Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Main Trail Conditions 2015 (Out-of-Date)

These 4 photos were taken yesterday afternoon from Mt. Whitney. There's a ton of fresh powder up there. Starting with ~2" at Crabtree Meadow and getting up to +3ft at 13k. With no wind or lightning I went up to Trail Crest to exit down to Lone Pine. It was at the Crest I encountered a team of 5 Russians who I went down with. We repelled the first 30ft with ropes then cut our own switchbacks into the fresh powder in white out conditions for the first hour. Visibility was less than 10 ft at that point. In my opinion an ice axe is 100% necessary, but my Russian friends only had their trekking poles. Snow starting at10k feet as of 5/20 was about 2-3" but I'm sure it's much more now, seeing as how its supposed to snow through Monday. 7 days of straight snow and I'm happy to be in Lone Pine. - Sierra Mapping Project