Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Conditions as of January 2, 2004

Hello all-

I've been putting this off but have a time now. I took a trip to whitney to do the MR route over new years. Started up on the 31st. My partner forgot his Avy tranciever in the car so we had to go down to the car and back up again. Was possible to get to the portal w/ 4wd. Light snow that day. Day hiked to the ledges. They were covered in at least 2-3ft of snow but it seemed possible to go up the gully insted. Five people before us were turned back that day at the ledges for various reasons so the trail was nice and packed. Snowshoes were still helpful. That night we camped at the portal. A large storm came in that night and the winds were blowing very hard.

The next day we decided to do another hike ot LBSL to check conditions. Tracks from the previous day were completely obscured past the first stream crossing. After the crossing the conditions were wading through knee to thigh deep powder in snowshoes with light packs. The higher we went the deeper the snow became and the harder the wind blew. At times no forward progress was possible due to high winds, blizzard conditions and visibility. We turned back before the ledges because of unstable snow conditions. On small slopes between trees we routinely set off small loose snow slides for several feet around us. Conditions on a more exposed, less anchored slope would have been very dangerous. On the way down our tracks that had been several feet deep were already filled in with new snow. At points we could see no trace of our previous tracks. Below the stream crossing all tracks were completely covered down to the portal.

At the portal there was at least 12-18" of new snow. Higher on the route (ledges there was 2-3ft of new snow from the previous night and that day (Jan1). The portal road had much new snow near the top and there were places where 3 foot drifts accross the entire road had developed. I think anyone would have a hard time making it much past the top of the first big swithcback. On Jan 2 the sky was clear and the wind was calm in the valley, however you could see huge plumes of snow being blowen off the top of whitney (wind loading the MR). Also when looking through binoculars there were many avalanches present in the upper bowls and chutes of whitney and the surrounding mountains. Hope this is helpful. Sorry about the length.

Matt

Jeesh! That's the kind of trip that makes me appreciate Florida this time of year. I have very little experience with winter weather, reading this post leaves me very unsettled. My mind wanders and I imagine all the ways I'd die up there; falling through snow, getting turned around and lost, landslides/avalanches, yuk! Glad all is well with you.