Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Conditions for June 23rd; any guesses

I cannot tell when any recent posts climbed. How are the conditions on the trail as of June 12. Does one need ice axes or crampons?

This partially depends on what time of day you are in the snow and how comfortable you are in the snow. Bob R. Thor peak photos from the 10th show less snow then a few weeks back but there is still some above trail camp and in the colour on the MR. The path through the snow is getting more worn every day. The 23rd is 11 days out and the temperatures are getting very warm up on the mountain these days.

Based on the reports and my experience in the snow this time of year I would travel through the remaining snow during the warmer times of the day (say 8 - 4 pm) and leave the snow gear home. As early as two weeks ago some were saying they were only using their crampons and ice axes part of the time, early in the day when the snow was still frozen (like daybreak) and only on very steep sections.

Temperatures in town are projected as 92/53 on June 22. That means that expected temperatures at trail camp and above will be about 64/25. Snow should be soft during the middle of the day.

We summited on Saturday the 12th. Went up via the Mountaineers Route and returned on the main trail.

Based on beta from two groups we talked to on Friday afternoon we decided to leave the crampons behind and only take the ice ax. This strategy worked well. On the way up we didn’t hit snow until mid-morning. The snow was soft, no need for crampons. Had we done the snow travel before 8:00 a.m. we probably would have needed them.

We reached trail crest at about 5:00 p.m. (we moved real slowly) and hit a short, icy, exposed section, above the glissading chute. I didn’t use the ax, but I should have, others in my party did. We glissaded down so I don't have a report on the switchbacks. I could see the cabled section of the trail of the from below. It looked like it still had lots of snow. There were a few short patches of snow from Trail Camp to Mirror Lake that were easily negotiated.

If you’re planning an early/late summit via the chute or Mountaineers route you’ll need the crampons and Ice ax. If you stay on the main trail and plan to summit midday, leave the crampons in camp but bring the ax so you will have the option to glissade down.

We climbed on 6/10-6/11 and got to the summit.

No crampons were needed for the main route. Treking poles got you through the snowy sections on the way up. Cable section was the trickiest. Lot of people glissading, too but definitely a bad idea after 5. We did and regretted it.

And that's the way it was. Hope that helps.

Took 3 kids (ages 11, 15, 15) last weekend. Two summitted and the third made it to Trail Crest. Snow was there on the switch-backs, but was not an issue. Only used trekking poles - no ice-axe or cramp-ons. There are 2 spots on switchbacks to watch out for - one near the cables and the other just before you get to Trail Crest.

Good luck.

Six out of 15 summited June 12th via main trail out of Whitney Portal. My first time. What a blast. But very tiring for a one day trip. Arrived Thursday June 10th, p.m. and acclimated Friday a.m. by speed hiking to Lone Pine Lake; which we figured would be in the dark Saturday morning on our early start...then played golf down in Lone Pine. Saturday morning we began at the trail head 4:15am and capped the beast at 11:20am. Very few rest periods on the ascent; It really hurt to start up after the rest, so we mostly just slogged. Most who turned back did so past trail camp, a third of the way up the 97 switchbacks at "the cables". Just poles then, and looking quite daunting at mid-morning with crusty ice/snow. Got my attention. As one who is confident but not experienced with this sort of non-technical climbing/hiking; I would suggest trekking poles and good boots, lots of water consumed at any opportunity, and an iron will to slog steadily and rythmically to the next trail point. The last bit of the last switchback before trail crest was also an eye-opener. Just a short little section that gets your butt out over the glissade chute while having to plant your boot and weight down the ICY slope for the first time in a long ascent. Yikes, I said..then just did it. The stretch along the ridge, after trail crest, was also tough, maybe toughest because it is ALL rock. No nice soft sand to ease the foot plant. Just rock, mostly uphill, mostly slog. The snow below the summit was a piece of cake. The summit of course was the reward, and beautiful in its own right, but the trip was the true reward. The knowing that one can. That one will. That one did. The trip back; after an hour at the top, took six hours!! Lots of longer-"oh my knees.." breaks. The snow was softer and much, much easier. The daunting "scary" spots were hardly a thought, but the pounding was so much more noticable on the joints. Did a standing glissade down the last third of the switch backs; fun but no time was saved really. Just had to try it. Got back to the Portal at 6:20pm. Beer and dog at the store. Hope this post helps some of the other "newbies" looking for a little insight on what to expect. I began taking Ginko biloba (120mg x2 a day with food)Tuesday. I've no idea if it helped mitigate my altitude sickness quotient, but just a little light-headedness which turned into mild headache at lower climes then dissapearing around mirror lake on the descent makes me a believer. My brothers and sisters, the ascent is yours if you want it. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers who count this task as time well spent; you've got what it takes inside. Find it.

I'm planning the hike on June 19th - thanks to everyone who posted here, I'm getting a good idea at what to expect in a few days.

I'm stuck making a shoe choice - specially when there's so much snow still on the trail. Would it be insane to wear hiking sneakers - like the Nike ACG series, with deep cross cut grips, but made of cloth upper as all sneakers are?

I have ankle-high boots as well, but they are heavy, and not as flexible, so I was hoping to get away with sneakers instead of having to lug the extra weight around....

thanks in advance!
cheers

Super:

I personally prefer lightweight boots for this climb even when there is no snow; my Akus weigh 4 lbs for the pair. My friends, all experienced mountaineers, likewise. 22 miles is a long way and the part between Trail Crest and the summit is quite rocky.

Approach shoes such as the Montrail D7s are also popular, and I recently picked up a pair but have not used them yet. 2 lbs/pair.

The main advantage over sneakers is the stiffer sole, so you don't feel the trail's surface through them so much. This is especially important above Trail Crest and when carrying a pack. But I see a lot of people wearing sneakers/hiking shoes on the Whitney trail, perhaps 75% of them during summer. And they seem to do OK. Or at least I haven't heard many complaining.

A couple of years back I took my brother-in-law on a day climb up the Mountaineer's Route and down the trail. Since he is a runner (several miles per day, plus a marathon and a couple of half marathons a year), I thought he should go with the shoes he normally runs in, as opposed to getting boots. Well, when we got down he said his feet were killing him.

Sounds like you want to do a day climb so you will be on snow mid-day; that's good. But you really won't be on it much, so I don't think your cloth tops getting wet is much of an issue. A few minutes each time, then quite a few minutes of dry trail until the next patch of snow.

Of course, if you come down the chute from Trail Crest (take ice ax if you plan to glissade!!!), your boots/shoes will be pretty wet at the bottom.

Bob-
thanks a lot for your reply - that was very helpful! We *are* planning just a day hike, so as you mentioned, we should face snow only at mid-day.
I'll just put multiple coatings of water repellant on my hiking sneakers and try them out. Tried to go to work in my ankle boots to try them out - and my feet are tired already. I'd rather take several extra pairs of socks!

cheers

Dan,
We were camped at UBSL on 6-13 & 6-14 and summitted Russell. We spoke to 3 different groups of hikers who went up the Mountaineer's Route. All 3 groups reported that they did not use crampons while ascending the main couloir. The weather has been warm enough to keep the snow in the main couloir soft enough to kick steps in during most of the day. One group even said that by afternoon the snow was too slushy too glisade on. -Rick