Installed a new camera yesterday image is clear and on the zoom you can again pickup the details on the mountain. You can see Thor is clearing on the northern area and rock showing in the chute in the north fork. Still deep snow in the Portal and above.

After the snow cycle the past 6 weeks looks like we are flat lined again , snow at the Portal elevation , more than the 2016-17 winter and might be above normal (for the Portal) Doug and Cayden cleared the roof last week , but check out the photos of Parchers and north they have more snow.

Where will the melt off go when it starts ! Flooding in the Valley could happen this spring and high stream crossings, snow should stay in the higher elevations till late June ON THE NORTH FACING areas. So the Baldy pattern will move into the Sierra.

Lower section of the Portal road still snow covered but the mid section is melting out. Road still closed at lower gate.

Many ask about the snow and when it will clear , several factors that change the when , first the shift to when we start getting sun into the canyon, second any cloudy day or storm system slows or stops the melt , new snow from a system on the upper elevation and all north facing portions of the area. We use as a guide from late May on a melt rate of 500'elevation a week , this works till 12-13000 then the melt is over, moves into evaporation more than melt.

This season will bring back the rock fall and trail wash outs , first stream crossing problems and miles of no trail .

Guide trips should beat a path in the north fork soon and Hey if everyone stays on a track this turns into a trail for the next group to use.

Recall from past years it is not if it is when ! the accidents start and the first recovery . Winter conditions make travel very slow ,more gear , food and a water source option , high wind condition and late season storms all add to the adventure. A whole different world above 12,000'!

Doug,

The new camera image is sensational! In addition to documenting the superb beauty of the Mountain, the information it provides will be very helpful to the hiking/climbing community.

Thanks,

Jim

I'm thinking this new camera is so good...

that you'd be able to see the snowshoe track I'm tempted to put in up to the summit of Thor Peak...

Hey that made Earlene tear up ,we got to see Bill Monroe a few times ,in another life motor cycles guitar playing and bluegrass and two kinds of music country and western!

Aw, that made my day. Hi, Earlene! I was picturing Richard's footprints in the snow on Thor and it just came to me. I was going to say we could follow his progress on the new camera, but only if he bled enough. I'm glad I changed my mind.

What happened? I don't see that cool, detailed image any more...

It was very nice while it lasted.

And that's how it goes with these electric things . Support staff did the normal re boot, Mike at Sebec tec working on the FTP transfer but could be the old Inyo wind got a tower!

The elves came !!!

Another winter blast this afternoon whiteout conditions above Lone Pine Campground ,this new system will put more snow on a very deep base for this time of the year , So the end result for the last 5-7 days of weather, additional snow and cold nights and days we have lost about 2 weeks of melt.
we should see a normal opening lateAprol or Early May but the upper elevations will be packed in later in the season, First creek crossing will also be an issue for the dry feet folks. And above 12'000 could require winter skills into early July.

2017 melt was about all the valley could handle, water was spread every where and we had some cold days that slowed the melt down . This year we have more snow in the mountains and should get the late season storms (April-May- June) So 395 could be washed out or flooded, campgrounds with streams some sites closed closed . This summer should a record breaker on many fronts!

Now when we can see the mountain again the cam will be back up!

Should I start rebranding everything "The Cleaver Portal," or did the executives settle on "Gambler's Special Portal Message Board?"

It kinda looks like Whitner from back side with a zoom reflection off the recent storms
Which reminds me all the snow talk the average 600+inches and a heavy snow year is 1140 inches for Mount Baker ( isn't in the picture either)

Maura is on the 12,000 th trip to the crows nest to reboot the camera fire stix. I do miss the camcorder on dial up!

They can make the "LP" out of snow this year.

I heard there was a snow leopard sighting on Haystack.

Nah, that snow leopard didn't see anything.

Dale B. Dalrymple

Dale will be appearing every Tuesday night in March at the Lakanuki Bar & Grill in Mammoth Lakes.

Don't forget to tip!

Dale

Doug just got some photos from a guide trip showing a slide that ended about 200' from the store , I think following the same path as the 1969 slide. CORRECTION slide came from the north not from the 69 area. Also the north fork slid so stay clear , this coming system coukd bring more down. Snow at the Portal looks very near the same level as last Monday but rain could have brought this slide . I would say stay clear until these storms move out.

Look at the web cam and zoom onto the North Fork and southerly these walls are loaded and with more storms/ warmer temperatures things could move. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5879622812073990&set=pcb.5879623205407284 https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5879623018740636&set=pcb.5879623205407284



Well now that we are talking snow and slides the NRT trail is ripe for slides and rock fall . the area as you enter the canyon is steep and a mixture of DG fire scar , then as you near Meysan creek to the Cabin area also steep side slope and rock fall and just say 500 feet from the first cabin very steep and breaking trail is very hard. I advise avoid the NRT during the winter for these reasons.

Walked up again on March 18 to check roofs, and any new slide activity, Snow returned that night and only cleared late yesterday , so kind of a two updates with corrections , first the road: first 2 switchbacks were melting fast about 80% clear but random rock fall and a slide over the road just above the first switchback ( a often area of slides) area of the second gate and towards the campground a mix of dry road and deep snow from the campground to the Portal very deep snow 4'+ , used snow shoes this trip , went with a low budget brand but picked the upper weight selection , 180-250 they float OK. I ran into a group coming down and one guy had a shoe I think Doug and I tested years ago a plastic plate style , he said worked ok but thought add the optional tail for soft snow.

