Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Winter Access Forum Snow Profile Whitney 4-1-06

I think Niki and I saw that group as we were ending our hike on Sunday. They were camped just a few hundred yards up from the 'poop pipes' (the North Fork/Main Trail junction) and said they were going to try for the summit.

We told them to be careful as the past two days of sun had made things very wet and it looked like a fair amount of precipitation was on the way.

Thankfully, they're uninjured. I can't imagine why anyone would want to camp below Iceberg. That slope is treacherous!

Jason

I too remember the warning Kurt posted on the site. It was in response to a message that I had posted stating that I had followed some tracks that I thought were going to follow the gully to the easier slopes near the East Face. They petered out, and I ran out of gas, but there is no way that I would ever camp down in there. I traversed to the high ground south of the gully and set up camp there.

During the spring warm-up, it isn't unusual to see baseball size clumps of snow rolling down the slope. As I recall, this is an indication of a potential slide.

Glad to here someone could post details on the incident.

Hey guys... I'll respond to some of the above posts.

Kashcraft... yes I had a great time with you guys in January too. We missed you on our March trip. We had a great time! I have two trips headed up Whitney. One started yesterday and another starts tomorrow. The reason they aren't listed on my web site is the people booked it privately. We have scheduled dates for trips on our web site but if people call and want to do a listed trip on a different date we can usually accommodate it as long as we have the guide staff available. This is how a lot of our trips get scheduled.

Ken and Richard... yes this slope has concerned me for some time. This is the same slope where Greg and I dug the pit. All the data on the table above on Steve C's posts is from the pit we dug on Saturday. This slope concerns me for many reasons: (1) it is south facing and gets a lot of sun, (2) it is steep enough and loads up enough to slide, (3) the bottom of it is a classic terrain trap (those of you who have taken a course now know that they can magnify the consequences of a slide occuring), (4) too many people cross this slope high and it can cut this slope weakening it. When Greg and I made our tracks we went low and the first people we saw follow it stayed on our tracks to this point then cut high. The baseball size chunks that Richard refers to are called sun balls and are very prevalent on this slope during the spring time.

tonychurch... thanks for the heads up on the Easteren Sierra site. For those of you out there looking for a good source for avalanche conditions check out the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center web site at: http://www.esavalanche.org.

As far as avalanche conditions go I'm not necessarily saying go or don't go to Whitney right now. It is a process of decision making. It's not providing the right answers but learning to ask the right questions. Sometimes routes can be altered or alternative plans can be made. You need to go in to it armed with the knowledge and assess the conditions as you go. That's why I dug that pit in the first place.

As an aside to this discussion it is with deep regret that I write this: the president of the ESAC was killed on Mammoth Mountain yesterday. Details are still coming out but the accident made national news. Look at MSNBC's web page among others. He was not killed in an avalanche. It was a steam vent that collapsed. It is a good reminder to us all that there are many dangers out there. We need to be aware at all times and look at the big picture. While focusing on avalanches it would be easy to overlook something else. Please take a moment and say a prayer for the family and friends of these people (two other names not released yet). Whether you knew them or not they were fellow friends of our mountaineering community who did a lot of great work behind the scenes for us.

All the best,

Kurt

Hey Kurt,

thanks for all the info and snow pitt report. My buddy and I are planning a trip up the MR starting thursday (4/13) AM. We would love any info or report from your groups that are on the mountain right now. Are they doing the MR or one of the more technical routes?

Also quick question about camping at Iceberg lake. We are planning on camping there, after looked at the map (neither of us have been on Whitney before)we thought the N, E, and W shores appeared to be an potential avalanche chutes, but thought the S shore might be a good spot to camp. After reading some of these posts, I am thinking that may not be the best idea. Do you know where exactly those guys lost their tent & gear in an avalanche?

thanks so much for the info!

-Zach

PS: dito about the tragedy at Mammoth, those guys are in my thoughts.

Hi Zach,

We had a group reach the summit on the 10th via the Mountaineer's Route. They reported variable snow conditions but found a route through it that looked good. All previous tracks were covered and they waded through deep snow most of the way. At one point it was hip deep in the chute.

If you camp at Iceberg Lake you can get well away from any potential avalanche paths. A good rule of thumb is to shoot an alpha angle and make sure your camp is 21 degrees or lower. The alpha angle is the angle you get with your clinometer from where you are standing to the land feature above. The farther you are away from the feature the lower the angle will be. Does that make sense? If it doesn't let me know and I'll try to explain it further.

I'm headed up on Friday so perhaps I'll see you guys in there.

All the best,

Kurt

Kurt,

Thanks for the detailed report on the snow conditions from below Iceberg Lake. I have question regarding your comment on the path taken across this slope. It sounds like you would prefer people to take a low path since crossing high is potentially weakening the snow pack. Wouldn't that be placing people in greater risk since they would be in a more direct path if the snow pack did release? When picking a route I try to avoid crossing a potential avalanche path whenever possible.

Did you or your guys dig a pit in the MR Couloir leading up to the notch? If so, would you please post those results. Finally, did you have anyone up there last weekend? I am interested to see what effect the Pacific storm over the weekend had on the conditions in the area.

Thanks again for providing such detailed information and keep up the great job!

Guys,

Any update on the snowpack conditions in Couloir below the notch?

Thanks!