Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Snow?

Hi Someone took the Subbie, well it is down the road about 1/2 mile from where it was parked, They did a great job moving the car down, not sure what the game plan is now but I had several thoughts , maybe chains ( all tires), let the air out of the tires say to about 10 pounds may help to float on the snow and lets see if we can get a crew to help, my plan would be wait until 1-2 am coldest part of the night and a few shovels for the drifts.???

On the Portal--- very deep snow 4'-5' and trees down, branches still breaking from the last storm and check the webcam notice the south side of the lower part of the mountaineers route, snow is "stuck" on the vertical rock faces hint this will come down as we get some heat, small slides onto the road in the normal areas less rock fall since the cold is holding everything in place but they will move again when we get heat.


I don't know why bother but there is a track to the Portal now if you stay in the track you will not sink. The more that use this track the base will be stable the rest of the winter . Make as many tracks as you like and expect to post hole waist deep.

Very cold for this time of the year and unstable conditions the streams are still running so crossing can be very tricky the snow bridges will not hold.


One of the branches fell on the store roof , so I went up to check the damage, it did some on the south side of the roof and looks like about the same amount of branches Laura, Thomas and I cleared from the backpacker campground last Trails Day.

Stay alert as you travel . Thanks Doug

Hi Doug,
Wow it sounds like you need a roofer!! Betsy and I will be coming up on Jan 6th to see if we know how to snow shoe.

Looking foward to seeing you and family. If you need me I'm in room 3.

Crazy Jack

Jack looks like an opportunity to trade roofing skills for Hostel stays??

Doug, sounds like conditions are pretty inhospitable beyond the portal (and up to it). I was actually planning to hike up into the Whitney Zone early next week (January 2 or 3). Do you know if anybody has been up past the portal since the big snow rolled through? We're well prepared for snow camping/slow snow hiking (three of the five in our group were on Whitney around this time last January), but don't want to be unreasonable in our desire to hike up into the backcountry given current conditions. We would really value any input you may have. Thanks so much.

I had the pleasure of having dinner with Earlene and Doug this evening and one of the topics of conversation was how long the good track up to the Portal would last. I won't quote Doug... but it never ceases to amaze me what can happen to good work in such a short period of time. (My insult is being withheld also.)

I headed up the road... the Subbie had moved down a little bit more.

I made tracks up to Lower Boy Scout Lake. There were two climbers that were supposed to follow up behind (I was hoping we'd get a little more consolidation of the track.), but didn't, so it was a lot of work both up and down. I think the track is safe. Only one crossing from North to South that you'll want to watch as you head over. The rest stays mostly on the North side. Lots of ice coming down (Chandeliers (sp?) breaking is what it reminded me of.). A helmet would have been a good thing to have today. Most was gone by afternoon, so it shouldn't be a worry until the next storm (or more melt/freeze from higher up).

It was cold... 14 at around 7:00am ... 23 at around 3:30pm at 6K.

Oh, you'll need skis, or snowshoes unless you want to disappear. Even after puting in the track, I was sinking with snowshoes on. And, the snow is incredibly deep in the drainage.

Nice way to end the year! Happy New Year.

HI The Climbings I have talk with the young men from SC , they camped in the Portal and talked with a guy coming down from Trailcamp, his buddy was going to go to the summit , also I talked with several people that tried to go past the Portal and the snow turned them back, The snow in the open that has sun exposure is setting up ,the snow in the shade is very soft and deep waist/chest in the Portal so I would say around Trailside meadow on much deeper.


If the track to the Portal stays in shape expect 3-4 hours and 2 hours down seems to be the time this week, I didn't use snowshoes , they will help if you travel off the track and above the Portal.
Driving to the road closed sign has been working but watch ice about 1/2 mile below the sign park facing down hill and close to the road , we may get some weather this week . Thanks Doug

Hey Doug!

We parked next to your truck on Saturday but we left before you came out; once we were in the shade, it was hard to keep the feet warm and we drove back to town. We are shoveling out the Subie. It's hard work but we are getting there. Unless a lot of snow comes down soon, we should have it out over one more weekend. It's getting to a spot where we can do more and more driving. We had one really tough section where the snow was unconsolidated where it sees little sun.

Who says it's impossible to shovel a car out of a mile of snow

Hi I thought you made the break the night I walked down.The car was gone, The section where you stopped was very soft and deep but below there as you say you will be able to drive, after this weekend I am sure tracks will be near the car if not past.

Good Luck !