Mt Whitney Zone
Posted By: indefatigable Mountaineer's Route 6/19 Questions - 06/03/16 09:43 PM
Hey Everyone,

Firstly, HUGE thanks to everyone here -- this forum has been immensely helpful in my research and putting together our group's plans.

We are a group of four planning to dayhike the MR on Sunday 6/19. Two of us have successfully made the summit via a summer dayhike on the Main Trail; the other two are strong hikers but only have limited high altitude hiking experience (White Mountain Peak). We all have casual climbing experience from the local climbing gym; none of us have experience with crampons & ice axe.

Our plan is to camp near the top of Sonora Pass (~9,600') on Friday night, do a warmup hike around the area on Saturday, and then camp at Onion Valley (~9,600') the night before the MR climb.

I've done quite a bit of research and feel fairly confident about the route (as much as one can, having not done it) but I'm less certain about the conditions.

-What snow/ice conditions should we expect around 6/19? Will crampons and ice axe be necessary? Recommended?

-How does snow/ice affect the Final 400? We won't have rope or other equipment.

-If we decide to ascend and/or descend via the Main Trail, do we need different permits?

Any other pointers are greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Posted By: Seekinsummits Re: Mountaineer's Route 6/19 Questions - 06/20/16 05:06 AM
We are heading up in a couple of weeks to try the mountaineers route. Any info about the climb above iceberg lake would be really helpful. Thanks.
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