Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Snow prognosis mid to end June 2008?

1. I went and looked again but could't dig out a more exact date for the pics than June 2004, but I trust you guys' experience in calling the time of the month

2. Thanks, Brent N! I was in two minds about Yaktrax. Crampons it is!

3. Thanks for the May pics, Bob R, and thank you and LoveTheSierras for weighing in on the possible snow conditions.

One thing about those "ucsc" pictures: The two guys glissaded down the chute at the end.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned - don't do that.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun and people likely will be doing it if there's enough snow. Resist the temptation. Not a few folks have died that way. Some (like yours truly the first time I went up there) just get lucky and live to tell the tale.

Several people have said they are attempting to summit via MWMT in the June 19-21 time frame.

Below is what I could gather by looking at various weather reports:

A high pressure system is moving in to the Owens valley this (June 14)weekend, which is generally good news. Sunny weather and warmer temperatures are predicted (Whitney summit high prediction is near 56F Monday). There is a trough developing, predicted to move inland, which is not so good news, but currently only winds and a temperature drop are predicted, starting Wednesday.

Predicted temperatures even with the drops do not seem so bad. Mt. Whitney summit high on Friday (that's as far into the future data I have) is predicted 49F while Whitney Portal high for the same day is 59F. Given their relative elevations, that gives a lapse rate of 1.7F per 1000 feet, allowing us to calculate Trail Camp high to be 53.5F, Friday. High-low spread for the week has varied between 20 and 24, averaging 22. Hence, Trail Camp low prediction Friday night should be probably 31.5F, with lowest possible of 29.5F. This is barring any changes in pressure systems.

Significant moisture or thunderstorm activity has not been predicted anywhere. I do not have wind data for our weekend, but am expecting between 10-15 mph, based on the predicted trough moving inland. Current winds are 8 – 10 mph.

I am by no strech of imagination a weatherman, but I do need to take a course in weather in connection with another sport I am into, so the above is what I'd call an honest assessment given my weather skills... use at your own peril

If someone has better information, would appreciate a post of the same; thanks!

Well it sound as im going to have great weather going in freeze and be wet going out.. i plan to spend a week out there walk in on sunday and get back to the car next sunday.. Been watching the weather every day. Thanks

Hi Neel: I think we are going to leave the crampons home. On our particular route (coming in from the south), I think we will only have two main snow fields to deal with..(the eastern slope of Mt. McAdie and the Mountaineers route down to Iceberg Lake)....they should not be a problem for us at the time of day we will be there. I would probably make the same decision if I were coming up the main Mt. Whitney Trail and travel from Trail Camp to Trail Crest during the day when the snow is not icy.

I am thinking however of taking my Ice Axe.....for flexibility in the ride down the Mountaineers route...how much I would really like to Glissade down soft snow this deep...Hopefully it won't all melt out before next week.... An Ice axe can really come in handy.

This video came from the 9th.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4054409975500132351&hl=en

Thanks for the update, and remembering, Kashcraft.

Planning to hike up from Trail Camp between 4 and 5 AM Saturday, June 21. One thing I am worried about is that if temperaturers are 31.5 F or lower Friday night at Trail Camp, whether parts of switchbacks will be icy. Hence still undecided about the crampons.

Also, bearing in mind BobR's assessment that the snowfield before Trail Crest will probably remain, am taking an ice-ax (if only just to feel safe)

The video is very cool... I am kinda sorry that's not for me!

I am not sure about the nighttime low at trail camp getting below 31 degrees. The National Forest service places Thursdays temperatures @ 89/60 in Lone Pine, but places the temperatures at the portal (the weather link at the start of the Whitney Portal store link)at 60/41. That is a bigger drop then the 3.0 to 3.5 degree drop one would expect every 1000 feet in elevation (the Portal being 4590 feet above Lone Pine should drop the temperatures 14-16 degrees).

The Weather channel places the temperatures in Lone Pine on Saturday at 91/66. That would suggest the temperatures at 12300 feet would end up about 36-40 low.

Certainly the formula doesn't take into consideration the snow effect....lots of snow and clear skies bring colder temperatures then if it is dry all around.

If often freezes at night at Trail Camp, even in the summer. But it needs to get down to into the upper 20's to freeze the snow hard.

If the temperature really drops that low, you should wait until a little latter to get started. If you start at 7:00 am you will have plenty of time to get to the summit and back down to Trail Crest before the afternoon thunderstorms roll in (if they come)

Thanks! This is useful info for me. Especially the item about needing upper 20F range temps to freeze snow hard.

I would agree with a little latter start. Sunrise on the 21st of June is about 5:30 am. If you start from Trail Camp at about 5:30 - 6:00 am the sun will have time to soften up the snow on the switchbacks before you get there. That is very helpful if you left the crampons home.

