Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mountaineer's Route Conditions

I took one of the REI Guides that I met on Tuesday over to the North Face...my comment to him and another pair of climbers at the WPS is that you'd have to have Balls of Steel to climb The Final 400 now.

Another comment was...I might try the climb up, but would definitely head down the Main Trail if I didn't die on the climb up...

(I doubt there's any melt/freeze going on on the North Face, so you might be able to "dust off" the snow from the hand/foot holds...)

good to know, thanks! i'll head for somewhere lower elevation then

Met a group (heading down the Main Trail) who successfully completed the MT yesterday (10/18/22)... they said the Final 400' was Scary...

Heard later in the day that KW has a group up on that side of the mountain...

Ran into Jim F on the west side...he made the side trip to look at the top of the MR...he's going to send me a photo which I'll post when received...he'll probably have more to add about conditions.

A group, of 4 of us, successfully climbed the final 400 on 10/17/2022. All that was required were microspikes. The scariest part was getting started. The footholds were very slippery at the start, so we spotted each other. After that, we hugged left and scrambled up the class 4 section, because there was less snow and felt safer. We didn’t think it was too scary besides 1-2 spots. Although, we’re all climbers. It wasn’t a cakewalk or necessarily safe.

I want to add pictures, I don’t know how…

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/znujyVJZskq8SWgK6[/img]

[img:left]https://photos.app.goo.gl/LmN8CVK9X43G8w6L6[/img]

Climbed the MR on October 18. Ice is forming near creek crossings, most notably on the slabs between Lower & Upper Boy Scout Lakes. The route is dry until getting into the Chute at around 13200'. The Final 400 has a couple inches of snow. We used crampons to ascend it to take the guess work out of what foot holds would have ice underneath them. Descending we didn't use them. As folks travel over the new snow it'll get increasingly slick. Here's a few pix:

Wow!
KW, Jim F and Richard were on the summit within a short time on the 18th. Would have been nice to see you up there. (Where's Crazy Jack?) :-)

Thanks for the photos. Clears up all the questions raised since that last storm. Hope the NWS forecast is wrong... been having a good time up there over the past couple of weeks...

Richard,

In retrospect, I did see Kurt on October 18. As I told you when we met on my descent just below Mt Muir, earlier at about 9:35 AM I peered down the MR from the top and saw what seemed to be a person dressed in blue standing at the bottom of the Final 400. I waved, but the figure quickly disappeared, leaving me to think that maybe altitude was playing games with my old brain cells. Now looking at Kurt's Summit photo from Oct 18, I realize it was likely Kurt I saw at the bottom of the Final 400.

Jim

Jim & Richard!

Sorry I missed you guys up there. We had left the Portal about 1:45am. The guy I was with was strong but not acclimated so we slowed down a bit as we ascended the Chute.

Jim, I missed seeing you wave. I would have waved back. I must have just turned my gaze away. While we were taking a break at the Notch I walked over to check out the route. I must have just returned from that when you saw me.

Based on what I saw and the temperatures I don't expect that snow to melt anytime soon. The footing was reasonable except for spots where it was firm. As more folks travel over it I'm guessing it'll turn more slick. I was glad I had an ice axe to uncover some holds. I've never been a fan of micro spikes. I don't own them and have a friend who was killed while wearing them. But if you guys decide to take a run up there and wanted to go light I'd suggest a set of Kahtoola crampons. We used normal crampons on mountaineering boots and that set up offered a lot of security.

We hardly saw a soul all day. A solo guy climbed the route behind us and was too sketched out to descend it so he took the trail down. Other than that we saw a few folks at UBSL and below who were headed up for overnight trips.

Jim, your Gators are 4-3 and their next game is a big one vs the #1 Dawgs. Glad they have a bye to prepare. Time for the upset watch

Kurt,

Florida is certainly a massive underdog. But I watched Missouri (2-4) play Georgia a couple of weeks ago, and Georgia was lucky to escape with a win. We will see how it plays out on Oct 29.

Incidentally, 149 years ago today (Oct 21, 1873) John Muir went up the North Fork to establish the first ascent of Mt Whitney from the east side. I always have wondered what conditions did Muir have to deal with in his late October ascent. What was his gear, if any?

When you fellows were descending the MR on Tuesday, back at the Store, Richard and I listened to Doug Sr suggest various routes Muir might have taken up the MR. Also, from the west side, what was the specific approach of the three Lone Pine fisherman in August 1873?

