Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board road conditions?

Can anyone chime in with the current road conditions? Just wondering if vehicle travel all the way to the Portal is possible. TIA

I can't never get to Whitney Portal the last four winters I've climbed Whitney. My mentality is drive as high as I can and if I can get to the Portal, that's a bonus. On these trips, I have a 2WD and see 4WD vehicals go a bit higher but never to the Portal. I also make it a point to park lower in case of a freakish storm rolling in. But then people will say that there's no such thing as a freakish storm in winter. Good luck.

Generally speaking I think that most people can make it to, or just beyond 6400', which is just before the 1st switchback and directly below the road as it comes out of the 2nd switchback and resumes its westerly coarse heading into the canyon. We got a jeep to 7700' on the road before we had to stop due to large rocks which had fallen on the road. If we had to start before the switchbacks we would have hiked directly upslope rather than hike the road. In that case we would have added around 1300' and 1.5 miles. Given the nature of the climb its not too much more to add, and its all relatively low elevation so it should not be very difficult.
We found in December that snow tended to collect on the upper or second switchback since it is in the shade for most of the day and it is an area where snow tends to fall onto and sit. It is good to park low to avoid a freakish storm, but I also think its good to park before the switchbacks if you can't make it all the way past them, since you actually add more mileage to the climb by hiking them.

bump...anyone with first-hand beta? TIA

I didn't make it past the large turnout at the bottom of the hill with my Corolla last Saturday evening. (Wheels started spinning on ice well below that.)

Hey Chris,

Still planning to head up there? Forecast call for 20% snow on Sat and 50% on Sun. I guess it isn't so bad for skiing, but climbing... Think I'm bailing if the weather doesn't improve.

Kevin

We are going up on Sunday. The five of us well see how far we get. It says snow snow snow, but hopefully light snow like the forecast indicates. I have a lifted 4x4 ranger with chains for all four wheels. My only only worries are the rocks and the avys.
But we are going prepared with avalanche gear and SPOT beacons.

Hey Kevin,

We were able to drive to the first Meysan campground entrance on Friday (after I got a flat tire fixed in Lone Pine). I opted to use 'slow'shoes rather than my splitboard as my partner was sans ski/board. Only made it about 3 miles up the drainage before the snow became extremely unconsolidated and we were making very slow progress. Observed a couple of older slides in the Meysan drainage coming off the lower flank of Lone Pine Peak. Opted to turn around and then we hit the Big Pine Creek drainage on Saturday (note the road is being plowed). Went up to about 10K on Mt. Alice before running in to similar unconsolidated snow and slow progress. Observed two slide tracks on the SE slopes of Alice also. In short we climbed very little and basically had the (dis)pleasure of lots of postholing with snowshoes.

Chris