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There was snowfall Wednesday. Better check before you head out.

Enough to post-hole? The forecast looks great going forward.

Mammoth maybe got 3 to 6 inches inches at the most. I would wait and do ritter when it is dry. You seem to be asking alot of questions and it would be beter when people are around. Plus with the gate closed its a long haul down and back up from Agnew.

Marmaduke can easily handle those conditions. And it'll melt quick. He just needs to confirm if the road gets open.

I'll have pics loaded tomorrow. I post-holed 6 of the 10 hrs I was out from 9800' to 11550' on San Joaquin Ridge. Ritter and Banner do NOT look friendly today.

When did they close the gate? It was open Monday...

Fletch wrote:When did they close the gate? It was open Monday...

It just snowed for over 24 hours Wed!! It's gotta close sometime this year. Maybe luck will have it open when the sun dries off the road this weekend, but Devil's Pooppile is closed, so I suspect the road will not re-open.

Deb wrote:

Fletch wrote:When did they close the gate? It was open Monday...

It just snowed for over 24 hours Wed!! It's gotta close sometime this year. Maybe luck will have it open when the sun dries off the road this weekend, but Devil's Pooppile is closed, so I suspect the road will not re-open.

Thanks Deb. We flew back to Denver on Monday, so I guess I missed that... I spoke with the guys in Mammoth Mountaineering before I left and they said the had talked to the chief of police and he stated that they planned to leave the gate open during the shutdown and would continue to do so as long as possible --- even with DP closed... Guess the snow was finally enough to close it...

3 to 6 inches on all that talus sure doesnt sound fun to me. And the snow will stay from the upper Ediza drainage up to the peak on those facing slopes.it will be fun finding the trail too from Shadow up. I am sure it will stay on the ground being that that area is in the trees the whole way.My favorite is one night above Ediza, one night on the peak, and next day out. Enjoy , this is a beautiful time of the year to be up there.

Marmaduke, we don't know whether the gate is closed. The chief of police definitely said the road would be left open as far as Red's Meadow during the government shutdown. Beyond Red's Meadow, I think the road is closed because the Devil's Postpile is a national monument. (The whole area is in the Inyo National Forest, but it sounds like they know they can't close that off, though bathrooms will be locked.)

If you were planning to go there this weekend (Oct 12-13, 2013), however, it did snow 3-5 inches in the mountains on Wednesday and conditions on the talus slopes may be unsafe -- others would know more about that than I do. Please be careful.

If you do go there this season, please keep an eye out for any signs or remains of Matt Greene, a climber who has been missing in the Mammoth Lakes area since July 17th. It's not known where he went, but he had expressed interest in Banner and Ritter and may have met with an accident there or en route. For more info about Matt and the gear he had with him, see the first post in this very long thread:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum ... Lakes-area

As of about 9AM on 10 Oct 2013 from San Joaquin Ridge.

How do you plan on getting in? Road is closed passed Minaret Vista and there is a FKload of snow back there

It's not doable with the road closed? How long of a trek is it with the road closed? The weather has been very warm during the day (yes mid 20's at night) seems most of the snow would have melted off?

Any new reports?

Long way. It snowed again Sunday, probably barely an inch out there but it has been near freezing everyday except Friday and today at 12K'. I would expect to find lots of icy sections. At least good weather is forecasted for the next week (but of course this slider yesterday wasn't forecasted

bump for conditions; looks like no new snowfall in Mammoth since Sunday -? warmer temps too. Anyone confirm likely conditions?

I had to work today so a no go for me.