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#102368 - 01/15/18 11:05 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Kurt Wedberg]
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Member
Registered: 01/15/18
Posts: 2
Loc: CA
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Hi. I'm wondering whether anyone has some recent info on the N Fork Canyon and Mountaineer's Route conditions --- e.g., snow cover at various elevations, in the Mountaineer's chute and ice/snow conditions near the top of the route? I've looked at the Whitney Portal Store webcam and the snow looks pretty thin to me on the hike up, but I'm not sure I'm judging it correctly. My plan is to hike up with snowshoes, crampons, ice axe to Iceberg lake Saturday (1/20), camp, and play around on Sunday. It would be great to know if the snowshoes aren't needed. Thanks.
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#102376 - 01/16/18 06:57 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Doug Sr]
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Member
Registered: 01/15/18
Posts: 2
Loc: CA
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I'll definitely be taking poles and it sounds like snowshoes are the better part of wisdom... Thanks!
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#102391 - 02/05/18 10:17 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Kurt Wedberg]
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Member
Registered: 06/11/13
Posts: 8
Loc: santa monica, ca
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went up the north fork yesterday here's the latest conditions: - fixed road closure is in place below the portal location of road closure
- creek crossings are very easy with low water leves
- e ledges are dry and in very passable conditions
- trail is well bootpacked up til upper boy scout lake, we had no trouble with trail runners and microspikes
- didn't continue up the mr past ubsl (we climbed russell which was very dry and in good climbing conditions), but other climbers reported unconsolidated but climbable snow on the upper mr
- other climbers reported the final 500' of the mr were able to be climbed 100% on rock
get after it!!
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#102402 - 02/17/18 05:00 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: bran_daid]
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Member
Registered: 06/11/13
Posts: 8
Loc: santa monica, ca
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Edited by bran_daid (02/17/18 05:03 PM)
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#102447 - 03/28/18 07:04 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Doug Sr]
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Member
Registered: 12/21/02
Posts: 956
Loc: Rattlesnake Hill, CA
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#102449 - 03/28/18 11:19 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Kurt Wedberg]
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Member
Registered: 03/27/18
Posts: 48
Loc: California
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you are all so brave... i did make to the top of Whitney on a day permit but it was sunny and warm:) the snow intimidates me as the big waves on the ocean
_________________________
"Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn."
Instagram: @_helena_borboleta
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#102459 - 04/02/18 11:21 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: bran_daid]
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Member
Registered: 06/11/13
Posts: 8
Loc: santa monica, ca
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latest conditions as of 4/1/18 instagram video - fixed road closure still in place below the portal
- route is dry until first creek crossing
- e-ledges are fully dry
- snow conditions are pretty fat and supportable.
- main couloir is mostly consolidated with a nice bootpack
- final 500 is consolidated snow, quite filled in
this weekend's storm should change things. but the current conditions are prime.
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#102462 - 04/03/18 10:59 AM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: bran_daid]
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Member
Registered: 09/11/04
Posts: 110
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Did you happen to run into any guided groups? I have a friend who is doing the MR with IMG..they would have been moving up to Iceberg on the 1st. Female, blonde, pigtails,loud....
Edited by ExPro (04/03/18 11:02 AM)
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#102482 - 04/09/18 05:33 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: ExPro]
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Member
Registered: 07/16/07
Posts: 696
Loc: California
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Anyone up the MR this past weekend? Curious about conditions.
Thanks
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#102569 - 05/24/18 06:05 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: ]
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Member
Registered: 02/09/14
Posts: 1
Loc: Missouri
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Hopefully useful info for Mountaineer's Route climbers from our experience on Sunday:
We went up on on May 20, leaving the portal early in the AM spend the maximum time on firm snow (single day push).
- No snow until above Lower Boy Scout Lake, and very spotty until above Upper Boy Scout Lake. Water available at UBSL, and all creeks are FLOWING! We wore trail runners until UBSL then changed into mountaineering boots. - Main MR couloir filled with excellent firm snow when we went up (started around 6am), though loose rocks around rock bands are beginning to show through, and had a close call when a climber above us kicked a cinder-block sized rock down on us...bounced off my backpack eek . - Final 400: We went up about 1/4 of the way (to the 2nd main rock band), and found the combination of ice on the rocks with a newer layer of 1-2 inches of snow were a dicey proposition (difficult to see where an axe/crampons could find purchase or hit icy rock). We had a close call slip that spooked us so we backed off, but did see 3 people continue on to summit. I would NOT want to descend the 400 unroped in those conditions. -Snow was getting pretty soft already on our descent - get up there early!!!
Summary: Get up the couloir EARLY, and be ready to assess your abilities on the Final 400 rationally.
This was a few days ago, so things may have changed a little, but hopefully this is useful for people looking currently.
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#102640 - 06/16/18 01:22 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Kurt Wedberg]
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Member
Registered: 09/08/17
Posts: 1
Loc: California
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Any recent reports concering snow/ice on the route?
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#102642 - 06/17/18 06:54 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Tom Brogan]
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Member
Registered: 06/07/18
Posts: 5
Loc: CA
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First time up the MT on the 14th. Made it up to Iceberg lake and back same day, solo. Missed the start of the trail, big time, but it put me at the ledges at day break, so that was a big help. Lots of brush, got off the trail many, many times both up and down. I had a maps.me map on my phone, so when I was stuck on the ledges going home, it pointed me in the right direction. I went to far east. They were less scary going down though. No snow as far as I went.....
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#102712 - 08/01/18 02:42 AM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Kurt Wedberg]
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Member
Registered: 06/07/18
Posts: 5
Loc: CA
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Just did the mountaineers route for the first time Monday. Although I was swearing under my breath a lot of the way, it's a good feeling today. The ledges were more scary in the dark, the trail the same to iceberg lake as my first attempt. There was a patch of super dirty snow going up to the notch, I went on the right side, some folk to the left of a little rock ridge left of the snow. It didn't seem to matter. The last 500 vertical had a good snow patch, but plenty of exposed rock on the right for a not bad scramble to the top. The smoke in the air wasn't too bad visibility at least 40 miles, no smell of smoke. We need more stories....
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#103032 - 03/24/19 06:42 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: Kurt Wedberg]
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Member
Registered: 03/27/18
Posts: 48
Loc: California
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Hi there. We successfully sumited whitney in one day on 9/15/16. We just received our lottery results and got a permit to climb again on 1010. Our friend got a permit as well for 9/26. When it comes to snow level which date is best? I definitely want to avoid snow in any cost. Thank you in advance
_________________________
"Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn."
Instagram: @_helena_borboleta
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#103083 - 04/05/19 07:32 PM
Re: Mountaineer's Route Conditions
[Re: borboleta]
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Member
Registered: 06/21/05
Posts: 1006
Loc: Bishop, CA
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borboleta: I'm assuming you're talking about the Mountaineers Route, correct?
It's difficult to say this early on what conditions will be like. Two years ago we had a big winter and ended up needed crampons until mid September. On a normal year the chute is dry during September. Also, there are years when we get an early dusting of snow in late September or early October. On other years it can be dry during this time.
I'd suggest watching how the spring weather goes and then monitoring snow melt as the summer progresses. You can always ask questions here if you want an update and nobody has posted one.
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