Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Snow conditions end of june

hi everyone,

do you think thre will be alot of snow/ice at the end of june that would make crampons or an icepick desireable. my date is june 30th i think good boots should suffice with treking poles in both hands. any ideas.

thanks

In 2006, on July 2nd, I did not need crampons etc.

I will be there on June 28th for an over-nighter with a group of ten. Fourth of July last year nothing was needed, but I understand more snow fell this year. I would check on a later date for an update.


Ron

Every year is different 2006 had more snow than the 2005 winter but 2005 had more residual snow in June. Whitney Portal was a ghost town on July 4th weekend in 2005 because of large amounts of snow still on the trail up high.

My guess is there will be snow in all the usual places there is snow early in the hiking season but you will most likely be able to muddle through it.

Don't go higher than your skills and gear allow. Ascending ain't as dangerous to your health as descending.

Hmmm...trekking poles arrest a fall, how?

Yesterday we went up the 97 switchbacks. Used only hiking poles until reaching the cables (between SB #45 and 46), then got out ice axes and put on crampons. Took crampons off after about SB#48 and put the axes away shortly thereafter. The rest of the way to Trail Crest was mostly dry, although there were the usual couple of snowfields to cross higher up. We just used poles.

We contemplated putting crampons back on to cross the final snowfield below Trail Crest, but didn't. It was fine. We could have climbed up ~50' to bypass that last field completely, on rocks and dirt.

If you are a little timid/inexperienced, or if the snow is not as good as we found (we were there around 10 AM), you might use ax and crampons more than we did.

We stashed ax and crampons at Trail Crest (along with everything else except a canteen of water, a candy bar, and a parka). Did not come close to needing them from there to the summit. This is not a skills/experience issue--there is just virtually no snow past Trail Crest. There is that simple snowfield just short of the summit, but it is a piece of cake now. Or just walk around it.

My sense is that the snow level right now, from Trail Camp on up, is more like early June instead of early May. I'm planning another climb in a couple of weeks and almost certainly will not bring crampons. Undecided about the ax.

We glissaded the slope below Trail Crest. It was miserable. But we were there around 4 PM, and the cooler temperatures had created a thin crust of ice above the soft snow beneath. 3 PM and earlier would have been delightful.

This is more than you need to know, because you will undoubtedly have to go out of your way to walk on snow the end of June. But others going up soon may find the information useful.

Thanks for the information Bob. And way to go on yet another Whitney summit.

Unfortunately for everyone, this year has turned out to be well below normal for snow again. Here is a report from today's Fresno Bee:

I know that trekking poles won’t stop a fall and most know that neither will an ice axe as a self arrest is nearly impossible. I mentioned the trekking poles for help going up the snow. I do have experience with mountaineering and snow hiking but as I am not in the money right now I would rather not have to buy a pair of crampons, as I broke my last pair they were kind of cheaply made though. I will bring my axe though, and even renting is expensive and I would rather buy them and have them for next year and future snow hikes.

Anyway thanks for the help I will check the snow report the first week of June and make my decision at that time whether I will need them or not, probably not as most have said I kind of figured as much, just bouncing thoughts off of people i have going through my head sort of excited I guess.

Again thanks