Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Mountaineer's Route "Easy walk-off"

I have been trying to research the so-called "Easy Walk-off" the traverse from the notch on the Mountaineer's Route that bypasses the final 400. I am sure it has been discussed, but a search here does not turn up anything. What is the general recommendation on using it in the summer?

Edit: Here's a more recent discussion with videos and maps:
Whitney Mountaineers Route: Easy Walk Off from the Notch

Last week it looked pretty sparse trail wise. It seemed like some people had definitely done it this year. I opted not to because it looked pretty loose and I didn't feel like dealing with all the scree there.

Several years ago there was a rockslide somewhere around the side of it -- I think someone was out of its range but shot a picture of the dust from it.

I've never tried it, since the final 400 seems quite ok to me. But it is just a matter of following the obvious route at the base of steep granite west and south around the mountain.

When the area gets icy snow, it could be treacherous, but otherwise it should work just fine.

There's a view in this video at 1:16.

See following post for winter conditions:
http://www.whitneyzone.com/wz/ubbthreads...f_arr#Post22875

Does not look so interesting to me.

I think the Final 400 is safer.

Anyone recall the accounts of falls from it? What conditions they have been under? Partial ice and snow? Full snow pack? Scree?

No recollection of falls from there.

On the Final 400, several people have slipped and gone down, but I think they were in icy conditions. One guy who died tried to glissade it. Another was a rock climber who had completed a technical route, and then slipped descending the F-400.

I have seen it from the Notch, and from below at Artic Lakes where I remember people (on this board?) talked about how someone would roll all the way to there from the easy walkoff.

OBTW, the first ascent of the MR (by John Muir) was this way.

Here is a picture from Bob Rockwell - 2011 was a high snow year. I think the loose marbles when dry are also tricky.
Bob R walkoff looks treacherous

I believe the danger is that it doesn't look difficult. Inexperienced climbers/first-time MR climbers might pass by the Final 400 because they don't see/recognize it or they think it looks too hard. So they keep walking till they think they've found an easier approach. But easy does not always equal safe, and difficult does not always equal dangerous. What looks like a short traverse to easier terrain could be deadly, whereas the Final 400 is just a series of easy ledges where you can always stand comfortably while pondering your next move.

The only fall from here that I've heard of is the story Doug tells in the Mountain Lore/Portal Store book. If I recall, it was icy and a solo climber descending took a fatal fall.

Probably not a lot of climbers try it, or even know about it. It's a pretty obscure route. Even SummitPost has very, very little mention of it.