Mt Whitney Zone Forums Thread Like Summary - Whitney MR question

Would it be reasonable to do Mt Whitney via the MR if I did Mt. Shasta via the Avalanche Gulch route and Mt. Adams through the South Trail? When I did Avalanche Gulch, I turned a bit to the left and went through this Chimney. It was pretty icy because there were around 70 mph gusts during that day. But when I check through google maps, I don't think the angle ever exceeded 40 deg. I don't know if the MR on Whitney gets that steep. On AG, I felt very safe and really wasn't that bad.

I know its mostly dependent on my own skill level and what I feel comfortable, but I thought if AG got any steeper, it really wouldn't be an issue for me. I just wanna know if its reasonable for someone who's done Shasta to comfortably do MR as well.

Just did the MR route yesterday 6 July, MT down. Did it in running shoes, stayed on the left side in the chute to avoid the snow, loose rock and sand was tough, but the 3 other folks going up in the snow with crampons were post holing. Choose your poison. Final 400 o.k., Went up the left side just a bit, then went too far right, had to come down about 100 feet vertical. My recommendation (your mileage may vary), Start left, at the last place you can cross to the right safely, before the hard snow/ice, go to the right, stay close to snow on the rock and work your way up. Walk off still to much snow.
The main trail had a few places with rock, but a nice walk talking to the folks suffering but happy....

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/CUW9MffTdGfHkrGD6[/img]

The dotted line looks a bit too far to the climber's left toward the bottom but as the line goes up it ends up in the right spot. This is generally correct, the path of least resistance is pretty obvious when you're there.

The original post in this thread was asking about doing the MR in May. In May, that first move at the bottom is not a problem because there is a snow bank there to use. It is the snow and ice-covered rock all the way up that always requires careful attention.

In the picture above, the red line is the right way to head up. If you stay in the deepest gully just to the right, it reaches a headwall block that is rough to get out of.