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Whitney Lottery Application 2011
#9348 12/03/10 12:14 AM
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Mt. Whitney Lottery Application 2011

January, 2013 update:  For 2013 permit lottery information, use this link:   Mt Whitney Permit Lottery 2013

January, 2012 update:  For 2012 permit lottery information, use these links:
    Mt Whitney Permit Reservations 2012
    2012 Whitney Permit Lottery information now available


Update April 4, 2011:  The 2011 Mt Whitney permit lottery processing has completed.  For more information, see the Whitney Lottery progress info here:  Mt. Whitney Lottery Progress Reports

Update Mar 16, 2011:  The lottery application period for 2011 is now closed.  The Inyo National Forest staff are processing all remaining applications, and will be sending out successful reservations and notices for unsuccessful applications.  This process usually completes early in April.  In 2012, the Forest Service hopes to have an automated system in place -- the lottery will occur electronically, and be completed in minutes.

Here's a related thread:  Fighting Permit angst.. alternate trip suggestions?

Jan 26, 2011:

Inyo National Forest staff have posted the 2011 Mt. Whitney Lottery Application forms.

Just remember, forms must NOT be mailed until February 1, 2011.  New this year, the deadline for mailing is March 15, but you will have the best success rate if you mail the first week of February.

Here are the links:
For a Whitney permit outside of the lottery:  Use THIS FORM (or call the Wilderness Permit office, 760-873-2483).

The Inyo National Forest web page with access to the applications is here:    Inyo National Forest- Recreation Passes & Permits.
(Links to the Lottery information and application form are under the "New Information" column on the right.)

Inyo National Forest has their "Calendar of Dates Available" pages for both day hikes and overnight use to show what dates were filled and what space was left after the 2010 lottery was completed.  Those pages are also accessible from the Passes & Permits page:
    Calendar of Dates Available:   Day Use Mt Whitney Zone  and  Overnight Mt Whitney trail

Looking at the Lottery Information page, the question and answer format appears to be inspired by our own WhitneyZone Wilderness Permit Options decision tree.   cool   Also note that 2011 may be the last year for the mail-in lottery.  2012 may see the first computerized lottery process.  Just imagine, overnight results!

Note:   For planning purposes, you can look at the Unused Whitney Permits - 2010 information. It has a column to show the permits available on 4/8 (immediately after all lottery apps were processed), as well as the number unused after the actual date.  Based on the numbers there, NOBODY should be entering the lottery for a May hike except maybe overnighters on the Memorial weekend.  The same goes for most days in October.  During these times, you would be able to walk into the Visitor Center in Lone Pine and pick up a permit free of charge.

During June, 2010, there was much snow on the Mt Whitney trail, so the numbers of unused permits are unusually high.  In drier years, since the trail is clear of snow by June, you would see lower unused permit numbers.

You can see last year's lottery thread here:  Whitney Lottery Application 2010.  And here is a report, complete with pictures, showing the USFS staff actually processing the 7168 lottery applications:  Look who has her hand in the cookie jar...

Good luck everyone!

Edit: Last year, the quickest way for people to find out if they had been successful in the lottery was to check online if their credit card account had been charged. The Forest Service charged the credit cards earlier than they deposited checks. So, if you really want to find out early, use a credit card rather than writing a check.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #9349 12/03/10 05:43 AM
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Very cool!
Looking forward to the online process.

CaT


If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)
Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10234 01/23/11 10:31 PM
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Wow! Time sure flies!

We are only a week away now from February, when people can mail in their Mt Whitney Permit applications to be processed in the Whitney Lottery.

Applications must be mailed no sooner than February 1. You have the best chance of getting your application drawn and processed, if it arrives before the first processing day, Feb. 15.

If anyone has questions about the process, be sure to post here, and someone will be sure and help.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10246 01/24/11 11:56 AM
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I and my friends have our Mt. Whitney lottery application ready to mail on February 1. Wish us luck that we get the 1st choice dates we chose.

By the way, special thanks to Steve C. for posting the 2011 lottery application and information and for the reminder that Feb. 1 is right around the corner. The minute I saw Steve's post, I printed the app. emailed my friends requesting favorite dates and had the app. filled out in hours. Thank you, Steve.


