towards the bottom of the climb. Our hiking boots worked great and while I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone I am convinced that I could have made it up without microscopes given how hard/frozen it was and how many foot holds there were all of the way up the chute. We started to feel sick starting at crest view and got worse for us towards the summit and didn’t get better until we got back to trailview meadows. For context, we drove up from sea level and didn’t get any sleep the previous day. I’d recommend to others who aren’t used to the elevation to get more sleep and acclimate for a day or two before at higher altitude.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for is as the hike between crestview and the summit. It feel so much longer and the trail has several parts that are still covered a bit in snow and are pretty tight passes.

Key takeaways:
- plenty of water and weather was great (for us)
- have a gps or review the map between mirror lake and trail view meadows to avoid confusion from snow covering the trail.
- the chute was in great shape for climbing (early morning) and glissading (afternoon)
- can climb chute with micro spikes or crampons
- 99 switchbacks is being used regularly and is an option
- avoid altitude sickness by acclimating and getting sleep.

Hope you enjoy your trip.

Bears very active in the Portal and also reports of bears at Lone Pine Lake so Outpost would also be a target for food and packs . could go up to trailcamp searching would be uncommon but they are moving around and one is collared ....not sure where it came from Gave Fish and Game report this AM .