Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Winter Skills

Hi all,
Just been reading through some of the threads and decided not to attempt Whitney this Thanksgiving weekend. However, I was wondering if anyone could give some advice about where to learn winter skills. I've never used crampons or an axe. I do have hiking experience (Boundary Peak and White Mtn Peak, and smaller ones in WA State), but nothing in the winter time.

Advice such as, "easier" mountains or places to try out, or maybe an instructor who knows what they're doing and knows what they're talking about. Thanks for any constructive input.

Here is a good place to check out:

http://www.sierramountaineering.com/home.html

Click on Instructional Programs

I definitely agree with Richard. Take a class from Kurt at Sierra Mountaineering, the winter skills class will be the best 100 bucks you've spent. If you live in SoCal, hit up Mt. Baldy, there are various routes you can take depending on the snow conditions. As you get more comfortable and gain experience, you can pick various lines directly up the bowl. It is a great mountain to practice snow travel and relatively easy to get to.

SMI or SMC are both good for lessons. First buy Freedom of the Hills.

I bought the gear wandered around the trails of SoCal without killing myself a winter or two...not for lack of trying. Then took a basic snow skills course which was a big help.

I'm always amazed with the "Where to I rent ice axe and crampons" questions here. It took me close to four SoCal winters of experience before I felt comfortable attempting chute up to Trail Crest and the glissade back down.

Be careful on Mt Baldy and the those other southern California mountains in the winter. They can ice up real good and be quite deadly. Don't assume they are any safer than Sierra peaks. Less avalanche risk maybe but much higher risk of bouncing a thousand feet down hard ice...

I've been trying to e-mail anybody at SMI to take a course or two, but no one ever responds, whats the easiest way to get in touch with them? I guess I could just PM Kurt.

Did you send your e-mail to info@sierramountaineering.com? There is something wrong with that address. I did the same thing and the e-mail got bounced back with a notice saying something about incoming e-mails being blocked by Verizon's spam blocker. The return mail notice listed Kurt's actual e-mail address so I e-mailed that one and got a hold of him.

Btw, I agree about the dangers in the local SoCal mountains. It was really bad in 2004 when two people died on Baldy and another on Gorgonio, all within a month or so. I was also on Baldy when R.J. Secor had his accident. He was just about to descend when I got to the summit. I've also seen avalanche damage on the Ski Hut trail with big trees totally bowled over. Watch out for ice fall from the trees too. Even if they don't hit you directly, they may fall uphill and roll down at you at high speeds. I now carry a climbing helmet. Be safe out there.

I agree the SoCal peaks can really get icy and you have to be careful. Careful including putting on crampons and using your axe when you deem conditions to be dangerous and do not get frustrated when you have to stop to take them off, then stop to put them back on. Getting to Mt. Baldy via the Ski Hut Trail in 2:00 is not something you do in the winter months.