Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Comparing Mt Whitney Mountaineers Route to Mt Shas

First time poster, long time reader here.

I'm planning to do an attempt climbing up the mountaineers route next weekend with a group of 3. The plan is to do a day hike.

We climbed and hiked in the previous years and we day hiked shasta via the avalanche gulch route with no problem. Also hiked up whitney last year sleeping on the mountain. I realize that the mountaineers route is more technical and exposed than these previous hikes, but also I believe that it's not impossible given the fairly good snow conditions. The goal is to step up and gain experience, without being obsessed with summiting.

Any advice? Is it possible to do it in one day? Are ropes and harnesses advised this time of the year (for the last 400 ft)? What about snow shoes? Which one is better for the last stretch this time of the year? The steeper way or the "easy walk off"? Btw. we would return the same way instead going around on the mount whitney trail.

Any advice is welcomed! Thanks!

More snow on Tuesday so this would be another concern, This route you want to take is very demanding for a day hike. Route find is a problem for many but you may find a boot track as guides are going up now . Gear and the other questions are based on your skill level I can't answer those.
Make sure you understand that a turn around time is critical or you will be in the dark coming down.

I think when you reach Iceberg Lake you will have a good idea of what to expect and make the choice of going higher or turn around ,that would be a good first attempt .