Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Fall 2010 Conditions on the Main Whitney Trail

Thanks for the Update Rich. Will be climbing by way of the Mtnrs route on the 16th. Weather report looks fantastic nothing but Sun and Fun.

Kurt: I would like to thank you for your advice over the years. I did my first spring attempt about 10 years ago, since then I have been up (this mountain) just two more times, but your advice has been invaluable.

I consider myself a beginner mountaineer, but a very experienced outdoorsman.

I don't mind risk, but I take measured risk, not foolish, uncalculated risk. You have helped with understanding the fundamentals and the extraordinary respect the mountain deserves, particularly outside of the dry months.

I "led" my first hike this last weekend. I ensured we were ready with food, water, survival gear, ice axe/crampons, communication, GPS, weather prep, rigid turn-around schedule and of course physical preparation.

This type of discipline - that you teach - ensures that we get down safely. The lessons from the recent event and rescue show that they probably were partially prepared (with gear), but in no way were following turn-around protocol. This is a very clear lesson you have taught and may be the single most important rule. Obviously if those guys had followed that single rule, they would not have been in the life threatening situation they were in.

Thank you so much for your help to me and the community over the years.

Mike (IsurfLowers)

Just got back home from Mntrs Route yesterday. We went in Fri night after getting some awesome insight from Richard and having some good eats from Doug and Company at the Portal; Thank you.
Fri night was friggin cold. Although we were cozy we camped at Lower BS got up early to frozen gear and went for the chute. The snow pack made it significantly easier, as you said Doug, to get to Upper BS Lake and beyond. The trail up to Lower BS was clear but the slabs were really slippery in some areas but able to be crossed with respect. At this point the clouds were darker over the Whitney and Needles peak but the wind pushed them off towards the south, so we kept going.
From Lower BS to Upper BS the route was clear as well but we went into the bowl at Upper BS and continued more westerly than the "normal" route by going around it in a southerly fashion. This is where the snow pack did us some justice. We did not need crampons but we did use gators; some areas were deep and we did use some caution because there were some holes, as we found, that one could slip into and get hurt. At this point the cloud cover had shifted and it was getting darker with visibility at the peaks going away. The snow also started coming down more consistent.
Upon coming up to the ridge entering Iceberg the peaks were not visible at all and the snow was coming down well. At this point our most experienced member decided to stop. I really wanted to come back with summit photos via Mtrs Route seeing as how at the Portal it was said no one had been up to the summit via that route in weeks. So I starred at the base and looked up at Whitney and the Needles and all the glory set in.
After debating and being convinced we were pulled away from the summit attempt. At first I felt sad and some disappointment because I have never had to be proactive about weather. I kept hearing Richard's voice from the night before at the Portal Store, "...you have to know when to turn around."
But as I looked back from Upper BS, it was if the weather was chasing us out. We had snow coming down all the way to Lower BS. Visibility was completely gone from Upper BS and up. It was as if The Peaks were telling me "we let get closer than we intended too, so appreciate it, love it, and see you this summer." I think I learned a lesson. I am still a bit roughened up over not being able to summit, but I still love it just as much as I did the first time I went up. Thank you to my partners, Ed and Scott, Richard, and Doug and company at the Portal. I will post some pics later.
GK

Some photos from Saturday:


The Cables.



The scarier part above The Cables.



The west side below Trail Crest.
Notice the lack of snow down by the lakes.



Passing the JMT junction.
The sign is almost buried.



Heading back up to Trail Crest.



The Switchbacks.


Of course, most of this information is meaningless already bacause of the wild winds on Sunday.

I didn't have a permit on Saturday, so I didn't enter the zone.




If anybody got up to the summit this past weekend, they definitely would qualify as Hard man/woman.


Some more photos from Saturday.

You found your camera?

No, this is from my 7D.

How disappointing! I just took my little panasonic and wrote in permanent black marker on the camera itself:

"Stolen from Bee"

Richard,
I am new to photography. What kind of camera do you have?
GK

Bump.

I'll have an album up later. Suffice it to say that with this recent storm, there is a LOT of slop/ice (depending on time of day) on the lower mountain and from about 11K up (as of yesterday afternoon) it is "Winter" climbing.