Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion 2019 Whitney Lottery / Permits

I am not sure how they know, but I read a story if you have a bigger group no more then 3 should apply for the group otherwise you get disqualified. I am curious to know how they know if you find out please share.

I am sure Inyo N.F. staff won't share what tools they have or what data they look at.

You can be sure multiple trips with the same names for leader and alternate leader would qualify.

As the Lottery starts today, I just want to wish everyone good luck and hope to see some of you on the mountain this Fall.

Thank you! good luck to you as well.
my application is in, now the waiting begins

The application system has been improved and is definitely easier to navigate however, it lacks a way to select a range of dates and you have to input location and group size for each individual date. Still it is an improvement over last year. Good luck everyone!

Hi,

We are a group of 6 who would like to hike Mt. Whitney this fall.

When they say that "your group's applications will be rejected if duplicate" what does it mean?

If we each apply with a different leader/alternate then would that still disqualify us? Or is that ok?

Thanks so much in advance for your guidance.

If the same person, or any of the alternate leaders listed on one application applies to the lottery in a second application, the applications will be deleted (all of them, I think) before the lottery is run.

A little more commentary in this post.
Inyo National Forest's info on this is under the Lottery Terms section in the Mount Whitney Lottery page.

Thanks so much Steve. Appreciate your prompt response.

FYI - please tell your alternate leaders to check their spam box as soon as you apply. They only have 3 days to accept. If they don't accept within the timeframe, you will have to cancel your application and pay another $6 to reapply . This happened to me. I couldn't find anywhere on the Inyo NF site that said this and their office was not very helpful. All I found on their website was this:

Alternate leaders must now confirm that they accept the responsibility to be an alternate and can only be designated at the time the reservation is made.
When you make a reservation you have the option to select up to 3 other people to act as alternate leader on your trip. You must enter a valid email address for each alternate. They will receive an email and must respond and accept being an alternate within 72 hours or they will not be allowed to pick up or use the permit. If alternate doesnt have a recreation.gov account, they will be required to create an account. Alternates cannot be changed or added later. Being an alternate carries the same responsibilities as the primary permit holder. Please review leader responsibility.

gracekinsly: Thanks for that very important info!!

Sorry you had the bad experience.

My best friend who I added as an alternate leader saw the email but he didn't understand that he had to create an account or verify anything (even though I relayed that to him). I got an email saying that your alternate didn't verify in the time required and he was removed as an alternate. My application is still good, but now only I can pick up the permit, if awarded one.

Thanks. Wish I had known that. The Inyo NF office told me I had to cancel and reapply.

I just placed my application in last night for me and 2 others. I made both of them alternate leaders, but when they go to accept their email, it comes up as invalid and doesn't let them. Anyone else dealing with similar issues?


Any and all information would be helpful, thank you!

I read somewhere that to accept being and alternate, they needed to first register/create a login on recreation.gov.

So have they done that? It may connect them with their account using the email, so don't use two different ones.

I hope that resolves the problem.

They both confirmed with me that they have made an account on there. They said it forced them to, so they did what it said

At this point, I would call the Inyo Wilderness Permit office number and ask the person there for help: 760-873-2483
I hope you reach Cindy.

Let me post a picture of what it's telling them to give you more information. I tried calling the number for lottery assistance, but I was placed on hold and it randomly hung up like 4 times, so I just sent them an email. No reply yet

If they don't get to accept it within the 72 hours, it doesn't compromise our permit does it? Just makes it so I have to be the one to pick it up and hold it?

Won't let me post a picture, so I'll just call that other number, since it was different than the one I was using, and see what happens

Appreciate you, Steve

I called, pressed 0 to talk to a live person, but it never even rang, the automatic system said that nobody answered and restarted the prompts

The power was out in Bishop, and knocked out the phones...

Word is No Lottery Progress Report this week as they are working on solving the software quirks related to alternate leaders.