Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Iceberg Lake & Mountaineers Route conditions

I took this picture on Sunday of the chute on the MR:

Edit: People should note, the "MR" is the Mountaineer's Route, and is NOT part of the "MMWT" (Main Mt Whitney Trail).


Click pic for full size

Terrific photo!

Did you need traction device to cross the snow directly in front of you in this pic?

We started late so by the time we hit the snow patch at 10:15am the snow was pretty soft. My hiking partner ended up using poles with no crampons. I used poles with crampons and found that they were able to grab a little. We chatted with another party who hiked up around 8am who said crampons were needed given that the snow was harder.

BFR, nice pic!

Could you comment on snow coverage in areas above the notch? Is traverse still covered?

Thanks

It is clear from the top of the snow patch in the chute to the notch. I would strongly advise against the traverse. It is covered in snow and looked super sketchy. We took the final 400 and went to the right of the snow in there where we found a nice class 3 route.

BFR, excellent photo. It shows how steep it is.