Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion june 18th - 1st time summiting

Steve, I think BobR's 35-degree slope was measured near Trail Camp at 3850 meters, or about 12,000 ft., and his measurement or estimate is spot on. At 3800 meters (12,468 ft.), the slope up to 13,600 feet is 44 degrees! One hundred meters higher (3900 meters--12796 ft.), the slope increases to 45 degrees. And the top 500 feet of the "chute" measures at 61 degrees! Yep, very steep! It all depends where the measurements are taken. Regardless, all who tackle the chute need to know what they are doing to maximize safety.

My bad. TOPO! CA has it at 11,384' and Doug's map at 11,395'. I don't know why 11,500' has always been in my head.

I use the switchback turn as my elevation point.

I remember standing at the top of it in May 2007 just before glissading and thinking that is awfully damn steep.

Thanks for putting a number to my words.

wbtravis, I think I remember you saying that you've climbed the Baldy Bowl in the winter time. How does the chute on the MMWT compare to that?

My group is going up June 23, so we would love to hear from you how the conditions were!