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

First off, thanks to those who replied to my earlier post. I did climb up during the weekend of April 6-8. I made it all the way to the top of the gully and topped off around 14,138 feet. I was unable to find boot tracks to the summit and more over had a scary fall on the icy traverse behind the mountain. I slipped for around 50-60 feet before my ice axe dug in while self arresting.

Equipment taken:
1. 2 person tent
2. Mountaineering plastic boots
3. Ice axe and crampons
4. Water filter
5. "Big fluffy" (down jacket) - the best thing ever!!!

Departed around 11am from Whitney portal trailhead and made it to UBSL by 5pm with a partner. Camped there and met "Crazy" Gregg (I gave him the nickname because it was crazy to see a man walking around bare chested and with tennis shoes and only an ice axe - and he was going to run back to the trail head the same evening after reaching UBSL). The trail was in overall great condition with very minimal post-holing. I was glad to have carried in my plastic boots as they kept my feet very dry and warm. Also, we kept to the left of the stream and pretty much bypassed the E Ledges for the most part. My partner decided to call it quits as he was experiencing signs of altitude sickness. So while he camped in, I left the next morning at 6am for the summit. I reached the top of the gully at 12:00pm and was surprised that there was no one ahead of me or behind me on what seemed like an excellent day to summit. Gorgeously clear skies, light winds and perfect temps. There were a couple of guys climbing up the East Face direct but no one on MR. When I reached the top of the gully, I saw some boot tracks and followed it around the back of the mountain. Immediately I was faced with an icy patch that refused to let my crampons grab on. I somehow managed to cross it by holding on the adjacent rock and treading cautiously. But somehow this kept bothering me and I was unable to take it off my mind. I looked around for the notch to climb up but didnt find any boot tracks leading up - instead I found boot tracks traversing all the way around the mountain and that just looked like a long hard slog. At 12:30 after trying to find a suitable way up, I decided to return instead of falling victim to summit fever. The icy patch I crossed was still playing on my mind and as I came to the same on the way back, I decided to repeat the process of holding onto adjacent rocks and treading cautiously. At some point, the ice under my right foot cracked and gave way - before I knew what happened I was sliding down the steep face. I was on my side and was trying hard to get into self arrest position but the ice axe wouldnt bite into the hard ice that formed from multiple melt and refreeze cycles. Things were happening at lightening speed and I had only one goal in mind to stop!! I put my entire body weight on the ice axe and finally came to a stop amidst some rocks. I lay there for a few seconds trying to make sense of what had happened. I wiggled my fingers and toes to ensure that I hadnt broken anything - everything good. I then slowly turned myself to see where I was - wasnt too far from the edge of the precipice. Another 150 feet or so and I would be in freefall!!



I sat there for a while trying to gather my thoughts and then I tried to look up and see an alternate way. Adrenaline was still pumping hard to feel any pain or fear anything. I found an alternate way around the icy patch and made quick work of the way back to the top of the gully. It was then an uneventful return back to UBSL campsite. There I met my partner and we headed back to the trailhead. On the way back we missed the streamcrossing from E Ledges and were temporarily lost for 15 minutes. Luckily I spotted "Crazy" Gregg and yelled out to him. This time again he was hiking around in shorts and a day pack!!! He quickly spotted me and showed me the way back - much thanks to him!! He was a god send at that moment! My partner and I then slogged our way back to the trailhead and got into the car for our trip back to Lone Pine.



Once back in our motel, I had a chance to examine my injuries from the fall and while it was nothing serious, the entire left side of my body had scratches and bruises from the slide onto the rocks. My brand new helment has nice scratches and the ice axe is now legendary in my eyes!!

Scary but all ends well!! In hindsight looking at the pictures, if I had known better I would have walked around the icy patch by hiking down and then back up!! Next time!!!

Very lucky my friend!!



Gotta come back some time!!

Thx for sharing!!

Ditto! Welcome to the lucky to be alive club.

Check out the member's albums. Bob R Rick Kent mine. Loads of photos that will show the way to the top up The Final 400'. There's a reason we say The Easy Traverse sarcastically.

Very lucky indeed! Kudos to you for knowing when to turn around, and for the quick reactions in your self-arrest when there was no time to think. Thanks for posting your story and VERY glad you returned to tell it.

Rosie

Congrats on the "Save of your Life".

Thank you on the detailed account of how it all went down.
With the new snow, spring conditions and permit season just about to start, I took a couple of things from this that everyone should think about before the trek.

1. Do I have the right equipment?
2. Do I KNOW how to use my equipment? (i.e.Self Arrest)
3. Conditions, Conditions, Conditions!

You didn't summit which is everyone's goal, HOWEVER, YOU still got to reflect on your trip and share your experience with others.

I'd say, 70% of the time, we'd be wondering how the accident happend.

GREAT JOB!

For those interested in a detailed trip report here it is -

Know how to self arrest!!

Sunday the 15th.

Talked to a climber who had done the climb. He said the route was crowded. There was also quite a bit of spindrift hitting them in the face as they climber up the Couloir.

So we did go this weekend, but we did not quite make it to the top. Had to turn back at the base of the chute due to soft, chest-deep snow and approaching darkness. We got up to the top of the big ridge between Iceberg and Upper Boy Scout (The Pinnacle maybe?) as a consolation prize.

