Whitney Mountaineers Route (Don't know the answer)

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

This question was posted over on the MWO Forum and I don't think anyone there has climbed Whitney. Can someone answer this question?

"I am planning a trip up the Mountaineer's route on Mt. Whitney next summer. I did the Huntington Ravine Trail this summer and figured the Mountaineer's route would be similar. I was wondering if the climbing on the Mountaineer's route is much harder than Huntington's. Is Huntington's an easy class 3 scramble as far as class 3 trails go?"

KDT

 

[blacklab2020]

Not having done this, but knowing the objective differences

I would say the two routes are very different.

The mountaineers route has much more scree involved and less stable talus. Altitude is also a key factor. Hopefully you will have sufficient time (several days) to acclimate.

Snow is a possibility, depending on the year. Usually into June... there have been several deaths on this route.

Its steep. I would compare it to the steepness of the steepest slab in huntingtons ravine, a couple hundred feet up after you leave the talus.

I looked into doing this route planning a trip as well... if you do this you dont need a trail permit, but you have to descend the same way.... be careful, esp with snow (axes/crampons are useful in june usually) snow tends to freeze back up (this has been the cause of the fatalities on the route).

We came off class three in CO this summer and were all like "That was class three!!!" thinking the exposure and commiting nature of the route was a bit much for three.

I would say the technical difficulty of the routes are the same, there is probably a lot more of it though on whitney and the altitude and possibility of ice make this route much more serious in my opinion (depending on the time of year).

Remember though, I have not climbed it, but have thoroughly explored guides, pics, etc. I am obsessed with the high sierra....

 

[Kevin Rooney]

The MR on Whitney is definitely more difficult that Huntingtons, both in terms of physical difficulty, and when considering that some of the most difficult occurs near the summit, so one has the effects of altitude to deal with as well.

Lots of good info here. Checkout the extensive FAQ's.

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm

 

[sierra]

hunningtons is not even remotely close to the mountaineers route in terms of both length and sustained difficulty. To be frank there nothing in the east that is.

 

[roadtripper]

You can also direct them here if they haven't heard of or seen summitpost:

http://www.summitpost.org/route/155528/mountaineer-s.html

 

[Kevin Judy and Emma]

Thanks everyone!

Outside of the Whites I don't know squat, and there's only 1 or 2 on MWO who know much about mountains. Makes this website a great resource, doesn't it?

KDT

 

[Kevin Rooney]

One other point, which will give some insight to difficulty - descents of the MR are unusual, even in winter. Most take the Whitney trail down.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I guess that I will take the contrarian view here and state based on my own experiences on the two routes that the exposure is greater on the Huntington Ravine headwall. I am assuming that you are going to attempt the Mountaineers Route late enough in the season for snow and ice not to be an issue, just as you are not comparing the Mountaineers route to a winter climb of Yale Gully in Huntington's. Obviously, the altitude difference is a huge factor, but I do not consider that to be part of your question. I cannot remember a worse headache than the one I had beginning about 12,500 ft on the Mountaineers Route, which did not go away until many hours after I returned to Whitney Portal via the Stanard Route with its "hundreds" of switchbacks, which at the time made me wish that I had also descended the Mountaineers Route. My one-day ascent/descent is probably not recommended, given how poorly acclimatized I was (from sea level to a drive across Toulome for a few hours attempted sleep at Whitney Portal just does not cut it). Moreover, if you can get a camping permit, a sunrise beneath the great East Face of Whitney would be memorable.

 

[skiguy]

The key with this route as is most Mountaineering will be current conditions at the time of your climb. This time of year parties get into trouble because they usually under estimate the potential for snow and ice high on the route combined with getting to that point late in the day when they are tired, at altitude, and the snow and ice is set up. Although if it is a very dry and hot year the route can be free of snow or ice or very limited therefore making it a pretty straight forward scramble. IMO as already mentioned the best time to do this route is in later Winter or early Spring when the potential for consistent snow and ice provides a more even treadway. Huntingtons I would still describe as a "HIKE". The Mountaineers Route is just that...it's namesake...a "Mountaineering Route".

 

[sierra]

One distinction I tend to make between routes whatever routes they may be is how much and what could potentially go wrong. Big mountain routes out west, ie. mountaineers route on whitney,require much more as I like to say "risk management". You must have good route finding skills, good weather reading skills and the ability to back off and retreat from any point on the route. Thats not to say Hunningtons doesnt share some of these principles, but imo to a much lesser degree, I mean from any point on Hunningtons you can be down and safe in a half hour or so.
There are many peaks in CA that would be suitible for tune up climbs and thats the route Ive always taken before, working my way up to harder climbs as I went, unless your with someone with alot of experience ( and you trust them) you should be very confident you can overcome all potential problems that exist.

p.s. if you want to gain experience safely and do it on the mountaineers route, you can always hire a guide in Bishop, that way you can climb the route and learn at the same time. I tell you, one day with a guide can save you a couple of years learning on your own.

 

[Snowflea]

Late jumping in here -- have been playing in the Sierras the past few weeks.

