Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Winter Ascent

Hello All!
Was considering a winter ascent of whitney. Can anyone please give some advice for planning. How long should it take, what to pack. I have made a dozen summits of whitney in the past both MR and Main Trail. But this is very different. I have crampons and snowshoes. I know I'll need them.
Thanks for your help!
Canuck

There is a DVD showing a Winter ascent. It has some information about what to take etc.

posted May 30, 2004 11:59 PM
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Just wanted to post my impressions of DVD. It documents a winter ascent of Whitney via the MR. My girlfriend and I are planning on doing the MR in September and we figured the DVD would be a great way to get an idea of what we are in for. The DVD is simply awesome. The quality of the production is top notch and the video and sound quality are really great. As someone who has never been to the Whitney area it really gave a great general sense of the route. Obviously, we will be doing the route without the snow, so there will be some differences with our experience, but it was still great to see what parts looked like. I would really love to see a similar video done of the route during summer conditions (take more of my money!!).

The music was really nice and the pictures of the tents glowing from the inside at night made us wish we were on Whitney right now!!

All-in-all a great video..we will watch it a few more times before we go and probably again once we get back so we can correlate what we watched with what it is like to be there. We both made the observation that it certainly seems like climbing in the winter makes the route more "easy" than the route descriptions in the summer. With the couliers filled with snow it looks like you can tramp right up the valley and bypass the E-ledges and not have to scramble over rocks up the steep part above the notch to the summit...

We've never done any hiking in real snow (other than a brief shuffle through some snow on our way down Longs Peak..) but it certainly looks like something I'd like to get into!

Anyway..here is the direct link to the video if you are interested (I figure I'll give him a plug!) We really did enjoy it!

http://www.customflix.com/Store/ShowTtl.jsp?id=205683

Regards..
BeachAV8R

Richard P. from the new Whitney site has some real experience there.

Consider posting a note on his web site.

http://www.mt-whitney.info/

The real issue is having enough time to finish and staying dry while you are there....certainly not an easy task

That DVD is called Climbing Whitney in Winter - The mountaineers route by James Lee...available at Custom Flix.

Kashcraft must have the same thing in mind...since he asked a similar question.

See

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002607

Thanks for the tips. I checked out that link. So what I gather is that this will not be a one day hike. Where do you suggest I camp out for the night? Iceberg lake or Trail Camp (the camp that is at the base of the switchbacks).
Thanks again
Canuck

From what I can gather the road is definately covered with snow at least until the switchbacks at the bottom of the hill. With the huge amount of snow lately that will not change anytime in the near future.

It seems that means about 1 day to the Portal campground. If you were strong and persistant I suppose you could hope for Lower Boy Scout Lake that first day.

Day 2 you would shoot for Iceberg lake. Last year the TV group that skiied down from up above Iceberg lake said that getting to Iceberg lake took much more effort then they expected.

Day 3 you would head out for the summit.

Day 4 you would return to the car.

That seems to be a realistic expectation. Most prefer the MR in Winter since it is more direct (although people do both). You don't want to walk any further then you have to on the snow.

I too am intrigued with a winter ascent so I purchased the DVD some while back.

I must admit to some frustration with it. First of all it's DVD-R so wound up watching it on a computer (though have since gotten a DVD player that can handle it.)

Secondly a good part of their ascent is in darkness which although successful in giving you a feel for what typical alpine ascents are like, gave you no idea what the lower portions of the mountain would look like. And even though it made sense for them I must admit that I felt they cheated by being able to skip the Ledges (an MR right of passage if there ever was one.)

But that said the scenery of the upper part of the mountain was good. Though I would have liked more time spent on the precise routes used in going up the chute.

Ellen

During the summer, the Ebersbacher Ledges are the easiest way to traverse the canyon, because you can avoid bushwhacking through all the willows, etc. But during the winter, the willows can be covered by snow, making the lower canyon much easier, faster and safer than the legdges, which can be packed with snow and ice.

Well..if anyone ever wants to drag a bunch of new winter climbers up the MR give me a ring..hehe..I think about doing that just about every day now! I'm getting tired of reading books and watching videos..I'm ready to strap on some crampons and get cold! Hehe..

In the winter is one able to just climb up the final chute between the Notch and the summit on top of snow or are there rocks and ledges to negotiate? Or do people do the traverse to the backside and come up that way?

Regards..

BeachAV8R

Beach: Last winter two different groups posted pictures of their ascent. Both groups turned left above the notch and took the staircase up to the top. One group roped up and one didn't. When the news group went up around January 2004 they also went up the chute. I believe, however, they came down the easy traverse on the way back to the notch, but I am not sure they are the ones who did that.

Some, who have done winter ascents, have stated on this board that they turn left to go up the chute no matter which time of year it is. Others have said if you don't have the skill or experience to do either, you maybe shouldn't be there that time of year.

I suppose it depends on the condition of the snow. I have been there early summer when the easy traverse was so icy it would be very dangerous. Walking sideways across a 50 degree slope is not that safe anyway. If you had the skill to get to the notch in the winter, you would make the best choice.

I am sure I would go straight up the chute...any time of year.

Come on out for President's Day weekend. I'm going climbing with a buddy who I haven't climbed with in almost two years (and neither of us is in very good shape right now). We're debating Whitney/Russell vs. Split over four days.