Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Main Trail Conditions 2012 (Out-of-Date)

@steve: i saw the weather report this morning. i'm heading over there this sunday 5/27. can't seem to catch a break. even if it's not significant amounts of snow crampons will be necessary.

@coann and @will: steve's right. it's better to prepare for the worst. bring the crampons. bring the axe. bring the gators. in all likelihood you will need them. the worst that can happen is that you get there, and you don't (highly unlikely) and you stash them somewhere along the trail.

everyone keep your fingers crossed for very little snow this weekend!!

concerning the satphone.....not necessary. Especially if you have a cell phone. There is coverage in numerous places along the trail.

I put this together last year.

This is great! Would you by chance have a larger version of this? Credit to you of course, but I would like to take this on the trip for reference!

> Would you by chance have a larger version of this?

On a Windows browser, you can hold the Ctrl-key down and scroll the mouse-wheel (if you have a "wheeled" mouse), and the browser will expand the picture and text. You can also zoom in using the browser's "view" pull-down menu.

Zooming in will allow you to read the text on the picture. I tried printing the picture, and the text was almost readable.

Thanks so much Steve and Fran!
We will keep a close eye on weather; hope very little snow falls with this storm. As we prefer to hike in trail running shoes, we will most likely pack our boots, crampons, kahtoolas, and axes in packs so will be prepared for whatever we come across. We're making it a day trip so that will be the bulk of our pack wt. Thanks much and will look forward to hearing any other recent trip reports!!
Ann

Just a note: I edited my post above regarding microspikes.

I have to say I am happy that I was able to use my Brooks Adrenaline GTX trail running shoes with the crampons I rented from the Sierra Elevation store, they have GoreTex in them and my feet were never wet!

Trip Report - http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/24237#Post24237

Thank's much, Steve - great info!
What sort of incline/% grade would you guess the chute is? Any idea what the "precarious section" at the end of the cable area is with regards to using microspikes ... and what it would involve? This will be our first time out to that area. We have Pikes Peak in our backyard and train on that a lot, but with our low snow year and early spring/summer, the vast majority of the snow has melted off the east face, so we've been spoiled as far as having to worry about winter gear.
Thanks again -
Ann

Great to know, Dustin - and great trip report! Love all the pics - looks like a great day! What type of crampons did you use that you can use with trail running shoes?
Thanks again -
Ann

CoAnn and others: If you see a blinking red flag at the top of each page, it means you have a private message. If you click on the flag, it will take you to your messages.

The flag looks like this: (but clicking on this one doesn't do anything.) Pressing the Esc key stops the blinking.

@COAnn: The chute is about 40-50 degrees as seen in the photo I posted. In the middle of the chute, my feet were never under more than about 6-8 inches of snow. Be careful near the rocks, where you can sink to about hip deep. I didn't attempt the switchbacks, but my understanding is that at the end of the cables, there is a steep left turn up and back. Many people miss this and end up traversing across a steep and exposed, snow covered section to the chute (right in the middle of the photo).

FWIW, I met two guys on the way down who had ascended the switchbacks in tennis shoes (literally, New Balances) without traction devices. That said, these guys were severely unprepared and unexperienced -- no map, were lost when I found them (7:30pm and heading further off course), and had very little extra food and clothing. A bit frightening. That aside, people are making it up the switchbacks without ice/snow gear.

-AA

What kind of pants would y'all suggest for the snow/ice portion? I'm leaning more towards water-proof pants as opposed to water-resistant for breahtability. But are there any particular types/keywords/models that I should keep an eye out for?

Thanks again everyone! Really helpful advice. Come next weekend hopefully we can be on the other side and help answer some questions.

All the best,
Will

I love my patagonia simple guide pants for changing weather conditions. The simple guide jacket is also the best!

I am now a big fan of softshell paints (e.g, REI Acme or Mistral pants), coupled with Goretex gaiters. The softshell pants breath and are fairly water resistant (I've glissaded with them ... just need to avoid cotton underwear), and the gaiters will handle the snow.

But I am still a relative newbie to this stuff ... others with more experience may be better sources.

Andrew - thanks so much for all your great info and photo - helps a lot!!
Ann

Sorry Ann I missed this earlier, just the rentals from Sierra Elevation in Lone Pine. You can see a picture I posted to the thread of the trip report here - http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads.php/topics/24250/Re_Mt_Whitney_Main_Trail_5_19_#Post24250

High Resolution here - http://www.wegortw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MtWhitney-48.jpg

http://www.rei.com/product/798361/camp-usa-stalker-universal-crampons

I wouldn't use them on trail runners, but they're okay with most boots. They came off on my boots once when I was using them two years ago; I can't imagine them staying put on trail runners on serious snow conditions.

Will,

I've been using softshell pants since 2006 and have glissaded in the them many times in included the chute in 2007. As all as they are relatively new they should hold out moisture. Like Gore-Tex products, they need to retreated with a DWR from time to time or you will have one really wet rear end.

What I like about softshell pants is their wind resistance, most block about 70%. I have recently purchase a pair of convertibles for use in the Sierra this summer.

I wear softshell materials all winter long. About the only time I use my Gore-Tex shells any long is when it rains or there is one heck of a snow storm.

Thanks for the tip! I went to REI today and picked a pair of Mountain Hardware soft shell pants. They feel pretty good and I think should hold up pretty well for my trip this coming week.

WillDafoe? The Will Dafoe?