Ok so now the gate is closed at the bottom , I could see small slides on Lone Pine Peak area and Candellight and a slide down the Ski tow chute also I am thinking one about the log area of the trail I got a picture but with the lighting hard to tell for sure if it was just a wet slide area ready to go or a debris field . North fork has slide and above has had slides (guide reports).

My thoughts are run off will bring more slides down and with the walls loaded they could be anywhere, I talked with young man that turned around at Iceberg ( guide group advice don't go any higher solo) I ask if he had ever heard the whumph? The whumph is the slope talking .The snow is compressing and loading up pressure on the slope and may soon release or the good news never? Thats the problem , just below Iceberg you hear this often at the bottom of that short down climb and into the boulder field so the snow is loading into this valley area. One year we had a group camp near the Whitney face and a slide (with luck) pushed one climber out of the tent and he was able to pull his partner out. Run outs from these slide can be very long,since we don't often have this much snow we could see slides from new areas.

In his post yesterday Doug Sr recalls the slide that buried four climbers in their tent below the East Face of Mt Whitney. This occurred on April 4, 2006. The interested reader should refer to Bob R's post on the Winter Access Forum on April 16, 2006 "North Fork Avalanche on April 4." In that thread, Brian Spitek of the Mt Whitney Ranger Station provides an informative and detailed write up based on an account provided by the four climbers. The four were fortunate to survive, but they certainly had a "bad day at the office."

A recent heavy snowfall winter was 2016-2017. The final week of April (just before the permit quotas started) saw many hikers, climbers, skiers going up the North Fork. On April 22, a football field size slide occurred in the canyon at 9500' just below LBSL.
Several people were hit (without significant injury), but one disappeared. Fortunately for that fellow, there was a quick search by numerous people in the area, and he was quickly located (very cold, talking, half buried, pinned down by a large block of ice, unable to move). A shovel was used to dig him out, but a significant leg injury was apparent.

This fellow was fortunate and made it down the hill to the hospital ok, thanks to the immediate presence of personnel trained in avalanche rescue, nurses, guides, and and eventually a helicopter ride.

When this slide occurred on April 22, there was actually a helicopter overhead headed to the three lakes below the North Face of Mt Whitney to make a recovery. The day before, a solo climber fell 2000 feet while attempting the "Easy Traverse" from the Notch.

As I recall, last April, four people died on Mt Whitney, all from falls down steep snow.

Seems that history is telling us to be careful as the upcoming season approaches.

Be safe,

Jim

One of the positive results of all this precip...
Southern slope of Five Fingers...
I've ridden past this hundreds of times and can't recall it ever being this colorful...
I'd imagine Sand Canyon and Death Valley may be doing a Hundred Years Showing this year...
I've heard some places down south are pretty wild...

But, the damage to the "roads" leading in to the canyon is pretty extensive...I wonder how far down the road the BLM budget will allow for repair?

I think just go to page 8 on the Winter forum and read all the back and forth. .
This link above will take you to a map/ article Bob R wrote some years ago , also read the comment on the winter forum April 4,6 2006 from Kurt W. When you join the two articles one can see the issue the old chicken or egg. Bob stresses why would you blindly go into the mountains and be caught in an avalanche ,Kurts after many years of world travel in snow enviorments , dig the pit use all the alavanche jargons and dig um out! Wait can't it be both? As it should be. Bob has a map of areas that had slid in the Whitney area , I agree with all his location but could add more , But to Kurt the entire Whitney Area is of concern and it should be .

I like the middle of the road use all the information from Bob and Kurt stay away from the run out areas ( this assumes your are aware of the term ,going in the daylight hours and are watching the slopes as you travel setting up camp far from toe of slope ) and not going into the mountains with a storm coming in . Let me touch on that. Last year I had a call from a friend in town that works at one of the hotels , he ask about a coming storm , a guest said he was going up the next day I replyed wait till after the storm , he went and 2 days later a recovery . No amount of information will deter these types of accidents.

Jim F suggest the number of fatal accidents last April , This will be our 35 th season at Whitney and are acutely aware of the number of accidents . Spring and fall seasons are serious periods for snow/ice accidents , First many will come before the permit season or after, many are not aware of the extreme winter condition and are not experienced in winter mountaineering AND with social media now a person or group will Summit and post about a great trip they had, may suggest they only used...(I coin these as cheerleader post on social media).

Mount Baldy is a perfect example of how serious winter mountaineering can be. Baldy in my mind can be worse with high winds whiteouts and steep icy slopes.

This season we will experience more slides, more water on the stream crossings and a later time period that we have a dry trail ,with the melt we will see more late night/early morning ice covering the trail and rock fall in the area from before Lone Pine Lake to trail crest . This all adds hours to your trip making it very hard to do a day trip. Requiring more gear for a very cold overnight trip ,staying at outpost VS trailcamp as the trail camp area will be in snow.