Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Main Trail conditions

Trail is dirt for the first 1.5 miles. Not far down down from lone pine lake there is snow on trail. Trail is easy to walk on without spikes up to the whitney zone, if you are on frozen snow.. I highly recommend not leaving the portal after 9 am or you will have soft snow and it is difficult to move in.. From the zone up to the summit it is snow.. Early travel for ascending is recommended , while the snow is still firm.. Micro spikes are working great up to trail camp, crampons from trail camp to summit i would Highly suggest.. I would also recommend helmets for ascending up the draw or switch backs.. The switch backs are more difficult and not as safe as the draw.. Now I have seen some fairly poor mountain practices with people the last couple of days.. I say this in a friendly manner , and it is for your protection.. On friday i had several encounters with people who were very excited, which i love however, un prepared for winter conditions.. Even though thousands of people ascend Whitney yearly it is still a very serious Mountain and conditions change rapidly.. This time of year the snow is variable, changing hourly.. Use caution plan out your route, and have the appropriate gear.. On Saturday there was a young man who made it to the summit by way of the snow draw, which is recommended , however he did not have a helmet or ice axe.. He thought it a good idea, when descending the draw to glissade. Half way down he lost control and started to cart wheel, for over 500' and there was NO way for him to self arrest, and he ended up in the boulder field below, leaving a giant laceration on his head, lucky is an understatement that he was not seriously injured or even killed.. It resulted in him having to be taken out by search and rescue, who did an amazing job to reach him, leaving the portal at 9 pm Saturday night and working all night to rescue him.. The point here is that being mindful of your surroundings and using caution is very important he is lucky he walked out under his own power.. Please people if you are going to glissade, which i DO NOT Recommend, at very least have the proper self arrest gear and Know how to use it.. The snow is melting quickly down low but you will have roughly 18 miles of snow travel if you make the summit, so keep that in mind..Climb on be safe..

Thanks Davey,
I heard about the Trail Crest slope accident on Sat evening and glad it worked out OK.
Just a reminder on the SAR policy. This note is taped to the summit hut.....it can get serious up there. Hike & climb safe!

Glissading without an ice axe is just sliding. Sliding down the chute without an means of stopping is...crazy. I've also seen long, nasty blood stains on the chute where somebody obviously had a very bad experience.

When the switchbacks are snowed over, going up the chute is the only real alternative. Climbing and descending the chute requires solid mountaineering skills. A steep slope with rocks and water at the bottom certainly doesn't make a good place for learning how to glissade, even if you have the right gear.

Maybe less-experience people would take "the chute" more seriously if it had a more ominous sounding name. We could start with a name like the Bowling Alley and go up from there. What name would aptly describe the Chute's danger when snow covered? Feel free to use adjectives or possessives for extra emphasis... i.e. Devil's Bowling Alley.

Normally I joke around on my comments but this one is serious.

Thanks for the update Davey. Keep them coming.

The "crash pad" might work. As a name, that is.

I refer to things like that as "the slippery slope".

Why sugar coat it?

Blood Alley

My son and I left portal sat. morning around 1145. made it to lone pine lake around 3pm. this was our first time on the mountain. microspikes needed within .5 miles of this area. I was awakened by voices around 1130pm, this must have been search and rescue as we camped at a spot near whitney zone sign. Sunday, we headed up to just past mirror lake, microspikes needed, lots of ice, and camped up under a tree with a great view of mount whitney and onion valley. Sunday around 430pm, meet a couple from bishop coming down, great to talk to. Monday came down from there, after 10am, snow started getting soft and postholed through some spots, faceplanting a couple of times, gotta love it! Great time with my son.

Choclab

You had an adventurous outing, it was really nice chatting with you and your son while you were preparing for the evening , and admiring your surroundings.. Whitney has a special way of making making one feel great, and bringing a big smile as i saw on your face, Face plants and all . Hope to see you back up in the spring or summer.

While trying to glissade the (T.B.A.D) The Bowling Alley Draw..

