Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Thor Peak in February

I’ve hiked past Thor Peak ten times, on the way to Whitney, but I’ve never been to the summit. There is a climber.org trip report from January 2003, when they hiked up the Main Trail to Mirror Lake, and then headed up a mixed scree and snow slope to the peak. For those of you who have been up Thor Peak in the winter or early spring, do you prefer the Main Trail approach or the North Fork?

I have been up Thor Peak 89 times, by a number of routes as shown below. In the summer I prefer North Fork routes because the Mirror Lake route is very loose from several hundred feet above the lake until near the top. If you haven't done it before, there are some route-finding issues below the loose section and also close to the top.

With plenty of snow Mirror Lake is fine, as are the routes from Lower Boy Scout Lake. Personally, I prefer the gray route from LBS Lake in winter. (My friends and I call this the Secret Route--funny story.)

Thanks, Bob. A few weeks ago, I found a photo that you posted back in 2010:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rockwellb/4474245414/in/set-72157623604442887

We were thinking about trying the chute that leads to the trees on the right side of the peak, as seen from this angle. Would that route be the same as one of the colored lines on your map?

Bob: it’s pretty amazing that you’ve been up Thor Peak 89 times. I wonder if anyone else has even been there 40 times. Our group will be bringing a fair amount of gear (including ice axe and crampons), since we don’t know what the snow conditions will be like. Do you think we need a GPS? It doesn’t seem like we would, since there are numerous routes up to the peak.

Another question: at a moderate pace, could we make it to the peak from Whitney Portal in 6 to 8 hours (one-way)? Thanks again for your replies.

Back in the good old days... 30+/-... probably +.

Here are some more photos you can look at:

via Mirror Lake in Winter
http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/California-Mountains/Thor-Peak/Thor-Peak-January-17-2009/7209612_D5SMFk#!i=463176269&k=RdvvgtD


via the Secret Route in Winter:
http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/California-Mountains/Thor-Peak/Thor-Peak-January-8-2010/10913458_ZhRKtr#!i=761985030&k=Qv76xRV


Mike and I did a variation on the East Couloir that I'd probably rank as the hardest "winter" climbing I've done on Thor (can't seem to find the album) and I've been up and down the SE Couloir a bunch of times with snow, which is usually a really fun climb once it consolidates.

Keep in mind the you'll see a lot of scarring on the trees near the East Couloir, which probably means it slides under the right winter conditions. SierraGator got caught by a slide near the SE side of Thor a number of years back. Mike and I bailed off of the Secret Route because we started to see A LOT of sloughing off of the snowfield on one climb we were attempting... felt like it might turn into something big that we didn't care to stay to see.

Hi Richard ,

believe it or not I have never been up Thor . But the way in these photos is always the way I had planned to go . It seemed that this "bowl " on the North Side had several lines of weakness . Nice pics . ! Was it hard to find your exit point off the plateau on the way back ?

Thanks, Richard. Considering that our group is looking for a snow climb, maybe the North Fork approach would be better. If we hike up to Mirror Lake instead, then we’ll be going up a south-facing slope, which is likely to be fairly rocky and dry.

The Secret Route hangs a hard left to exit onto the 'plateau' a couple of hundred feet down from the top of the bowl. It's pretty obvious when you're up there. Of course, if you want a bit more challenge, you can just keep heading up...

A few of us did a winter camping trip in the Spring Mountains (in southern Nevada) last week. The main purpose was to check out our winter camping gear, prior to the Thor Peak trip. Here’s a link to some photos:

http://pkuroda.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Charleston-Peak-winter-camping/27554958_Zzrmvk#!i=2319707573&k=7sHjnRN

It was colder than normal at our campsite at 9500 feet. When we woke up on the second day, the temperature was minus seven degrees. One of my friends headed down, due to numb fingers and toes. The rest of us snowshoed up to Charleston Peak (elevation about 11900 feet). After the trip, another member of our group went to a doctor, for treatment of frostnip on two toes.

Richard: our group is planning to head up there on February 1-2. Considering that it’s still early in the season, do you think the best snow conditions might be on the yellow, gray, blue, and green routes on Bob’s map?