Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Snowball......We're talking big 'ol snowball

A "wet-slide" that started near the base of the East Buttress route on Mt Whitney.
I didn’t see it happen, this happened sometime before 6/6/2010


The slide formed a “snow-ball” that made this groove above Iceberg lake


The “snow-ball” was pretty big


Good thing I stopped it before it rolled into Iceberg Lake

> Good thing I stopped it before it rolled into Iceberg Lake

Maybe that's how Iceberg Lake got its name!

I see a 5.6 route on that west face...

I saw that yesterday too while descending from the East Ridge of Russell. That's one heck of a big snowball!

Hey Kurt, it looks like you're trying to get it rolling again....how far did you get it to move?

Laura, I did the easy north side of Mt Snowball....FA in the bag, WoHoo!
BTW, the north side of Mt Snowball is much easier than the north side of Mt Pancake

That is one big ass snowball. One of those could screw up your whole day if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I know who started the wet slide......coughWescough

While I was on the summit on 6/5 just before noon, I had climbed down a ledge and heard what sounded like an avalanche or rock fall. Couldn't see it, but it sounded pretty intense. Maybe this was it.

Looks like a good start, but where's the ball on top, coal eyes, carrot nose, and scarf to complete the snowman?

So Mike are you saying that a certain someone "cough...cough" witnessed the genesis of Mt Snowball?
If so, that story with photos must be told

Wes told me he and his friend were climbing the left chute above Iceberg when they decided to turn around (his friend was getting sick). Wes sat down to glissade when a little piece of snow started rolling down slope and it kept getting bigger and bigger until it started the wet slide. Luckly his friend was on the rocks to the side and it missed him. They decided to climb down the rocks instead .

Hopefully Wes will chime in with some pictures.