Greetings. My first permit for Whitney was on June 27, 2019. There were 7 of us, many of whom had made the summit in previous years. That year snowpact was about 160% of normal in this area. Today it’s about 260% of normal. In the June 2019 hike there was a ton of snow. Even though we had crampons and ice axes we were exhausted going up main trail fighting through the snow. The only option was going up the Shute. That is where we made a decision to turn back. Even then it was an exhausting 11 hour day.
I would assume there will be a significant amount of snow on Whitney well into July this year. The 2019 hike gave me a taste of how I could better train/prepare. I came back in 2022 and did one day hike to summit at age 68. It was epic but brutal. Took me a solid 15/16 hours. But there was no snow and no need for any snow equipment!
I live in Calif so I did not mind the failed attempt in 2019. But if you are coming from a long distance and your permit is for June or first part of July 2023 you should expect to battle snow conditions which is much harder than simply walking up the trail with little or no snow.
Good luck.
