Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board old army pass snow conditions??

I am planning on climbing Whitney Via cottonwood lakes, and need info on Old Army Pass. Is there any snow? Is the trail completely open? If not will i need to bring cramo-on's and ice axe?

Thanks,

Matt

This was recently discussed in <a href="http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001998">Old Army Pass Conditions - mid July</a>

thanks for the link, but i am looking for conditions right now.... it looks like to mentioned post was in regards to previous years trips.

We went over NAP on 6/28. Rock Creek Ranger came over NAP shortly after us. After departing she went over to check out conditions at OAP. We met up with her again near Soldier Lake and she mentioned that OAP would not have been passable without axe/crampons. Then again, that was a week and a half ago.

We came down OAP on 7/5 with full packs and it wasn't a problem. There is one snowfield near the top that will get your attention but the snow is soft and the steps that have been kicked are big....trekking poles worked fine for us. If it were early or late and the snow was hard I would have opted for at least my axe but being midday it wasn't needed. Here are some pics.

just got done with my trek.. thanks for the info, yep one small snow field at the top, but boots were all that was necessary to cross. Thanks again