Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney portal condition

Hi everyone, We just arrived LA from Japan today. Our group is planning to climb mt whitney on sunday. We have never been to Whitney but we do have some winter mountaineering experiences. We have few questions, Does the whitney portal gate open in winter time? If it is closed for winter, how far do we have to hike to reach the trail head? I also notice that sunday is pretty windy and have snow accumulated today, We still debating about should we take the MR route or the whitney trail, can anyone give us some advises?

Stay in LA. Go to the beach and have fun... May I suggest you come back in the summer and climb Whitney in better conditions? Then, you'll have a much better idea of what you are getting into.

Current weather forecast for Mt. Whitney (major storm occuring now):

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=36.578592407405665&lon=-118.289794921875

Lots of snow and ice up there. You might have a long walk up the road to the portal today.

Ckgor, there is a major storm currently all over California, except for the southern part. Check the weather links on the Mt Whitney Weather page (see the link on the left.) If you go to Mt Whitney, you will experience nothing but cold, wind, snow, and NO views. The mountain is completely lost in clouds and snow. Look at the web cam views.

If you get into the middle of that, you could get turned around and not be able to find your way out. Not even the most experienced mountaineers would venture into that. Bob West is right: Come back in summer!