You must be aware of your surroundings and keep in mind that if you fall, and lose control, you will slide or cart wheel at high rates of speed, out of control and end up in a large granite boulder field, that will kiss you hard.

That is the reality of this conversation, use caution be prepared and just because it is not the MR it is a real serious outcome if you are not prepared..

Now it sounds like a joke , but it is serious, and because the MT gets more first time and beginner climbers it just a heads up..

Choclab

We met around 2pm on the lower switchbacks (before Lone Pine Lake), I was sick and could not talk due to sore throat and easily trigged cough. I’m glad to hear you had a great time with you son on the mountain and loved the climb. You definitely have to come back!

As of me, I barely made back to the TH at 3pm (5 hours from just above Trail Camp). The flu I developed on the way up was murdering me. Then I had a terrible night at Alabama Hills and was also forced to stop in Lee Vining to spend an additional night in a motel. I was so sick I could not drive anymore. Now the worst is over and I am slowly recovering.

* * *
When I was at Trail Camp I saw 3 people climbing the snow chute. While descending I met 3 climbers (a woman and 2 men) just below Trail Camp, then 2 or 3 climbers approaching Mirror Lake, 4 guys at Outpost Camp and then Choclab with his son. I apologies anyone for not holding conversations but I was really in pain and suffering (but tried to hide it). Before I decided to turn back at 10am I had enough time to still go up but if I did I don’t think I would have been able to get down on my own. (Always have to think ahead.)

As of snow/icy conditions, on my way up I put on crampons on this steeper slope just before Trail Camp. While climbing it at certain point I realized I had no traction anymore and my ice axe was in my daypack! The snowy look of the slope and comfortable climbing of its lower part deceived me. On the way down, however, I never take chances and was descending with crampons on/off up to just below Mirror Lake.

By the way I did not see any solo guy that day. Was he from one of the groups?

Attempting to glissade without ice axe is insane to name it lightly.

ill bet a lotta first timers and beginners arent clued into this WPSMB.
As ex-Inyo SAR I really hope the notice posted on summit hut is posted at MT start as well.
jus my 2 cents

hey there mrcs,
glad to run into you. sadly, you really did look and sound terrible. im glad you are feeling much better.
making it to lee vining is an accomplishment, the way you looked and sounded.
hope to see you on the mountain again.
my son and i had a great time and thanks for your advice, we followed the tracks and didn't lose our way.
we plan on summiting in august. we didn't get in on the lottery, but will try to get a pass if passes go unclaimed or on the day of.

My group and I will be out on the main trail May 30. We're all first timers to Whitney and we have some complete novices. I'm curious if we will need crampons at this point in the season. Can anyone help us out? Will there still be snow and ice to deal with May 30?

Well I would say your best bet is to wait until the week before for recent trip reports to make that decision. this year was not a heavy year for snow and if conditions keep up it might not be needed or microspikes might be enough. keep watching the trail reports

I was up on the main trail today - made it to the cables, wearing crampons from Lone Pine Lake non stop up and down. I was the only person on the mountain except for that specialist I met coming down who said he couldn't find the 97 switchbacks, so he went straight up to 13,000 feet where he had to turn around due to deep snow. Well, he turned left from the trail above Mirror Lake and went straight up to Lone Pine Peak...

I turned around just below the cables where the snow was super soft (my hiking pole went straight through, no solid ground to be found, no way to bypass that patch). Maybe I read too much about avalanches lately, but that pillow of fresh snow didn't look safe to cross right above a cliff, so I went back down, snow glob sticking to my crampons on every other step.

I'd like to see how that trick was done.

with a great big running start!

Is the trail still well delineated from Lone Pine Lake to Trail Camp? Will I have a problem with finding the trail? I am planning on going up there April 30 before the permit season starts. Thanks.

Went up Friday to Trail Camp, only one there that night and had no problems finding the trail. Some of it is snowed over but should not be an issue. Summitted and came back Saturday afternoon there were trails everywhere thru the snow. A lot of people making their own. Stay to the right after the switchbacks up from Mirror Lake to Trail Camp. Prepare for some minor postholing.