Mt Whitney Zone Forums Trip Reports Cottonwood Lakes & NAP Conditions 7/30

Hi all,

Spent a few days in Cottonwood Lakes with loose plans to fish and make Langley if possible.

Old Army Pass' long upper switchback is completely iced-over. OAP may be out of the question this season.

New Army Pass is largely snow-free BUT there is a large iced cornice at the top. My GF and I got to about 11,700 with only minimal snow but we saw a ton of folks turn back once reaching the last stretch. Some folks with crampons, boots, and ice axes front-pointed over the cornice while one or two others attempted class-four scrambling around it. See below for an image, the red line is where the switchback roughly goes.



We decided to enjoy the views and turn back. We also saw a fighter jet scream over CL while on a break.

I have turned around and this exact point before. Its not fun, but probably the right call. Plenty of stuff to explore in the CW area without the risk.

Hi All, we just came down from Blue Sky Lake. New Army pass is ok without ice ax or micro spikes. Three easy class 3 moves at the top, with real good handholds.

Army Pass had a snowfield at the top of the pass over the trail. We do not have any snow or ice skills. That patch was about 20ft long with a 40ft near vertical rock slide into mid air.

Awesome 4 days in the mountains from Horseshoe Medows to Blue Sky Lake no micro spikes or ice ax needed.