In anticipation of the 150th Anniversary next year, this winter I need to "hit the books" and see if I can learn something about the routes these adventurers took.

Jim

Hey Jim found the Muir write up from his 1875 trip , in this report he talks about the bayonet willows in the tight canyon on his first trip and decided the south side was the better choice.

Now on to the fisherman route newspaper report says from the summer camp at Soda springs ????? Soda springs might be somewhere in or near Big Whitney Meadow and that would make the trip to Whitney a long ride and hike.
Very windy and blowing light snow above the Portal. Tree blew down near the waterfall , but mild temps for this time of the year 55 at 2 PM

150 year anniversary sounds like a really good excuse for a WPS get-together...

A quote from a story by John Muir (sent to my by Doug):

"...where a single slip would result In death...

JM talking about his first ascent of the North Face of Mt. Whitney...

Anyone done the Mountaineer's Route recently? If so, what have the conditions been? Thinking of doing it on Nov 5-6.

I'm planning to go solo from Nov 3-5. Happy to join up with anyone. I may even consider switching to Nov 5-6 if that means not going solo. I've been to the summit about 10 times up the front and back and the Dreaded Sand Hill twice, but never up the MR.

I'm coming from sea level, so I'm planning to sleep the night at Horseshoe Meadows on Nov 3 for a night at altitude. Then climb to Upper Boy Scout Lake on Nov 4 and summit on Nov 5. I wanted to do it in one day, but daylight is too short for my pace, and I don't want to route find in the dark. I know my way up to the Ledges, but I have heard that people have trouble following the trail from Lower Boyscout Lake to Iceberg lake.

Solo, I'm hoping to do the Easy-Walk-Off instead of the Final 400 but not sure what to expect for snow and ice from the Notch.

Also looking for any reports on if there is still running water at Upper Boy Scout and Iceberg. Are the crossing still flowing?

For that matter, is the primary trail still through the Ledges?

Well it isn't summer or winter , we are in the maybe state , several storms the last few weeks and single digit temps at 12,000'.Rocks can be ice layered with a blanket of snow not all just a few , crampons like hard snow or ice not 1/2 inch of snow on rock, days can cause the melt /freeze cycle freezing early afternoon , sundown on the east side about 4 pm and dark by 6 PM this week 5 pm DLS time next week.
Solo this time of the year is great one dosen't have that annoying I think we should turn back, I don't recall anyone going this way and why do the old folks talk aganist the easy walkoff?

From the time one leaves the main trail into the North Fork the conditions will change everyday ,but expect very cold nights and the chance for high winds down canyon , blowing snow or another passing system that may or may not dump . The boulder fields are troublesome if snow cowered and the slabs above Lower Boyscout lake will be ice covered, you may or may not have water (reports of 4 degrees Tuesday night) 1 degree tonight with wind _(- 20 windchill) now onto the next 7 days I don't see a pattern I would suggest have a great trip High winds, storms and unsettled weather.

The conditions now are for very experienced winter climbers going as a strong team with each person able to bring the other down if a mishap occurs or stay on the mountain until condition allow a downclimb.
The walkoff route can be the area of recovery , we think over 10 the past years, Recoveries are in the area of Artic Lake after a fall from the easy walk off .
Weather report says a chance for snow tonight and high winds, Thursday more chance with 40 MPH wind gust.

Watch the webcam for snow coverage the next few days .

Not on topic...

But, I've called it for this year...
-18 wind chill at 11,400... NWS Forecast...
Definitely new snow up there...

190 and counting...

Hi Doug-

Thanks for your many contributions to this forum over the years. You may have talked me off a ledge more than once. Reading through your annoying sarcasm this time has made me turn back early. My wife and three daughters cheered this morning, "good job, dad, you made a good decision." I'm going to wait until another season. I'm not quite ready to be #11 in the recovery zone, and honestly, I prefer going with annoying voices so I can be an old folk talking against the Easy Walk-off.

Thanks again,

Cheers

Thanks for approving my registration. We have a party of 3 that has flights this Friday to come down there. We are hoping to do the MR on Saturday. I see the forecast has a couple of feet falling on Tuesday. Looking for some local advice on if coming down there will be worth the trip. Our experience includes multiple summits of Rainer, Hood, Baker, Adams, St Helens and Glacier Peak in the PNW. We are the sort that makes good decisions and tend error on the side of not pushing the risk factor. Thanks in advance for you help.