Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Conditions on East Butress/Face and Fishook

Has anyone been up on any of the rock climbing routes on Whitney or Mt. Russell since the storm? Anyone have any idea how the conditions are? I'm assuming that the ledges are snowy.

I was on the North Fork this past weekend. We didn't get very far because of new snow. I wasn't on either of these routes but I can give you an educated guess on conditions.

The East Buttress gets a lot of sun exposure. If you wanted a route that has minimal snow this would be a good choice. especially compared to the East Face. Even so it'll still have some snow on it. Temperatures are forecast to get warmer so it's possible this route will be relatively snow free soon.

The Fishhook Arête is normally a pretty cold climb. Even though it's south facing it is usually windy and cold up there in the mornings until the sun warms things up. During the fall it stays pretty chilly. It also keeps snow longer. The top half of the route (4 pitches or so up depending on where you set belays) gets more sun than the bottom half.

The hardest part will be the approach at the moment. There's 1' - 3' of new snow in the high country right now. It makes backcountry travel pretty slow going, especially when you're off of a trail. The approaches to these climbs will be slow and cumbersome unless some of this snow melts. It will in the sun but it'll be very slow to melt in the shade, which is normal during the fall. Here's a picture I took from Lower Boyscout Lake on October 7:

Wow, thanks for the educated guesses and the pic! Hmmm ... maybe I'll stay in the valley, or at least check back in another 4 days before heading up Whitney.

Yeah I'd stay in the valley for a few days at least. There's lots to do there without having to mess with snow...

Hi Kurt,

What spot are you at? That's Sentinel Dome across the valley so I’m guessing North Dome?

-Rudy

Hi Rudy,

That picture was taken from a bivy ledge on the Lost Arrow Spire. Here's a thread with a few pictures. There's a link on there to all of them.

Had a great time in the Valley and it looks like I'll be back next week to record what will hopefully be a memorable event on El Cap [purposefully left vague for now].

Are things melting out at all up on Whitney. Went up Half Dome a couple of times and all the snow up there is almost gone at this point.

Cheers

Yeah things are melting out quite a bit in the high country. Snow is a bit stubborn in the shady aspects but sun exposed slopes are melting out. On Whitney and Russell you'll find some snow in the shade but not too much in the sun. I'd still recommend the Buttress over the Face because it'll be more melted out.

Glad you had a great time in the Valley. Have fun on El Cap and give us a report on your "event" after it happens. One of my housemates just set a speed record on El Cap last week.

You might check our good friend Dennis Mattison's web site for weather updates. It looks like things are going to stay dry but temperatures are expected to cool down quite a bit by the middle of next week. Dennis posts updates on this board and you can also go directly to his site here: Eastern Sierra Forecast.

I flew over the Sierra yesterday morning and got some good shots of Whitney. As I suspected the East Face route still has snow in it. the main areas are the Washboards and the Grand Staircase. The East Buttress looks pretty much free of snow though. Here's a picture I took from the east looking west. The East Buttress is the prominent buttress right of center. Keep in mind the route stays more on the right side of the buttress than the left. This is more north facing and as this picture illustrates it sees a lot less sun so there will no doubt be some amount of snow in the cracks.

The Mountaineer's Route is the standard descent. As you can see from this photo it has a fair bit of snow in it. I'm guessing 1-3 feet with an occasional deeper drift. It'll be icy in spots up high on the north facing aspects above the notch where the top 500' are (not pictured in this photo).

Hello Kurt,

did you happen to fly over Russell and see the conditions on the East Ridge. Thanks?

Yes I did. A little snow is hanging onto the north side of the ridge. The conditions remind me of a climb I guided on the East Ridge of Russell in October 2009. Here's a photo taken from the middle of the East Ridge. The entire photo gallery from that climb is here. I'm guessing there's slightly more snow there now than what you see in these pictures.

I didn't get the best photo of the East Ridge on my recent flight, but here's one:

Kurt,

thanks for the amazing photo and all of the beta.

Yeah, thanks! The El Cap event has been delayed until perhaps next week. More tempted than ever to hit the East Buttress. Which El Cap speed record?