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Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10498 01/31/11 02:19 PM
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Before I drop my permit app in the mail tomorrow, thought I would throw out a question to the board.

I'm going to apply for an overnight permit, and the entry date can be any time from July 7 - Sept 5. (I have a very flexible schedule this summer.) Do I need to specify the number of nights?

I know that the permit is good for 14 days from the entry date, I'm just wondering if the folks processing the permits prefer to know the number of days people may be on the main trail.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
wazzu #10501 01/31/11 03:06 PM
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The number of nights is completely irrelevant to the lottery process. All that matters is that there are enough open slots available for the date you start your hike.

Once you have the reservation, when you go to the Visitor Center (S. of Lone Pine) to pick up the actual permits, it is THEN that they will ask you for the approximate number of nights. And even then, it does not matter that much-- it is only for statistical purposes and also if you are reported missing, they can get an idea where and when to start looking for you.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10502 01/31/11 03:17 PM
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Mine was very easy this year. The previous 4 years I would list all these descending date preferences, often going to a second page. This year it read:

(1) Any available dayhike date during July

(2) Any available overnight start during July

I've definitely learned my lesson. If I get skunked (again) on this one, I'm gonna be real POed! I'm batting.250 so far.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Bulldog34 #10503 01/31/11 03:36 PM
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And of course our standard reminder....

If you get skunked in the lottery, it is quite likely that, if you show up at the Visitor Center at the appropriate time, you can pick up a no-show permit to hike. Check the Wilderness Permit Options link in the Feature Topics box (above on the left).   Carefully read the No Fee Permit Options

If you are flexible, and have a day or so extra, you could spend nights acclimating at Horseshoe Meadows, and come down to Lone Pine to pick up the no-show permits. And when you pick those up, they are free!

Edit: There is a thread in the Chat Room forum regarding this year's lottery: WHAT DAY IS IT?

Last edited by Steve C; 02/01/11 10:03 AM. Reason: What day is it?
Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10504 01/31/11 03:49 PM
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Absolutely! Got a lottery day permit in '09, but was able to trade it in for a different day once I got to Lone Pine. Got skunked in the lottery last year, but traveled the 2000 miles anyway, confident I would get two overnight permits somewhere during my target week. It worked out just fine. Being flexible by a day or two around your desired date can make a big difference.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Bulldog34 #10592 02/02/11 08:47 PM
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I just realized this hasn't been posted this year...

Last year, the quickest way for people to find out if they had been successful in the lottery was to check online if their credit card account had been charged.

The Forest Service charged the credit cards earlier than they deposited checks. So, if you really want to find out early, use a credit card rather than writing a check.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10625 02/04/11 10:04 AM
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When do they start pulling out the lottery applications?


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Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
quillansculpture #10631 02/04/11 11:07 AM
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Feb 15.

As more applications come in after that, they keep adding them into the pile. So your best chances are to get the application mailed off now, so yours might be pulled and processed early.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10720 02/09/11 03:57 AM
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Will be mailing in my application today for party of 3 with primary and back-up dayhike dates alternating between the last week of July and the week before that. Primary date is the last Thursday of July. The other two people are my church music director and his college-age son. They have never been, so I will be leading, if this all works out. Lots of hoops to jump through yet to make it happen.

CaT


If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)
Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10755 02/09/11 10:33 PM
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So glad to hear there is going to be an automated process for this next year. I was actually considering approaching the forest service this year and offer to build such a system "pro bono" that would still allow people to have a lot of flexibility with choices but in a digital format. It appears this is already in the works now and I will be spared doing any of the work involved. laugh

Good luck in the lottery everyone!

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Mr Nazgul #10966 02/19/11 01:48 AM
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If they go to a computerized system will they then take the on-line applications, print them out, put them into the big box, throw them down the stairs and mix them with a leaf blower?

LOL just kidding: I too am looking forward to a quicker system since I need to make airplane reservations and this 8 week process is killing me. I assume an online process would be more similar to registering for a college course rather than a lottery, perhaps even with waitlists? Hopefully the Whitney association can get some insight into the program design.

