Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board how much snow?

What are the CURRENT snow conditions for the Main Mt. Whitney Trail. We are planning to hike to the summit on June 5th. Will we need crampons, snow shoes and ice axes? How brutal will it really be???? Thanks.

We will be going up June 7th. I am anticipating some Memorial weekend hiker reports. Lone Pine temps are forecast in the mid nineties this week. That will have a direct relation to Whitney. I am sure hoping to leave the crampons in my car. I viewed the Sierras yesterday from a fire lookout tower, plenty of white stuff up high. Not that that means much.

See mountaineers report (May 31), where it is stated, "We took a good look at the 97 switchbacks on the regular trail. As Bob R. just recently mentioned, they could be mostly dry in a few weeks with a few sections of snow at some of the corners. The chute above trail camp still has a ton of snow."

I will be back on June 5th or 6th with a trail report.

Good hiking!

We just got back from the main trail this weekend. The switchbacks are still dicey. I talked to several people who tried them and backed down 'cause they were too dangerous. One day-hiker made it up them, but, told me he didn't recommend it and wouldn't go back down that way...so, he went down the Chute.

We made it to about 1 mile from the Summit and turned around at about 4:00pm Saturday. Stayed at Outpost Camp Friday and Saturday night. Weather was bad Friday, but, perfect Sat. and Sunday.

We hit the Chute late Saturday, about mid-day. It was a lot of hard work! Most people were taking approx. 2 hours to get up them using Crampons and Ice Axes. But, one guy in shorts, tee-shirt and a walking stick ran up it! So, depends on your capabilities. I could've got up it without Crampons, but, I was slipping so much that it was well worth having the Crampons.

Coming down at about 5:30pm was not very fun, by then the snow was icing over and it was very hard to stay under control in some sections. Some people were Glissading okay, but, many were plunge-stepping or down-climbing by late evening. I would recommend doing the right thing and getting an early, early start so that you can be coming down the Chute when it's in the sun and soft.

Absolutely beautiful, though, as always! Didn't see any bears or Rangers at all.

Have fun!

Brad L.