Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board up to date trial cond. on MR or Main Trail?

I am entering the Whitney Zone on friday 4/30. Deciding whether or not to go up the Main Trail or MR. Looking for trail conditions for both.
Danke in advance.

Check out topic, "MR Trail Conditions???" requested by DustysDawg. (15th from the top when last I checked) An update on conditions was given by someone who went up the MR route on 4/26/04. Conditions sound good; snowshoes not necessary but know the snow gets real soft in the afternoon.

Doing the MR Route 5/01/04. Have fun.

We climbed the MR on Sunday 4/25 and came out on the 26th. As of those dates the route was in excellent condition. NO snowshoes needed. PM snow is very slushy but managable. The MR is said to be in the best mountaineering condition in 15 years! However, we found "unfriendly" sugar snow in the chute from the notch to the summit. Very dangerous given the exposure, so we roped up for that section only. The main coulior is still in excellent shape, lots of well defined foot trails to follow, and good snow. The slopes from LBSL to UBSL were slushy snow, but still fun. Snow level is now up to 9,500' and rising fast with the warm weather. Take LOTS of sunscreen!