Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Re: Main Trail Conditions in Mid-July?

I am planning on doing Whitney as day hike on July 15. On average how are conditions on the main trail given the heavy snow fall? I need to plan for gear and such. Will the main trail be an option or is the chute the way to go?

Likelihood of main trail open in mid-July??

I am also curious about the trail conditions in mid-July. We have permits for July 13 and some of us have microspikes but some do not. I am hoping that the switchbacks will be mostly free of snow as we are not prepared to go up the chute.
SteveC and others have said that the switchbacks were open around July 12 during 2011 which was a very similar in snowfall. According to this chart this year is slightly below 2011 currently.
Hoping this means the switchbacks will be mostly snow-free by then, especially with this heat wave in the next week.
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/swcchart.action

Our permit is in July 1, so you mean the 99 switchback probably won't be open at that time? OMG!

I'm guessing sometime around mid-July this year.

Everyone will need to be watching the Current Conditions thread for reports.

I'd say the SB's wiill be open, but possibly only passable with Poles/Micros. The section near the cables holds a lot of snow much later than other spots on the trail, it is also the section of the 99 SB's that has the most exposure if you took a slip or fall.

Thanks for info!