You probably noticed that the report up the Mountaineers route on June 9th and 10th included the comment. "Snow conditions in the chute were great. Again, you could have climbed without crampons in the soft snow, but we used them. After all we did lug the things up here."

http://picasaweb.google.com/fizmod/MtWhitney692008/photo#5210752171028842018

Another interesting comment from the MR trip June 9-10th. This picture

http://picasaweb.google.com/fizmod/MtWhitney692008/photo#5210752396204033410

includes the comment that the night time lows got down into the high 20's. The actual temperature in Lone Pine was 92/44 on the 9th of June and 93/48 on the 10th of June. That is a night time drop of only 20 degrees for the 12600 foot Iceberg Lake, 8800 feet above Lone Pine. Certainly that is less then the 3.0 to 3.5 per 1000 feet estimation.

Since the low in Lone Pine will be warming up to 60 - 64 degrees on June 20th - 21st, temperatures could easily be 10- 15 degrees warmer at trail camp then reported on the 10th trip report. At the very worst, I would be more inclined to expect around freezing or slightly above during the coldest part of the night.

Does the trip plan below make sense for average hikers (we do 8 miles in 3 hours with full backpacks at less than 2000 ft elevation)?

1. In particular, are the times shown in blue realistic?
2. Do the times shown in red put us on the switchbacks at a bad time of day during return?

Dates are 6/20 up to Trail Camp and 6/21 to summit and back to Whitney Portal.

Thanks!

http://bp0.blogger.com/_4y5bWLDTb-8/SFc5gbJSxgI/AAAAAAAAAKo/09Bh-kokY34/s1600-h/Trip_plan.GIF

Neel, I cannot make sense of your numbers.

It looks like you leave Whitney Portal at 7 AM, planning on getting to Trail Camp at 13:05. That is six hours... are you dayhiking or carrying an overnight pack? (Your original post says two days, but that does not match your schedule.)

But then 180 minutes from Trail Camp to Trail Crest... arriving at 5:00 PM???

And is that 11:00 PM on the summit? ...or is that 11 AM the next day? How do you figure 180 minutes, but clock time shows 6 hours difference?

I am sure I don't understand.

Time is shown in Military. 13:00 hrs for 1:00PM etc. so, if you see 5:00, it is 5:00 AM.

The idea is to use day one to reach Trail Camp by 1:05PM on 6/20.
Start from Trail Camp at 5:00 AM 6/21 for the Summit .

BTW, Steve C, I noticed later that I am still in error (5:00 instead of 8:00 at Trail Crest! Fixed now, thanks to you! Sorry about the confusion!)

Neel - my 1st attempt as well. What's the hurry leaving at 7am for Trail Camp on the 1st day? I was thinking of leaving around 10am to ensure a good nights rest the night before.

Just curious.

Good luck!

Looks good!

Foxbat2500,

Not my first attempt... I summited once before but it was August, and there was no snow. The hurry to leave Whitney Portal for Trail Camp is to get a better chance to acclimatize at a higher elevation. Last time we had a 11 year old with us who got sick and couldn't summit.

We had taken it easy, started 10:30 AM or so from Whitney Portal, taken it very easy along the way to conserve energy for Summit Day. Problem was, I reached Trail Camp at around 6:00 PM with a high pulse rate that did not stabilize till about 11:00 PM. I could not sleep till 11, and then had to be on the trail again at 4:30, summiting around 10:20. I am sure that could have been better with more sleep, and am trying to arrive at Trail Camp real early. I also am trying to avoid summiting late and having to come back late in the evening with potentially hard ice on the switchbacks.

Good Luck to you as well!

Ken,

Does that mean that the clock times shown in red on the Trip_plan are OK to be on the switchbacks? - Tks!

On your graph, you plan on being back to Trail crest by 1:30 pm and down to Trail camp by 3:30 pm. That is the time of day when the snow will be the least icy. Sounds like a plan.

Neel, out of curiosity, where did you get the grade figures?

Brent N

My group went up the Main trail on Sunday morning. We left trail camp at 0530, there was a small section at the cables that was fully iced over and there were a few people waiting there trying to break it up with an ice axe but it wasn't working. One guy in my group had crampons and was able to break most of the ice free off the steps, it would have been flat nasty with the ice though. Even in the 15 minutes we were there the ice was starting to melt, so I bet a 6am departure on our day if the steps may have been clear. That was the only section that really required any special attention. A few sections of snow before trailcrest and the just a small section on the lower summit boulder field to traverse.

Some of us glissaded back down, lots of fun and very soft snow, some sun cupping(sp?) so it was a little bumby and not smooth, but it also prevented you from building any speed (a good thing). Sure beat hiking back down.

-TIM-