I solo'd the Mountaineers Route two weeks ago and found it definitely more difficult than the Huntington Ravine Trail, but actually the hardest (i.e. most exposed) part for me was on the approach -- Ebersbacher Ledges which one reaches less than 1/2 mile from the main Mt. Whitney Trail!

As others have said, once on the Mountaineers Route proper, it's a scree-filled chute this late in the season. Sometimes you have no choice but to take the scree, but I avoided a lot of it by doing some Class 3 scrambling to the right. Lower down one could pick the shallow notch to the left of the main chute (I went down that way).

I descended via the MR as well since we were camped at Upper Boy Scout Lake x 2 nights. (For the fishermen out there -- lots of trout in UBS Lake, none in Iceberg!)

One more thing -- Contrary to what SummitPost and a couple of posters have said, permits ARE now required to dayhike the Whitney Mountaineers Route, which the Inyo National Forest folks refer to as "North Fork Lone Pine Creek."

See this site and pull down to Section J34.

 

[Puma concolor]

One more thing -- Contrary to what SummitPost and a couple of posters have said, permits ARE now required to dayhike the Whitney Mountaineers Route, which the Inyo National Forest folks refer to as "North Fork Lone Pine Creek."

See this site and pull down to Section J34.

Yup ... it's a new thing. I was considering doing the MR route this summer (never happened) and made some inquiries. A permit is definitely required, but unlike the Whitney Trail, the nice woman I talked to told me it was more or less a formality. You have to have it but the route is lightly enough used that it's really not a problem obtaining it.

 

[Snowflea]

Hah, that's funny: the ranger who issued our permit said those for the Mountaineers Route are now the most sought after in the Whitney Zone and we were lucky to get them as walk-ins. (People cancel their reservations or just don't show up, so there are usually a few permits available on any given day.)

Also, just so you know, WAG bag regulations apply here too -- and everywhere in the Whitney Zone. But somehow WAG bags didn't seem like such a big deal this year after dealing with the Clean Mtn. Cans on Denali...

 

[Puma concolor]

Interesting. I think I'll take the word of a Ranger late in the season over that of a phone jockey early in the season. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[lamerunner]

For what it is worth, I descended MR in early June many years ago in snowy conditions. It is steep but did not seem bad; we were back at UBS lake in 2.5 hours from the summit. I should add that we ascended by rock climbing the East face with a bit too much snow still on the route, a bit of an epic. So it may have seemed ok mostly by comparison.

I think it is very different than Huntington's, probably easier in snow and loose if no snow.

 

[DougPaul]

For what it is worth, I descended MR in early June many years ago in snowy conditions. It is steep but did not seem bad; we were back at UBS lake in 2.5 hours from the summit.

I have read that some (many?) of the accidents occur on the descent after snow on the way up has changed to ice on the way down.

Doug

 

[erugs]

I'll be posting a real trip report later, but wanted to say that Brian and I have just returned from Whitney. What an experience! We hired Sierra Mountain Guides for assistance and went up the East Face route. We came down via the Mountaineers and would describe it as many switchbacks through mostly scree. We found that the Old Man has made his new home along this route and it was nice to see our old friend again. There was new snow and some solid ice on some portions of the trail and at one point we roped up for extra safety. It didn't remind me at all of Huntington.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I'll be posting a real trip report later, but wanted to say that Brian and I have just returned from Whitney. What an experience! We hired Sierra Mountain Guides for assistance and went up the East Face route. We came down via the Mountaineers and would describe it as many switchbacks through mostly scree. We found that the Old Man has made his new home along this route and it was nice to see our old friend again. There was new snow and some solid ice on some portions of the trail and at one point we roped up for extra safety. It didn't remind me at all of Huntington.

Hey Ellen - Congrats to you and and Brian! Glad to hear you guys made it. SMG - is that Kurt Wedberg's outfit?

Am heading up to Whitney myself in a day or two. Going to "help" a friend who's working on a lifetime goal of 40 summits. The mountain weather looks stable for the next several days, so I think we have a good shot.

Kevin

 

[erugs]

Kevin - Kurt is with Sierra Mountaineering International, I think. There are a few guiding companies in the area who have very similar names. Besides SMI, there is Sierra Mountain Center (who we thought we were signing on with) and Sierra Mountain Guides (who we actually did climb with). They all speak kindly of one-another. Our experience was very positive and we may very well plan another trip through Sierra Mountain Guides in the future, probably one more well-suited to our skill level than the East Face was (although we both totally enjoyed the experience that tested our skills, endurance, good spirits, and sense of adventure).

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Ellen - You're right. Bishop has almost as many mountain guides as it does trout fishing guides!

I did a couple of hikes last winter (snowshoe) with one of the fellows from Sierra Mountain Center, Todd Vogel. He's also involved with a Bishop conservation group called Friends of the Inyo, and I went on a couple of their sponsored outings. One of the hikes was north of Bishop in the Obsidian Dome area and we skirted a big avalanche side which has occurred about a week before. Turns out Todd's father is a geologist with Sanford (now retired), and I learned that particular area is part of an active caldera, and is currently rising. Prior to that I thought the only active caldera in North America was in Yosemite, but that's not the case, according to Todd.

Wow, the East Face, huh? I'm impressed ... looking forward to your trip report.