A few hours ago, I posted the following message on the Whitney Portal Store message board. Figured that I might as well post it here too.

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I’ve been on a couple of winter Whitney trips (SMI in 2006, SWS in 2010). In early March, I’ll be heading up the MR with a few friends. We’re planning to bring some gear to use above the Notch, but would like to limit the total weight.

For those of you who have been up there recently, what gear would you recommend? I was thinking about bringing a 30-meter rope, some pickets, set of nuts, quicklinks, webbing, and locking biners.

If there’s not much snow above 14,000 feet, can you take off crampons and scramble up Class 3/4 rock to the peak?

I'll be up there with another summitpost-er March 6-9. For climbing hardware I'm planning on bringing the same type of gear: 30m rope, slings & cord, rap rings, hexes, biners, and a picket or 2. But I haven't been up there before so I was wondering what type of pro is necessary for the notch area. I read one trip report that said they used ice screws, hopefully there are other anchor options, because screws are $$.

There is enough snow there now. The ice is under the snow. My friend went there last weekend...did not have any trouble descending MR

http://pullharder.org/2012/02/11/winter-whitney-linkup/

Vitaliy, that’s a pretty impressive trip report. Somehow I don’t think that anyone in our group is going to free-solo the East Face, unless we miraculously improve our climbing skills over the next few days.

If you are inclined to bring pro up there then a set of nuts and some slings is adequate. I would leave pickets and locking biners behind. There is ample protection in the rock to not need pickets above the notch and you can always double up biners instead of carrying lockers. The right side of the route above the notch is typical Sierra class 3 that can be scrambled in crampons. I would leave your crampons on b/c you prob won't find an ideal spot to put them back on should you be so inclined. If you are comfortable with some exposure and traveling on moderate angle snow, you will prob find that you won't even take the rope out of your pack.

I posted the TR just for you to see that MR is in fine condition as of now... : )

Mtndonkey: thanks for the suggestions. I’ve done a fair number of steep snow slopes, without a problem. It’s the rocky sections (possibly covered with ice and snow) that are more difficult, especially on the descent.

I’m thinking that we’ll probably bring along a 30-meter rope, webbing, quicklinks, and a set of nuts. Webbing and quicklinks are cheap, so if we have to leave some gear, it’s not a problem.

Mtndonkey, thanks again for the suggestions. Above the Notch, I stayed on the right side of the chute, which was Class 3, with plenty of handholds and footholds. At the same time, my friends were climbing up the left side, which seemed to be a little bit tougher.