Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Main Trail Conditions 2013 (Out-of-Date)

looks like a lot more snow on the 6:37 image... down to Lower Boy Scout?

I updated the above picture with the 6:51 PM image. A lot more snow fell after 3 PM.

Are Microspikes recommended, If we are going up Sunday? Any other suggestions for first time whitney backpackers ?

On the main trail, there will be many people doing fine without microspikes. This isn't a lot of snow, so plain hiking boots should be ok. Take the microspikes if you already have them -- they could provide some confidence.

...or they could be the extra weight that slows you down too much. It is certainly your choice.

Today, there is no trace of yesterday's snow in the webcam picture!!!

Was up there the last two days. Thursday it snowed off and on most of the day. About an inch or two stuck around from Trail Camp up.

Yesterday was clear gorgeous blue skies, with wind only hitting us about half way up the switchbacks, then around the final push up the back side of Whitney

Heading up the switchbacks it was snowy but not too icy. We summitted around noon, then headed back down (after a a very windy 45 minutes on top) By then most of the snow had been melted/walked away. On the way down, the cables were snowy but not too icy. Microspikes weren't needed, and I think there wasn't quite enough snow for them to bite into.

As long as more snow doesn't fall today, microspikes definitely won't be needed this weekend.

9/28/13 Day hike from Whitney Portal to the summit.

Trail was totally clear of snow except for the cables, which had a fairly fresh hard pack of lingering snow from the 9/26 dump. Manageable without micro spikes, though trekking poles helped a lot. There was no running water at the switchbacks that I could see.

Successful summit on 9/29 (the third anniversary if my first summit bid on Whitney) got three newbies to the top .

Weather is clear and beautiful but ridiculously cold (IMO).


Sunrise from the 99

Beautiful picture! Thanks for the update, too.

Planning on MR this Saturday. I did this route 5 times but never in October. Forecast is very good but I'm wondering about the ice along the route, like the slabs below Clyde Meadow, and maybe some more higer up. I can take microspikes if necessary. Anybody? Thank you.

Marc, you asked just the right day. Joe Q just posted this picture from the Final 400 of the MR, from today, I think:



From his other pictures, I think what you see in this picture is the heaviest snow on the entire Mountaineers Route.

Pic is from yesterday, but just a little snow on the 400, easy to get by. The chute doesn't have much either, but what there is, leaves you to have to walk in the scree a lot. So you'll need to work with that. Really crowded the day we went, with as many as 18 people in the chute at one time, lots of sliding and falling rock. No one got hurt.
There is a report under Trip Reports. On the way down, the only snow or ice is at the cables, but again, not a big deal. Lotsa wind the day we went up. If you're gonna go, do it now, as the window is closing.

Thank you, you've been very helpful!

current conditions on Mountaineer's Route.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFOSrZkA0uY&feature=youtu.be

Hi all, I would first like to thank everyone on this forum with all the helpful advise that I've read on here. As you may have experienced yourself, my hike up to the Summit was a year and a half in the making and have gotten a lot of helpful info on this forum. I Summited on October 1st 2013! Id like to contribute the conditions I faced during the 3 days and 2 nights I was on the mountain:

Weather: Clear, no clouds to be seen for miles and miles. It was however in the 30's at Trail Camp. The tip of my exposed Camelbak was frozen in the a.m. Light winds.

Trail: No snow or ice to worry about. I saw a lot of people carrying shoe chains (including myself) and it wasn't necessary. I counted 98 switchbacks...WTH?

Water: Last water is at Trail Camp.(not sure if there is suppose to be water higher than that?)

When I was coming down the mountain on the 2nd of October, various hikers going up were saying "there is no government down there" being out of communication for a few days, it took me a few to figure out what they were talking about. As of this morning, there was no Park Ranger (as there was when I went up on 31 Sept 2013) to check for permits before the Whitney Zone. There were no closure signs or tape anywhere to be seen.

Due to the Federal Shutdown....

I just called Inyo County Roads department. Here's what I learned:

1. Horseshoe Meadows road is closed at the gate (about 10 miles from HM). Edit 10/14: Others report it was open Oct 11.

2. Whitney Portal road is in flux: It sounds like there is some arm-wrestling over who can close it.

3. Quite a few roads in Death Valley National Park are closed.

4. Other roads are open.

Here's a report posted Oct 14:

Hey there!

So I summited the Mountaineer's Route on Saturday afternoon and descended the Main Trail. Hopefully I can shed some light.

For Mountaineer's Route:
-The chute still has about a foot to a foot and a half of snow in the middle of the chute. We went to the right of the chute and it was fine, but there were a few sketchy icy sections. We had to traverse at one point over the chute, so we definitely needed our ice axe there.

-The Final 400 had a bunch of snow on it still. We started in the middle and there was a layer of ice on the whole shelf. We took the right side of the left chute and there was enough ice/snow to make it very precarious. Didn't feel comfortable downclimbing without a rope to belay, so we took the Main Trail down.

For Main Trail:
-Still lots of snow from the summit down. Definitely do-able with just microspikes or just poles. The switchbacks down from Trail Crest have probably 1-3 inches of snow but its packed enough to easily get through.

Thanks for the report, Connor. It looks like two of you made the summit. There is a picture with 10 people. Did they head back down the MR?

That is a good picture of the conditions in the chute on the MR.

I'll re-upload some of those photos (esp of the chute). Out of our party of 10, just two of us summited. One in our group got really bad altitude sickness, so some went down with him, and the rest didn't feel comfortable continuing on, which was a bummer. Wish we brought a rope!