Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Late May Whitney East Rock

Has anyone been up the East Face or Buttress in the last week or so (end of May)?

We'll be hiking in tomorrow (Thursday, May 27th) to do the Mountaineers route on Friday, but potentially would like to do a rock ascent on Saturday.

Peter

Just by looking at the Whitney cam it pretty obvious that the Washboards and Grand Staircase on the Face both have got snow. I’d expect mixed conditions on both the Face and Buttress. And with more snow expected this week don’t expect it to get better until mid June.

You don't need to hear any reports of people who have tried to climb either of these routes to know there is a lot of snow up there. There is a lot more snow on the East Face route. The Buttress normally has less snow but like BJ says there is a storm coming in that may dump a little fresh white stuff on those routes.

Some Canadian women tried to climb it a few weeks ago. They bailed off at the Red Corner(?) because of snow/ice. They mentioned that they thought the route would clear in few weeks, but that was before we had all of this new white stuff.

Good climbers do do winter ascents of these routes...

I am considering the east buttress June 10th. As an alt will just do the MR route. Let me know what you find.

Thanks for your replies, yes, I know it looks snowy, and more is on the way.

We're looking forward to the Mountaineers Route, but were hoping to get some alpine rock in on top of all that snow!

Can any of you recommend a rock route in the So. Sierras that might be more accessable given the current weather?

Thanks, Peter

Cardinal Pinnacle and Pine Creek Canyon will have multi pitch gear routes on solid granite. You won't reach the summit of a peak but both of these places have great climbing.

I saw some questions about whether the East Face and East Buttress are in condition to climb. Here is a link to photos from a successful climb of the East Buttress on 7-Jun-10. The East Face still had some snow on the Washboard but it was possible to climb through or around it.

See my facebook photos at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=65930&id=1250853067&l=7dff7b3e27