Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Thinking of doing MR for first time

I am on schedule to do a one day summit the Main trail June 4th. I am interested in doing a MR summit later in the year. Is the trail easy to follow or should i hook up with someone that has been up it before. I would love to go anytime even late in the year after snowfall.

Thanks,
Leroux

The MR route requires some trail finding skills, but between Doug's book, many descriptions posted on this site (just do a search) and all the cairns built during the summer, you should be able to find your way. You should also think about taking a GPS as a back-up.

Leroux,

When I first did my research for doing the MR for the first time, I bought some books and found lots of great information here and in summitpost.com. The route is not maintained so Sierra Sam's advice on having some route finding skills is right on the mark. However, the route is pretty straightforward once you get there. I don't mean to make it a sales pitch, but I just released a DVD on the MR during winter which shows overviews of the route and sections along the way. It's available on Amazon and Yahoo but here's the direct link http://www.CustomFlix.com/205683.

When later in the year were you planning to do the MR? Weather and snow conditions are critical, especially for what types of gear to bring.

gosc

Hi gosc! I'm curious about your DVD. It looks really cool. Do you mind me asking what videocamera you used to record the footage? I'm curious about the quality of the DVD, as I am interested in it. Thank you.

Buck,

I used a Sony TRV30 for its compactness and lightweight. Plus, with the big battery, I get 10 hours of recording and the lithium batteries hold up well in cold temperatures. Picturewise, I get 530 vertical lines of resolution with this videocamera and I used a high-grade wide angle lens and solid tripod (Gitzo) to prevent getting the shaky "tunnel vision" type of footage typical of camcorders. DVD quality is 480 vertical lines. Never in the editing/production process does the resolution drop below 480 lines so the final product has an excellent picture. I also used a Canon 1D camera with top notch lenses so the photos turn out great on DVD.

I am particular on making sure I've put out a quality product. I hired a professional narrator, had it reviewed by a former mountaineering instructor, maintained a steady flow to avoid being boring, kept it interesting and pertinent and made sure the sound/picture quality were up to snuff. Comments would be greatly appreciated.

gosc