Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Spring Climbing

I am trying to plan a trip out to Whitney this spring....maybe early April? My husband wants to combine it with skiing at Mammoth. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what the conditions might be like on the main Whitney trail at that time of year. With ice axe and crampons is it doable? Should we plan on more than 2 days up and down? Have never climbed in CA, only in CO...any advice, tips, tricks, good places to stay or eat would be soooo appreciated!!!

Virtually all of the questions that you have, are answered in great detail by using the 'search" function.

But your first, about the feasability of the climb is that it will almost certainly be do-able, with technical gear. However, it is still a winter mountaineering experience in April.

g'luck!

Thanks! I was expecting that I would need the basics for winter climbing, but just being unfamiliar with California mountains, was wondering if I should expect it to be much different than the climbing I've done in CO. I'm fine and was expecting to use crampons and axe, but was wondering if I would need more...i.e. rope?

I know I could do a search for most things, I've already done a ton of research on lodging and such, but I like to get insight from people who've been there and experienced it first hand...as I find some of the best bars/campgrounds/things to do and see that way!

MNgirl, I can probably speak more to bars and hotel vs. the main trail in spring (having only done it under late spring/summer conditions). Depending on your standards and ability to entertain yourselves, I can offer that the historic section of the Dow Villa Hotel (where the old western movie stars used to stay) has always been my choice when not camping. I think it has more character than anything else in town, but on the other hand, the rooms are really nothing to be impressed with. As for bars, my girlfriend and I had a good time at the Double L bar which is just a block or two down the street from the Dow Villa on the east side, although the good time was pretty much in spite of the bar itself-- it was us and a couple locals, and we played pool and ran the jukebox (I think they appreciated that we started with some classic rock, but one of the bartenders loves U2). Several decent restaurants in town, both breakfast and dinner (Merry-go-round for one, and I recall that Seasons was alright as well). There are a fair amount of restaurants in Lone Pine given its small size!! Also, a stop in Manzanar, the WWII Japanese internment camp (located 10-15 minutes north of lone pine) is well worth the stop. A nice museum and you can actually drive through the remains of the camp. Its amazing what we thought was a good idea at the time!!! Hope this helps you a little.

Start out by reading Bob R's post "So you want to climb the Mountaineers route in Winter" @ http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=503

Most capable of doing a winter ascent of Mt. Whitney go up the Mountaineers Route. Although the regular trail route would seem safer, there are risks there also in some areas, especially around the west side just past trail crest.

Ken is correct about April...it is still a full winter mountaineering experience up on Mt. Whitney. Staying warm and dry, having Ice axe and crampon experience and avalanche training would all seem a must.

There should be snow at least down to about 8000 feet. Above about 10000 feet you will need to melt snow for water. Up at about 12000 feet there could be up to 10 feet of snow left.

Most groups take 1-2 days to get to 12000 feet (12000 foot Trail camp on the regular trail and 12600 foot Iceberg Lake on the Mountaineers route). There is then 1 day to summit and return to camp and about 1 day to come back to the car.

We attempted a April Ascent this past spring. You can read about it here.

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004238

This topic from December 2003 - <a href=http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001564>game plan needed for an April climb</a> - addresses your question. Please look through it.

And listen to Ken and Kashcraft, two people who are very knowledgeable about conditions up there. Even in light snow years, tackling Mt. Whitney in April is a full-on winter mountaineering challenge, whether you go by the trail or the Mountaineer's Route.

That the same questions come up year after year is one of the frustrations of a long-term message board denizen. I and others address them, and later have to do it again. I am not singling you or anyone else out, because a person cannot discover this board and immediately know how to find all the advice that is already imbedded. As of this morning, there are 4846 topics on this message board, and 33445 posts to them. A lot of information!

But how to get the word to message board newcomers about this vast store of data and the procedure for sifting through it? By sifting, I mean not only finding the pertinent posts, but deciding which advice is good and which is otherwise. I have no great suggestions. Just wondering how long my enthusiasm for repeating myself will last.

Thank you all for the advice. I definitely want a winter mountaineering experience, but this will be one of my first. I was hoping to use this climb as practice for doing something like Mt. Rainier next september or the following year and it sounds like from what you're all saying, it will be exactly that. It seems that the bigger decision may be picking which trail is better at that time of year- MR or Main. My husband wants to go up the MR, but he has more climbing, ice experience than I do.

Anyway - sorry for asking the question that gets asked every year. I'm really trying to get more active in mountaineering, I admit that I'm not overly experience, but I'm so excited about some recent experiences and the thought of doing this spring trip that I think my inexperience shows. Thanks for being patient!

The best thing about going in April is you will find the place almost deserted. We camped in Whitney Portal last February and the only persons we saw the whole weekend were people venturing up lower MR as we were descending. It is a very different experience in the winter and spring.

There is a big difference between Whitney, and Rainier, and I don't think that one really prepares you for the other. One major difference is that Rainier is all about glacier travel, and there is none of that on Whitney. It might be a really good idea to take a snow travel course from Kurt Wedberg, the only professional guide who guides both of those mountains. It would not only cement your skills, but would enable you to really pick his brain on the issues.

Ken - thanks for the Kurt Wedburg/SMI tip....I hadn't heard about that and am now seriously considering that as an option. Even taking one of the instructional courses would probably be really helpful for me! Above all else, I obviously want to be safe! I read "So you want to climb the Mountaineers route in Winter" too - very good information!

Kurt's Wedberg SMI web site is here.

http://www.sierramountaineering.com/

Thanks again everyone - this forum is very cool and very helpful. I think I am going to do Kurts snow travel course first rather than just going in blind and trying something I might not be ready for. I am grateful to all of you for the advice and for not making me feel like an idiot. I am excited that I can now put together a solid plan for my trip next spring and hopefully, if all goes well I will still be able to make a summit attempt (after some training!!!) Hopefully this is only the start of 20-30 years of mountaineering adventure for me! Wish me luck!

> Hopefully this is only the start of 20-30 years of mountaineering adventure for me!

Then you better start thinking about moving west! There just aren't many high peaks in Minnesota.

Oh believe me, I've done more than think about it. I've started applying to jobs in CO and would move out West in a heartbeat if my husband and I could both find good jobs. Know anyone who wants to hire an engineer and a manager???? MN is a beautiful place with great outdoor activity, but for me, it doesn't begin to compare to the mountains!

It's all happening in Boulder - from lattes to Longs Peak. Spend enough time at one of the coffee/breakfast shops there and you'll think you're in back in Berkeley circa 1968 or so. Seriously, just returned from an annual four day golf excursion to the Front Range and it's a vibrant and fiscally solid area around Boulder/CU. Get a short term subscription to the Denver Post and answer a few ads; give it a try - nothing to lose except the upper Midwest flatlands....
67Brickie