Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports Old Army and N Army conditions to Langley

Hello all, having learned that the snow this year was way below average in the Sierras, I was wondering about the current conditions of Old Army and new Army passes leading to Mt Langley summit. Is it too much to hope old army pass can be done with moderate risk using spikes by early to mid June? Thank you.

You will need ice axe and crampons in June for OAP.

NAP will be clear.

The snow map at https://bit.ly/3upA7wv shows the usual band of snow just below the pass is hanging on, but most everything else is melting out quickly.

My friend and I hiked up to the summit of Langley about 2 weeks ago (May 16). The trail is mostly clear of snow except for a few patches near Long Lake which one can easily walk around. New Army Pass is clear of snow however the cornice is at the top. There is a good boot track through this section that avoids the cornice. Microspikes can be helpful if one isnt comfortable using existing track to get up the final 30' to the top of NAP. From the top of the pass to the summit again is pretty much clear of snow except for random patches.

Old Army Pass is still pretty snowy and iced up. My friend and I thought about descending via OAP until we saw the conditions. We were going light and did not have the gear to properly navigate OAP. Safe bet for now is to use NAP until OAP melts out, which could be early to mid june given the light snow year and warm temps. If you opt to ascend/descend via OAP, I would highly recommend an ice axe and crampons. Mircospikes would not be my preferred choice this time of year.