Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion January climb via Main Trail or MR.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been following this forum for a while to keep updated on mountain conditions, as my wife and I are planning a visit to Mt. Whitney around Jan 10-13th. We’re both experienced in the winter backcountry, having spent many winters trekking and climbing at home the mountains of New Zealand and – since our move to the US – in the wintery Northeastern US.

Our plan for Whitney is to camp at the Portal for a night (we’ll be arriving in Lone Pine around midday) and then head up either the North Fork or Main Trail with the eventual goal of topping out at the MR notch or Trail Crest. We’re not concerned with summiting, either via the “final 400” on the MR or by trudging through (probably) deep snow along the back-side of the crest. Our goal is to enjoy the winter solitude and scenery and hopefully climb to a high place. As such, we’ll be travelling with snowshoes, poles, crampons/axes/helmets and the necessary winter weather/exposure gear. So, with the usual caveats concerning little prior snowfall and favorable weather forecasts for Jan 10th-14th, I have a couple of specific questions:

1. Given the recent dump of snow, the route conditions that might be expected for early/mid Jan, and an early start from the Portal (~5 am), is it plausible to reach UBSL (on the MR) or Trail Camp (main trail) before nightfall? If not the latter, how far up the Main Trail would one need to camp in order to have a realistic chance of reaching Trail Crest the following day (assuming fairly consolidated snow, a pre-dawn start, returning to same camping site, and travelling “light” i.e. leaving the tents pitched)?

2. After the big dump of snow this week, is it likely that travel over the Eberbacher (sic.?) Ledges will be necessary to ascend to LBSL, or should there be sufficient snow accumulation to allow travel directly up the canyon?

Thanks in advance, and please feel free to chime in with useful tidbits of knowledge or ask questions. In my experience, one can never have enough local information/advice before heading out into the wilds.

“You’re more likely to be wrong than right, if only because there are many more ways of being wrong than there are of being right”

Don't know if this will be of much help, but I do know that even during the autumn, people skip the ledges and either go straight through the thickets or up the left side of the canyon so it is definitely still possible regardless of snow. Those willows (I think they are) at the bottom of the canyon are about 3-5 meters high so unless there is that much snow packed that low, there is slim chance that you are just going to be waltzing over top of them anyway. I haven't been in the winter, but I'm guessing the ledges are still the way to go if you're on the MR.

January is a tough time to go. I think the mountain guides that take groups up the Mountaineers Route wait until late February to start their trips. This gives the snow time to consolidate, making it easier to go up the canyon without using the Ebersbacher Ledges. I just don't know how it will be in January. If the snow isn't that deep, I think I'd opt for crampons on the E-Ledges.

As for the main trail: most winter hikers just take the MR due to its being a shorter and more direct trip. On the Main Trail, you will spend extra energy tramping extra miles through the soft snow. Better to use the MR so each step counts more.

If you get an early start from the Portal, it certainly seems like UBSL by dusk is possible. But that of course depends on how deep and fresh the snow is. You just won't know until you get there.

By the way, the snowfall so far is not much of a "big dump". We have seen lots more and farther down, in some years. The "web cam notes" picture is how big dumps appear.

As you already know, you will be at the mercy of the snow and weather conditions in January. Here are a couple of January trip reports under ideal conditions:
January 2011 Main Trail
January 2014 Mountaineers' Route

Thanks for the info guys, and for those links to the trip report links, Bob. Both of those outings sound like total monsters! Winter's a different beast altogether, isn't it. Like I said in the original message, we're not aiming to reach Whitney's summit. Time in the mountains, rather than peak-bagging, is our goal. Although, perhaps a smaller, less distant peak like Thor Peak might be an option?.

I reckon our aim will be to camp at Lone Pine Lake for our first night and just assess the conditions from there. If the snow's good, we might head up towards Trail Crest with day-packs. If it's soft and sugary and deep and horrible, it'll be back down to the N. Fork and hopefully better/less snow up to LBSL. Do you reckon it's reasonable to aim for Lone Pine Lake in a day's travel from the portal road closure? Also, how easy are the lower sections of the Whitney Trail to navigate after dusk or pre-sunrise?

Thanks for that Bob. What a great write up. Invaluable info. I only have 9 months of summits and plan on 10 in Feb. What happened to Richard P? I used to follow his Flicker trips but he took it down.

TommoPhoto: here are some photos from a Thor Peak climb in March 2016:

https://pkuroda.smugmug.com/Hiking-climbing/Thor-Peak-March-11-13/

Tommo, we are finally being hit with some of the heaviest snow and precipitation in a long time. This is a "big dump" situation. I can see on the webcam, as the clouds lift, there is new snow now on the visible section of Whitney Portal Road.

NOAA weather forecasts is predicting a new and even heavier storm starting Saturday.

If you head up next week, you will find deep unconsolidated snow, and potential avalanche conditions in a few spots. Please be careful. Here's the Eastern Sierra Avalanche website.

As I said above, I did my January trips under “ideal conditions.” There wasn’t much snow those winters, and it had consolidated for at least a week under sunny skies before each trip. I had relatively firm snow with low probability of avalanches.

Conditions are much worse right now, and I don’t see them improving much for at least a few weeks.

Several years ago, RichardP had a goal of climbing Whitney every week for a year. Things went pretty well for the first 51 weeks. On week 52, in late November or early December, he got caught in a storm on the summit. Rather than spend the night shivering in the summit hut, he tried to make it down and ended up spending the night shivering behind/under a rock somewhere between the summit and Trail Crest. He made it down the following afternoon with frostbite on seven(?) fingers and toes. Several weeks later, he still had some numbness in at least a few digits. I’m writing this from memory, since I can’t find the posts on WPSMB where this was originally reported. I haven’t heard from Richard in a while, so I don’t know what he’s doing now.

One January, several years ago, myself and three others were snow-shoeing in to climb Whitney when, as we were standing on a 25 degree slope, with a loud crack the entire slope slid down about 4 feet...and then stopped before it went all the way down into disaster. This occurred long before trail camp. The break in the snow slope was about three feet deep. Current conditions now are similar to those of our near accident back then.

After a hasty discussion, we quickly bailed and went to climb Telescope Peak instead! Telescope was much safer, but very icy. Lesson learned.

And here it comes....

Check the satellite view Water Vapor loop from NOAA.

Bishop Pass area could see up to 7.5 feet of new snow out of this event.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php...78#.WHEmOEbTk5s

It would be prudent to stay out of the mountains during this storm, and for at least a week after it passes. A search is underway for the vehicle of a missing hiker, who apparently, didn't leave details of his plans with anyone.