Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Winter Access Forum End of April: Ropes? Snowshoes?

Hi,
I am planning on climbing Mt. Whitney on the last weekend of April with 2 other guys. We are planning on taking the Mountaineer Route. I have done some winter stuff in the White Mountains of New Hamphire, but my 2 friends are not very experienced. We are well equiped (4-season tents, crampons, ice axes...)
I have 3 main questions:
1- Would we need a rope for Mountaineer Route? I know it is considered a class III route, but given the less experienced friends of mine, would a rope be needed?
2- Would snowshoes be needed? I am trying to shave off as much weight as I can, but at the same time, I don't want us to be sinking to our bellies.
3- My last question is about those famous ledges that have quite an exposure, about a mile into the trail. Are they more dangerous in the winter? Do people take a different route and bypass them?

Sorry I wrote so much. Hope someone out there might help out. Thank you.

rocco:
You might want to take a rope, I have been up there in April and the snow melted to where we had to do some rock scrambling to make the last few yards, and it can feel very exposed up there. You dont need a full 90m or rack of pro. The ledges are a pain. If there is enough snow, you can bypass them by going up the middle, but when the snow melts down there it becomes messy. Snowshoes can be a life saver, but without fresh snow they will prolly be dead weight in you pack.

Your friends could definitely use the rope if you decide to go straight up at the upper chute before the summit, right after exiting the notch. In fact, it is the descent part that might be more challenging and you might want to opt for a rappel (means long rope). There will be no anchors at the top, so you you will have to leave a sling (there is a nice boulder at the top). Expect the chute to be covered by snow. Alternatively, the summit can be reached by traversing to the right which will eventually bring you to a shallower path to the top. The second option is an exciting finish after you spend most of the ascent in a relatively boring MR gully. The traverse is not as steep but very exposed and the views are beautiful. I think it can be easier for an inexperienced person (providing that the snow is solid) but it will definitely be a mental challenge. Roping up with a short rope will probably make your friends feel safer. In any case you will need crampons and ice axes.

I am surprised with advices not to bring snowshoes. The hiking part can be easy when the snow is consolidated in the morning but can become a post holing nightmare in the afternoons.

Finally, I would try avoiding ledges if it is possible to hike right over the creek. There will probably be a lot of tracks and its really impossible to get lost on the way to Lower Boyscout Lake. The crux with ledges is finding the route (especially when you hike back) and the trail mars will most likely be destroyed by melting and sliding snow.

I'm going at the end of April to attempt the MR. I'm bring a 60m rope with the intent of rapping down the upper portion. Are there good natural anchor locations along the upper portion above the notch? I don't mind leaving some cord and rings.

Thanks

Thanks guys for your replies.
When talking about "roping up" to cross the traverse or climb the chute (aside from rappelling, of course), is the recommendation to place protection or have the rope attached to the climbers without an anchor? From what I know, roping up without protection is very wrong (except when crossing a glacier). I have seen a lot people though (mainly pictures) who are roped up without any protection...
So, if the recommendation is to place protection, is it going to be mostly snow protection? what about rock? I was thinking of bringing a couple of nuts and cams. Would these be dead weight?
Thanks again,
Rocco

Rocco, on MR as far as I know the rope is only useful on the last few hundred feet from the notch. Guides bring rope to guide (belay from above) their clients up.

When they go down they rap down.

If you are afraid of this you may go from the notch on a "round" route to the main trail and ascend through the main trail.

Note that the descend is harder than ascend of the iced over route - so you may go up but descend using main Whitney trail.

Accidents are rare, but do happen. Its exposed class 3, with a mistake in route finding ending up with class 4 (going to far left).

Hi The traverse is one of the major areas for fatal accidents, could be the #1 area, second is the area from trailcrest to the boulder field below and third could be a tie between the last 400' and the chute from Icebreg to the Notch both of theses are now common knowledge and accidents are less but we still see fatal falls . Third class comes in a lot of talks , I would add third class with the exposure factor and the ability to limit the outcome of a slip/fall. If you fall 5' on third route or 3000' the outcome is slightly different.


Backpacker MAY 2010 talks about the traverse as an option AND CALLS IT A NARROW TRAIL!!!But then the other way is called ledges and gully so how would you know? Looking close at the map they have Iceberg sitting in the same location as Upper Boyscout Lake. 40% reserved is for overnight and that equals 4 people so plan ahead. Off season a new climbing term ,wearing clampons also could mean "using"." BYE-BYE" .Ok thats enough rant. Thanks Doug

Rocco,

Disclaimer: I'm new to this myself so I'll just try to offer what I do know (or think I know) from watching, listening, learning and from some small experience.

For snowshoes: Watch the weather before you go. If temps are low and your mainly traveling early in the day, probably not. If it's warming up and you'll be out in the afternoon, probably.

Roped travel and placing pro: You may know how to do/use it but do your friends? If you're roped up on the final 400 w/out protection and someone goes down, will the other know how to arrest the fall? Or, will the falling person take everyone with him/her?

Traverse: I looked at it last weekend and was glad we went up the 400 instead. It looked pretty sketchy to me with a ton of exposure and a very long fall...

Last weekend, we had more than a few people that have experience with crampon, ice axes, etc that looked at the 400 and decided having reached "the Notch" was good enough. The 400 does (at least now) require the use of crampons on rock: [img]http://bman.smugmug.com/HikingClimbing/Whitney-MR-Unofficial-Group/11931517_FTyg9#844991299_QLd5C[/img]
The slope at the top was probably 55+degrees...
[img]http://bman.smugmug.com/HikingClimbing/Whitney-MR-Unofficial-Group/11931517_FTyg9#844991755_Arhsg[/img]

Rappelling: As someone has mentioned, there is a good rock if you don't mind leaving a sling and rappel ring: [img]http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-...840974011_WsKae[/img]
(Thanks for the pic Richard!)

Or, you can downclimb:
[img]http://bman.smugmug.com/HikingClimbing/Whitney-MR-Unofficial-Group/11931517_FTyg9#845078702_ZZCor[/img]

Best,
Brandon