Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board MR Conditions

Some of us are planning a day hike up and down the MR on August 15th. I would like to know current MR conditions. Last year, when we did the MR in early August, there was a small patch of snow/ice in the section between Iceberg Lake and the Notch. Is there any of it this year?

Thanks

I'm also curious to know MR conditions from this past weekend (Aug 5,6). We have a party of three going up the east buttress and decending the MR route. The last report I read mentioned some snow midway through the chute.

Thanks!

I did the East Buttress and descended the Mountaineers route on Monday July 30th. There was snow at the top of the MR, and I would be surprised if it has melted. We were able to avoid all of the snow, and below is a description of the route we took. All the following directions will be while looking down the Mountaineers route, since this is the descent. We climbed down the left ridge about 2/3 of the way to the notch and then crossed over to the right hand side. I believe the climbing was fourth class in a couple of sections, but if you are uncomfortable and have a rope it is protectable. We went down the rest of the Mountaineeers route with no snow, but we did follow what I have been told is called Mountaineer direct. In other words, we stayed right at the bottom to avoid a snow chute on our left. Hope this helps, have fun on the East Buttress, and be safe. If you have more specific questions, I will try to answer them.

Good day,
I'm going up the MR on monday Auguts 14
I will post condition in here
If you are going to be away from the computer
send me an email I will give you my phone and can give you update as the condition

Thanks for the update Elijah. I will keep that in mind for the descent.