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

bump!

Anything recent on the MR o interwebz?

How about the waterfall en route? Any ice yet? Probably way to warm for this yet.

I went up mountaineering route nov. 20-23.

The E ledges had to be used and were covered in ~3 inches of snow at the time.

The gully to the notch had ~2-5 feet of fairly unconsolidted snow. We climbed up mostly up the rocks in the gully and came down in the snow.

The final 400 had a mix of bare rock, unconsolidated snow, and ice towards the top.

Hi Thanks for the report! How was the first day , We worked in the Portal Thursday and I think Friday ,Saturday we drove up but didn't stay . I saw the truck parked in the "good" spot if you were with that group.

You should write a full report to help others understand the changing conditions and the weather forcast for that week.

Monday three hikers were flown out. I saw the copter fly into the North Fork area and was wondering if you had trouble .

This time of the year trips are very hard , unstable weather high winds and the rock and brush is somewhat covered but not enough that you can stay on the flat smooth surface that happens in several months once the heavy snows start and the guide groups set a track.

Side note I drove a couple down the other day from the Portal, I started to stop at the road closed area and ask if they were parked there, they said no at Lone Pine Campground they were told they could not drive past that point. It is rare that you cannot drive to the road closed sign , maybe a day of a storm or one day after but the road melts out quick once the sun hits it.

Past the road closed sign you are in the shadow of Lone Pine Peak and the road gets little sun until you get around the second switchback and then most years it is dry until the campground .(Shaded by the trees and canyon walls).I almost wrote the never talked about topic "why don't they plow the road" then I caught myself! Thanks Doug

Doug: I was part of the group of 3 that stayed at the hostel that saturday. We went up with two guides from SWS.

The first day (sunday) was constant snow, not a white-out condition though on the lower half of the mountain to LB.

I will try to write a full report tonight or tomorrow and attach some pictures.

Did they ask your opinion about the East Buttress of Mt. Muir? I told them that "Doug Sr. is the most reliabel source for info. Stop in at the Hostel..."

I climbed up to near Trail Camp with Payton (a real beautiful young woman) so she could see the route. She was planning on heading back up soon to try and get it done. Her climbing companion had mild AMS, so I had her all to myself... Very interesting talking to her about the Himalaya (and travel outside the U.S.) among other topics.

They told me they stopped in at the VC and were told not to head up the road. Why they weren't told about the Turn-Out is beyond me... And yes, the NRT had plenty of ice in the canyon.

Some recent photos of the conditions on the lower portion of the MR:

http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-...7823419_N2dZB2T

Any recent reports on the mountaineers route condition? I was thinking of heading up that way tomorrow.....

Does anybody have any recent trip reports for MR? Conditions, snow depth, road closed? Is there enough snow to go up the center or do we still have to take the ledges? Any information would be appreciated, my buddies and I are thinking about going up this Friday and Saturday. Anybody else going to be up during that time?

Thanks!

Bob Pickering and I stuck our heads over the edge of the North Face of Mt. Whitney on Friday. (I forgot I wanted updated photos 'cause the brain wasn't working properly after such a difficult climb up the Main Trail.) Didn't look like good snow on the Final 400' yet.

Rumor is that at least a couple of groups heading up the NF stopped after a short climb up to LBSL because of unconsolidated snow.

The windy week may just make things a little easier next weekend. I'm still casting my vote for the Main Trail side, 'cause there's a fun snow climb on that side, and tracks that lead (led) to the summit.

I'm planning a trip next weekend (6,7,8 April) to either Mount Russel via East Ridge, or up the Mountaineer's route. Does anyone have any recent beta on conditions?

I am planning to head up Mountaineer's route as well around the same time. Does anyone know how the conditions are? Are mountaineering boots required or will waterproof hiking boots be sufficient? Any info is appreciated

From climbing Whitney in the last two Aprils and an attempt on Russel, I would say that normal boots would be okay (I climbed Aconcagua in Jan. and one of my buddies never used his mountianeering boots) but you will just have to make sure with absolute certainty that your crampons are secure.

On the flipside, it is supposed to be in the single digits this weekend plus wind chill so the extra insulation wouldn't be a bad thing.

Hi All,

My roommate and I are planning to do the MR this weekend. We would be hiking in Friday AM to camp at IBL and heading up the chute Saturday AM. Any opinions/advice on the weather forecast? (pasted below)

Thanks!
Nick



Today: Sunny, with a temperature falling to around 28 by 5pm. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 21 and 23 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 17. Wind chill values as low as -1. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 25 and 28 mph, with gusts as high as 39 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 28. Wind chill values as low as zero. Windy, with a south southwest wind between 25 and 31 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph.

Tuesday Night: Snow showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 10. Wind chill values as low as -12. Windy, with a south southwest wind around 30 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Wednesday: Snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. High near 16. West southwest wind around 21 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.

Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy and breezy, with a low around 3. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Thursday: A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy and breezy, with a high near 19. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Thursday Night: Snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Cloudy and windy, with a low around 2.

Friday: Snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Cloudy and windy, with a high near 12.

Friday Night: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy and windy, with a low around 0.

Saturday: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy and windy, with a high near 18.

Saturday Night: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy and windy, with a low around 5.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy and windy, with a high near 23.

I think this forecast says that you should stay at home or prepare for an ultimate High Sierra winter mountaineering experience:)

Yes, that was my opinion as well. The forecast looks like it could go either way, so we'll probably set up at IBL and make a decision Saturday morning. I'm just wondering what the wind and fresh snow will do to the chute...

nick- u end up going? We are looking at heading up the 23rd and we have a newbee with us.. trying to figure out what its like for him to be best prepared with his gear

Yes, we are still going! Given the evolving forecast (see below), we decided to push back a day-driving up from LA tomorrow and hiking up to Iceberg Lake on Saturday once the storm has died down somewhat; and then heading up the chute early Sunday morning. Should be beautiful--sunny but still cold enough to keep the snow solid. Whatever happens, I'll take lots of pictures for you.

Nick



This Afternoon: A 20 percent chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 14. Wind chill values as low as -9. West southwest wind around 18 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

Tonight: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a low around 1. Wind chill values as low as -22. West southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Friday: Snow showers. The snow could be heavy at times. Some thunder is also possible. High near 7. Wind chill values as low as -23. Breezy, with a southwest wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 36 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 9 to 13 inches possible.

Friday Night: Scattered snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Cloudy, with a low around -3. Wind chill values as low as -28. Blustery, with a west northwest wind between 23 and 26 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Saturday: Scattered snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 13. Blustery, with a north wind between 22 and 26 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 3.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 26.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 11.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 30.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 16.

Just a comment: if anything close to this forecast snowfall happens with a "west" wind, the Couloir will require super-human strength because of the deep drifts that are going to form. Not to mention it might be really tough just getting up there.

I'm going to probably try the other side on a similar schedule, but don't really have any high expectations of success. Could be real beautiful...

What do you guys think the conditions will be like next weekend? How much of this snow is going to stick around?

yeah, we're just gonna give it a shot and see what happens. good luck-maybe we'll see you on top!