Overall, conditions were much better than forecast (the gusts and -25 windchill predicted for Saturday turned out to be about 35 and cloudy). On the way up to Lower Boyscout we had to muscle up the hill/through the willows because the ledges were covered in about a foot of snow and a bit of ice (it's hard to see in the picture but they looked slick!) On the way up we came across a kind of step-15 foot tall (icy!) boulder slab forming a corner-we depacked and got out the rope which we used to pull up our packs (and the couple behind us).

We camped at LBSL and headed up Sunday morning with light packs and high hopes. It was absolutely beautiful out-sunny and around 40 degrees by 8:00 AM. We made great time to Upper Boy Scout-up the hill in a little over 45 minutes. With that behind us and the day still young, our chances of summiting were good. So we took a nice rest at Upper, had breakfast, enjoyed the view and took off a few layers (it was getting warm). We headed up around the corner at about 10:00. But things began to get very slow and sloggy between Upper and Iceberg. There was a lot of new snow, and a lot of knee/thigh deep postholing. We put on our snowshoes, which were extremely helpful, but even wearing them we were sinking in a good 6-12 inches. And because it was so sunny and warm (almost 60 degrees by 11:30) the top layer of snow was getting very weak and very slick. We had a lot of slips, short slides and a couple "oh ****" moments while crossing the long, steep slope on the way to Iceberg. In all in took us four hours to get there...by which time it was too late to even think about getting to the top and back to camp at Lower Boyscout before dark. In addition, a couple of climbers already in the chute were pushing through chest-deep drifts, and the wind was beginning to pick up. So we just got out the rope and climbed up to the top of the big ridge between Iceberg and Upper Boy Scout (I think it's called the Pinnacle?) before slogging back down to camp for the night.






the step


no way around it


Lower Boy Scout


looking up the valley




a lot of beautiful blue ice ripe for the climbing if anyone's feeling particularly brave

top of the hill above Upper Boy Scout

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph...393695191_n.jpg[/img]

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph...453038687_n.jpg[/img]

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hph...030968703_n.jpg[/img]

On the way down Monday morning it was warm and sunny, slick and icy, but the ledges seemed to be completely clear.

Be safe out there!
Nick

Nice pix Nick.

Hello All. My name is Louis and I am brand new to this message board. I've enjoyed reading everyone's stories so I though I would jump in.

I have summited Whitney in August of 2010, only got to Trail Camp in October of 2011 (too much snow on the switch backs). We just came up on the Whitney Trail on both trips.

Since my girlfriend and I did not get our dates picked during the lottery, we took the latest dates we could get during the inventory sell off and will be attempting to summit May 29/30.

This will be my girlfriends first trip to Whitney so we will stick to the Whitney Trail again.

Is this a good place to come back to as we get closer to our trip to see if anyone knows how much snow is on the switch backs between Trail Camp and Trail Crest?

Be safe out there.

Louis

You've come to the right place. Head up to the portal store the day before you head up and talk to Doug and crew in the store. You can't get better info.

Welcome to the Madness. Have fun and be safe.

Hello Gotknee,

I too am new to the message board and plan to hike the main trail on May 28th and 29th, my first time. Best of luck to you.

This board is an awesome resource. I have hit the summit twice and been turned back at IBL with snow and questionable experience level for the conditions. Doug, Richard, and the crew at the Portal Store are absolutely legendary regarding their commitment as well as the welcoming and supportive environment they provide for such a spiritual place.

GK

Thanks KentuckyTodd and GK. I will be sure to check in with Doug, Richard and crew the day before.

Best of luck to you to PaulT. Maybe I will see you out there on the 29th.

Gotknee

Here are a few photos showing conditions on 5.11:


I didn't touch snow until above UBSL.



I thought the Blue Ice might put on a show for me... notice the major fractures. It's coming down soon.



Heading for Russell or Carillon?



Thought about pretending I was heading for the EB, but didn't know what the Catwalk would look like. You can see there's still a bit of snow on it...
I was on snow for less than a thousand feet in the main Couloir.



The Final 400'
I went across the usual traverse (right of center) and encountered very firm snow that required me to put crampons back on. (This was about 9:45am.)
I skipped around the foreground snowfield.


The rest of the album: http://piotrowski.smugmug.com/Whats-New-1/Mt-Whitney-Mountaineers-Rou/22960123_kz5s8h#!i=1845337145&k=bS85CmN

I'm heading up the MR for Memorial day weekend and was wondering about the water availability at UBSL. Is there any running water available? Just wondering if the lake is still frozen, and if there's a need to melt snow for water if we camp there.

Thanks.

This'll be my last contribution to the thread until we have a major storm a few months from now...

I'd call it "summer conditions" now.



Looking down the Final 400'.



Looking up the Final 400'.



Looking down the Couloir.



Looking down the Couloir.



Looking up the Couloir.

Great news, thanks for the update Richard. I have permits for next weekend and wasn't sure I'd get an updated MR report before then.

My daughter and I are coming in from Colorado. I have climbed all of the 14ers here and am wondering if someone could give me a comparison between the Mountaineer trail and one here in Colorado, perhaps with Longs (it is often climbed).

Just sent you a private message. Another climber from Colo.

e mail: ernie_cunliffe@hotmail.com ( in case the private message takes too long.)

Well, it wasn't a major storm, but I always like to post info proving that Doug is the Mt. Whitney Sage... (RE:)_first snow in August... (prior to the 17th)










None of this existed the week before and it's probably already gone with the heat we've been experiencing.

There was a lot of water on the Final 400', so keep your eyes open for ice on the route if you're up there early in the day.