Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion June 5-8

I planned to hike to trail camp and evaluate the situation and hope to meet someone at the camp to hike with. anyone planning to be there on the same day? I have no experience in snow travel but will have an ice axe and crampons or microspikes.

Know your limits...

If you don't know how to self-arrest, then you shouldn't be on the mountain...

You have the gear and you don't know how to use them? That's a deadly mix.


I hope you have fun...

Yes, thanks for the advice. Most likely I will camp at trail camp and practice snow travel/self arrest on mild to moderate slope. only if I feel confident and meet someone willing to hike with, I will not consider going up.

How do you measure confidence?

And assume you meet up with a hiking partner with similar knowledge like yours?

The chute to Trail Crest ain't no mild or moderate slope. So getting last minute instruction on mild or moderate slopes around Trail Camp ain't gonna do you any good.

People have died there.

New poster to the forum is asking good questions and talking about making careful decisions based on the conditions he/she finds. It's a good start. June 5-8 is still a ways away so who knows what the switchbacks will look like, might or might not be passable. (I agree that the slope is no place to learn how to use an ice ax, though the bottom part could be a place to practice.)

Where is the thumb's up on this thing?

Oh yeah.

I always get a kick out of people thinking...gee, snow, no problem, I'll rent me some clampons, an ice pick and head up the chute. Me, I was scared to death at the thought of doing the chute until I had me some real world experiences...like 4 winters of real world experiences. A bit much? Yeah, by about 3 winters and a one day snow skills course.

People will continue to die here...story remains the same...only the names change.

My first summit was up the chute. I remember carefully monitoring conditions. Timing is important. You want to get up and down the chute when the 'snow' is not frozen solid into ice, i.e., mid morning to early afternoon. I agree with others here that discretion(and caution)are the greater part of valor. Ultimately, you are responsible for your decision and you would be wise to respect what experienced climbers have to say.

Snow type is key. We went up in freezing conditions in the morning when the snow was what I call crunch...hard but you can penetrate it with crampons. This the type of conditions I like best for climbing.

We returned when the shadows were starting to descend down the chute. We down climbed to the sun and glissaded the rest of the slushy way then post holed back to Trail Camp.

It's not just having the tools, it is knowing when and how to use them plus being able to read conditions...all of which clampons renters do not know how to do.

I noticed my post has brought a lot concern regarding chute and lack of experience with ice axe and crampons. I've been researching the chute and it looks pretty intimidating to say the least. When I see it first hand, I'm sure I will agree with you crampon owners. Seriously, I won't be climbing the chute. My initial plan was to go fishing but it's too early for that so I have 4 days in the mountain.

Pack a fly rod and have fun.

Couple of years ago, I saw people pulling big trout out of Consultation Lake....

I heard Consultation Lake was a good fishing spot unfortunately, it is frozen along with nearby lakes. I probably stay in whitney zone for part of the time and hike into a different area targeting brown trout. I'll post either way. Thanks for encouraging words.

This will be my first year to hike Whitney so what I'm about to say is biased on my research, not personal experience. I've heard that Consultation Lake holds some decent sized rainbows. At the moment it appears to be frozen over. Mirror Lake looks like a hidden gem, It should have some nice brooks. Don't forget about the extra bounty on brooks this year (if you don't catch and release). If you do not know if this site already you will want to check it out: DFG USFS fishing guide

Yes, I'm familiar with extra brook trout plus normal trout limit. when will you be climbing whitney?

I'm going on the 14th-15th. I hope to get some fishing in on the way out