Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt Whitney trail april 30th

Myself and a freind intend on a Summit attempt via whitney trail on the last weekend of April,Both of us are avid hikers but have never done anything in snow above 10,000 ft. we plan on making it to trail camp on day 1 and summiting the following morning needless to say we both have alot of questions and I was hoping some of you could share some advice on the following.
1. are snow shoes necassary or will crampons be enough
2. on the 97 switch backs will we be following the traditional summertrail up or is there enough snow to take a more direct route and if so how steep
3.what are trail conditions like after the switchbacks
4. baring bad weather is gortex a necessitie
5. will spring gloves suffice
6. what can we expect as far as overall snow conditions
7. average day / night temp
i no i have more questions but am kind of blanking on them right now but any advice suggestions or any thing that would help would be greatly appreciated thanks for having this web sight i have learned alot already

O.K.,so let me get this straight.You have no alpine or snow hiking experience above 10K, you want to know if you can take the shorter route which bypasses the switchbacks, and you want to know if you can get by without waterproof/ breathable apparel.

So, first off: You need to find out if you get altitude sickness above 10K feet, there is a definate possibility that you may. You have to do prepatory day hikes above 10K to get properly acclimated or you are just setting yourself up for disaster, IMO. If you have no experience with crampons, start learning now. Again, IMO, you have no business on the shortcut without knowing how to use your crampons and ice axe with ease. A male hiker died on the shortcut last year and his wife was moderately injured.

You are going to run into snow on many parts of the trail in late April, in fact probably most of it. You cannot use your summer, canvas light hiker boots for an April ascent. Your feet will be soaked and cold before you can say "under-prepared". It could rain and/or be stormy, so you will need to go prepared. That includes waterproof jackets, pants, boots, 3-4 season tent, 15 degree sleeping bag, and other cold weather gear. The snow may be so soft that you sink up to your hips or it could be so hard you have to use your crampons most of the time.

Our esteemed board member, Bob R, took these fine pictures of his April 30, 2002 ascent.

http://members12.clubphoto.com/robert634908/1286191/guest.phtml

Notice all of the snow and water.

Here is Bob's May 2003 ascent.

http://members12.clubphoto.com/robert634908/1310304/guest.phtml

Notice all of the snow and avalanches. Now you get a pretty good idea of what is ahead for you.

Other members can comment on your other questions. But, for my last $.02, do not underestimate the climb, escpecially in April. It is not a straight forward climb like it will be in August. Your not being above 10K feet kinda concerns me.

mr stryder thank you for taking the time to reply to my posting but i diddnt say ive never been above 10k i diddnt say i was without essential winter gear clothes tent sleeping bag gortex boots etc and i diddnt say i was going take the toughest route i could find i just wanted some answers of what to expect over over 12k and you have given me some insight which i appreciate you just dont have to be so condescinding when doing i guess i just wish i could be more like you

I did the trail on may 17, 2003 in one day. I should have used snow shoes, but was told by the ranger that we wouldn't need them because the snow was too firm. Boy was he wrong! We ended up posting through knee to hip deep snow from halfway up to the top. It took us from 5:30am to 10:00pm. If we had had snowshoes our time and energy would have been drastically cut. If you want my opinion about the shortcut you don't need crampons at all, only a pair of waterproof boots to kick steps with. If you look at the photos you get a great idea of the degree of the slope, about (30). I would however, be totally competent with ice arrest while using an ice axe.

http://photos.yahoo.com/gallasch@sbcglobal.net

Let me clarify myself. I left out that the traverse on the back can have some hairy sections. If you don't have any snow experience I would suggest crampons back there.

Back in August 1998, I received horrible advice from a ranger. I had crampons and ice axe and they asked what route, I said MT, but I wanted to go up the shoot. They said I didnt need either. Against better judgement, I left crampons. It was solid ice!!! Stupid me tried and fell a few hundred feet...would have died if I listened 100% and left my ice axe in the car. Always carry anything you may need, the car is a long way back!

As a note about how the backside can be, here is a link to one of my favorite pictures: Not only does it show the conditions, but it shows Bob R, on the left!

I've posted it before,and don't mean to be boring, but it's so great!

http://www.ridgenet.net/~cburge/Whitsnow.gif

Dashig, at this time of the year you need to haul a big pack with all possible gear to trail camp. From trail camp you can make the decision of what gear to take to the summit. The direct shot to trail crest will be obvious and Im sure well traveled unless a surprise storm has just hit. I feel the shoot is much safer than the icy switchbacks. Learn to self arrest, most likely the snow will be easy to descend with a glissade. Part of the excitement of this sport is the new and unknown, just stop when you feel unsafe, enjoy and have fun!

Dashig;

I would tend to think it's impossible to generalize about what you'll encounter up there.
You could be mushing through melting snow in places, on rock in other places, all the while sweating and getting sunburned. Snow could be mushy in the daytime, hard ice at night and early morning. You could not need anything special; it could be easy.
On the other hand, everything could be frozen hard and you could need the whole business of winter equipment. You could have raging icy winds, even a blizzard with feet of snow up high.

In the end, you'll encounter what'll be there and you can't do anything other than bring everything with you and then adapt to which of the different variations of conditions you may encounter.

This website gives a link to the weather on White Mtn. If you play around in that website it'll link you to the Western Regional Climate Center. You will find comprehensive records from the Barcroft Lab up there, elevation of Trail Camp, for a 20+ year period ending in the eighties. Perusing those records will give you a good take on the way things can vary at that time of year.
Temps are similar, maybe a bit colder. Barcroft Lab is probably drier than Mt. Whitney, so the snow amounts may be less overall.

I hope you have a good trip if you make it.