My top Whitney 2011 choice is September but I'll take August or July also so I cannot purchase tickets until I know which date and when, or if I lost, and so would do a different backpack trip in the Sierras in September possibly exiting via Whitney.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
NJ hiker #10981 02/19/11 09:41 PM
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The computerized system will intake reservation requests online, but they won't be as flexible -- you'd likely have to put down just ten entry dates. Typing "any weekend in July or August" wouldn't work.

But, all the reservations would be made in one run -- probably would take a few minutes. It will likely pick reservations in random order, fill the first request it finds that is open, and generate an email. If none of the choices can be filled, it will send a "So Sorry" email.

There will probably be a way for people with no computer to still mail in requests.

As for wait lists, I doubt it. Only a few cancellations come in, and those are likely to remain available on a phone-in basis. No-shows are handled by the IAVC where you pick up the permits. You can read about those in the "No Fee Permit Options" (box 6) of the Wilderness Permit Options in the Feature Topics box above on the left.

...NJ Hiker, good luck in the lottery. And remember, if you don't get a slot, when you come for that "different backpack trip", inquire about no-shows and cancellations. You are likely to get a slot.

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Steve C #10995 02/20/11 01:43 PM
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Thanks for the good wishes and tip for getting a permit, Steve.

Assuming I either get a permit, or can get one by snagging a no-show, I aim to finish what I started in complete ignorance in early November 1989. Several of us were in LA for a meeting so we sort of planned a climb of Whitney- because it was there. We had all backpacked in the Adirondaks so we had good gear, ice axes and crampons and in those days we just carried the internal frame backpacks onto the plane as hand luggage and took up a whole overhead bin per pack. After the week long meeting, we drove up to Lone Pine in a rental car, got a permit at 3 PM, hit the trail at around 4 PM, and made it to Outpost camp by the light of a full moon. That night was spectacular with the ranges all around us lit up and glowing like the door that Gandolph could not open in the first Lord of the Rings movie. The next day we got a very late start (one member slept in). I remember the switchbacks as not bad but monotonous (now I have an iPod). Somewhere overlooking guitar lake, past trail crest, I ran out of energy as it was late afternoon and told my friends to go on. I sat down and was entertained/harrassed by marmots for half an hour (they were probably begging). My friends returned having left their crampons behind for some reason and could not cross an ice field safely. The forth person had already summitted and we all returned together by that gorgeous full moon, as bright as daylight, making camp around 10 PM. We all had run out of water and, talking about it at New Years, one friend said he was hallucinating by the time we got to camp and I pumped water and made soup for everyone. So- lessons learned- I now have lighter gear so my pack should be 20-25 lbs vs. the 40 lb packs we had back then due to heavy sleeping bags, stoves, tents, etc, I will arrive a week early and stay at 9,000+ campgrounds or a high altitude bed and breakfast to acclimate by dayhiking. I will leave early and go for trail camp and leave early for the summit (I hike the strongest in the morning), I will HYDRATE all week and take 5 liters of water in both a camelback and bottles on summit day, and I will eat for energy and do the rest step if needed. I was within 2 miles and 500 vertical feet but did not know it at the time!

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
NJ hiker #10996 02/20/11 02:45 PM
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Thanks for the story. Sounds like your longer acclimatization this time will be a big help - good idea.

Now what do you need the ipod for? The mountains make their own music!

Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
NJ hiker #10997 02/20/11 02:53 PM
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We expect a TR. And remember - no pictures, it didn't happen.

Good Luck with the lottery.


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Re: Whitney Lottery Application 2011
Harvey Lankford #11107 02/25/11 08:38 AM
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As to the iPod, well, the upper switchbacks were like the Volga Boatmen's song
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WD0WVL-HjE), only more agonizingly slowly. Once I got to the top and Trail Crest there was a stunning moment in visual grandeur I will always remember- stopped dead in my tracks and blown away is putting it too mildly. I find certain music meditative which is what mountains normally do for me. I probably won't turn it on until after the first 40 or 50 switchbacks (lol) and then turn it off as I find the rest spot and the marmots from last time.

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