Alas, there will be droves of humans trapsing up the Mountaineers' Route in the next couple of months; please post conditions as you happen upon them. A group of us will be crawling up there late May...apparently there are "tons" of permits available for dayhiking.

Just got back from Whitney on Sunday afternoon.

Mother nature wins again. Winds were brutal, 25-40 mph winds and 60+ mph gusts, and it was snowing all of Friday and Saturday. We were on the Main Whitney Trail and made the decision to turn around at the big switchbacks after Trail Camp because of the high winds and the low visibility. Ran into couple others who turned around at the same point.

For the Mountaineer's Route, from what I heard while talking to other climbers while grabbing dinner in Lone Pine, only five people summited on Saturday. During the descent, the 5 that summited (they were roped up), at one point were blown off by a big gust of wind. They were able to recover. Some had bloody faces and had to limp their way down the mountain. Others turned around at the 14,000' level because the winds were too brutal and because of the white out conditions at the top.

Joeyroo wrote:Just got back from Whitney on Sunday afternoon.

Mother nature wins again. Winds were brutal, 25-40 mph winds and 60+ mph gusts, and it was snowing all of Friday and Saturday. We were on the Main Whitney Trail and made the decision to turn around at the big switchbacks after Trail Camp because of the high winds and the low visibility. Ran into couple others who turned around at the same point.

For the Mountaineer's Route, from what I heard while talking to other climbers while grabbing dinner in Lone Pine, only five people summited on Saturday. During the descent, the 5 that summited (they were roped up), at one point were blown off by a big gust of wind. They were able to recover. Some had bloody faces and had to limp their way down the mountain. Others turned around at the 14,000' level because the winds were too brutal and because of the white out conditions at the top.

Wow! What a weekend! It was relatively windy in our mountains down here too. Thanks for the update Joey! Hope those folks are healing up.

Anyone up there this past weekend?

Whatever you do - please avoid doing a butt glisade down the Mountaineer's Couloir.

The resulting trench makes it difficult to ski down the chute.

Deb wrote:Anyone up there this past weekend?

Well we weren't up the Mountaineers route but was pretty close up the Meysan Lakes drainage this past weekend. Before being blown off the mountain Saturday night and Sunday morning we found the snow to be pretty consolidated.
Going in on Saturday no snowshoes or crampons needed, Sunday morning was much more firm.
About 6" of fresh snow dropped Saturday night at just below 11,000 ft.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Whatever you do - please avoid doing a butt glisade down the Mountaineer's Couloir.

The resulting trench makes it difficult to ski down the chute.

This time of the year, glissading tracks are going to be the least of your worries if you intend to ski down the MR.

Early morning Rock & Boulder fall create a far greater hazard and obsticle course this time of the season, trust me.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Whatever you do - please avoid doing a butt glisade down the Mountaineer's Couloir.

The resulting trench makes it difficult to ski down the chute.

Well, that's just stupid. I value my expensive mountaineering pants more than that.

Deb wrote:

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Whatever you do - please avoid doing a butt glisade down the Mountaineer's Couloir.

The resulting trench makes it difficult to ski down the chute.

Well, that's just stupid. I value my expensive mountaineering pants more than that.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Whatever you do - please avoid doing a butt glisade down the Mountaineer's Couloir.

The resulting trench makes it difficult to ski down the chute.

No offense dude. But if I were up there, I would NOT think to myself "Sierra Ledge Rat's ski descent is much more important than anything I am doing up here - so I better not glissade."

A-Lex wrote:

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:Whatever you do - please avoid doing a butt glisade down the Mountaineer's Couloir.

The resulting trench makes it difficult to ski down the chute.

No offense dude. But if I were up there, I would NOT think to myself "Sierra Ledge Rat's ski descent is much more important than anything I am doing up here - so I better not glissade."

damn those young entitled generation.

Deb, it has been snowing this whole week and will be snowing this weekend at the higher elevation. I was up Birch Creek last weekend at 10k and we got horrendous wind with 6 new inches of snow. My experience has been that 30% in the high country equates to 100% chance of something happening. My uneducated guess for this weeekend will be snow/wind/misery, but have fun!

Deb...

The Hill has recorded 19" of freshies since Sunday Night. It has been snowing off and on the last two days throughout the entire Eastside with clearing skies tomorrow and onward through early this weekend.

This weekends newes GFS Models/Forecast Run has totally backed off on the original trough and is now indicating clear weather through Sunday afternoon with possible TS's Sunday afternoon. With that said, Friday and Saturday are looking good and Sunday looks more TSish in the afternoon.

But as I tell anyone heading up the MR this time of the year, be prepared for anything and be armed for bear.

Be safe and have fun.



BTW: Will probably be in the Hills this weekend with Michele and local friends. Ghosts etc. IF ya'll bail, come on by the Ghosts.

The Chief wrote:Deb...

The Hill has recorded 19" of freshies since Sunday Night. It has been snowing off and on the last two days throughout the entire Eastside with clearing skies tomorrow and onward through early this weekend.

This weekends newes GFS Models/Forecast Run has totally backed off on the original trough and is now indicating clear weather through Sunday afternoon with possible TS's Sunday afternoon. With that said, Friday and Saturday are looking good and Sunday looks more TSish in the afternoon.

But as I tell anyone heading up the MR this time of the year, be prepared for anything and be armed for bear.

Be safe and have fun.



BTW: Will probably be in the Hills this weekend with Michele and local friends. Ghosts etc. IF ya'll bail, come on by the Ghosts.

Thanks Rick. We're going for it unless something spectacularly horrid changes with the weather - I'm ready, but I guess we can pack our new gear just in case.

I was up there on the same weekend that Joeyroo describes above. Here's my buddy's video of the climb, where you can see the conditions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLSwSbsWFrY&hd=1

Things will have changed by now but, for what it's worth, here's how it was for us:

We had snowshoes, but we didn't need them. Cold temps kept things firm.

We got onto snow within 30min from the Portal. The willows were still covered up and we didn't have to use the ledges. Careful though, since the snow on the steep slabs on the left side of the creek going up above was sliding, taking trees down.

The gully was covered in snow with almost to the notch, where some scree was showing. The final 400 started out mixed, with 1-2 pitches of rock before you got on snow (all the way to the summit ridge). Most people were soloing it, but if you are not used to crampons on rock, some pro might make it more pleasant. The snow was on its way to consolidating, with a fairly hard, thick crust on top and softer snow underneath. Kicking steps was possible but arduous most of the time - very little in the way of ice.

The winds were howling. The avy center reported them at 60-70mph that weekend. Not sure they were that strong, but they were the biggest challenge for sure. We summited on Sunday Apr24 in parkas and goggles. Camping between Iceberg and UBSL was thoroughly unpleasant because of wind and transported snow...

Good luck, and I hope the mountain treats you better!

ElGreco wrote:I was up there on the same weekend that Joeyroo describes above. Here's my buddy's video of the climb, where you can see the conditions:

It's a small world - we also had a party of four that headed up on that Sunday. The conditions were certainly cold and windy; I'd estimate 50+ at the notch. We weren't certain of the temperature, but water bottles were freezing inside jacket pockets, so reasonably cold.

We started from UBSL and were on the summit around 9am; soloing the gully wasn't bad after the exposed rock bands. We probably crossed paths as our group was descending. And if you had time to enjoy the summit hut, we shoveled it out to take a break from the wind and grab a bite to eat. Someone had left the door open and snow was 4' high and 4' deep into the hut.