Originally Posted By: bsmith
Originally Posted By: MDinana
AFLM, typically you don't need snowshoes or crampons on Whitney.

on the main mt. whitney trail, hikers were reporting use of crampons and ice axe at the end of june this year (2010) and others were still turning back due to snow and ice in the "cables" section the first week of july. this is not unusual for whitney's main trail.

Originally Posted By: MDinana
you've only got (maybe) 1/2 mile of snowpack on the entire Portal to Summit route.

from october/november to july, roughly, the north-facing 99 switchback section - which contains the "cables" section - of the main trail is bypassed due to snow / ice. the 'winter' route goes straight up the chute to the right of the switchback section. ice axe, crampons, and intimate knowledge of their use is mandatory for hiker safety. people have died in that chute.


In June sure there is snow pack left over from the previous winter. In the fall there is no snowpack on Mt Whitney. You do have to worry about October's early storms. It is very usual to snow in the Sierra in October.

Sounds like crappy planning and lack of knowledge. In mid summer it can be hiked in a day but you should still carry gear for winter conditions (clothes etc) but you really never need snowshoes unless it is winter. If you check most folks go up Whitney from late June thru late September.

The cable section is a very small portion of a very big hike....

They should have bailed after it was snowing for more than 30 minutes.

There was a forecast for a storm front to hit California days ahead of their departure; they should have reconsidered.


Edited by billym (10/22/10 04:16 PM)