Mountaineer's Route on Mt. Whitney

Can anyone please tell me a good guidebook or website to find beta on the mountaineer's route on Mt. Whitney? It seems like every website I go to makes it sound a little different. I'm sure that's because most of what I am finding are other people's trip reports.

Also I'm a little confused about the permit. I believe I need one and will need to apply for the lottery based off of most the information I have read about it. However, when I checked the new online site for the lottery it made it sound like I could just pay for a permit for that route and that the lottery didn't apply. Anyone looked into it more than me and have a solid answer?

Thanks in advance.

summitpost.com has a lot of sierra locals with accurate info. winter acsents before march 15ish dont require a lottery permit. You can purchase the permit online and pick up in person one day before you hit the trail. I did this last year, no problems.

From fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DO…

Q. My trip to Mt Whitney is not starting on the regular Mt Whiney trail; do I need to enter the lottery?

A. If you are day hiking, YES, day use permits for all routes are reserved by the lottery. If your trip is overnight and starting on a trail other than the Mt Whitney Trail, NO your trip is not in the lottery, follow the directions for reserving the entry trail you are starting on. This includes the Mountaineers Route up the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek...

For beta see supertopo.com/rock-climbing…

peter croft from bishop has a book specificly titled climbing mnt whitney has all diffrent routes were to camp were to climatize ,how to train and how to avoid a permit by starting in the godly hours of the night on a full moon...anyway damn god book with all info on the mountaineers route ... ive heard that its better to do when their is snow using axe and crampons. then late summer sketchy talus... good luck.
rex

The Mountaineers route on Mount Whitney is pretty straight forward it starts near ice berg lake and just goes right up it from there. You can probaly have trusty infomation straight off the internet.

That said I would agree that there is a lot of loose rock in the gully and it becomes dangerous with amount of traffic the gully recieves. It is the standard decent for the climbing routes on the east face of whitney.

Camping, I liked the camping at Ice Berg lake there was only one other party there besides us in mid-august verses Boy Scout lake where there were upwards of five parties.

As for the permits there are two ways to go about it. One reserve in advance and two show up at 11:00 am at the whitney ranger station near lone pine the day before your climb. Its a nice system instead of waiting to be first everyones ID is taken at eleven and then drawn from a lottery.

If I knew more about the Sierras I would try and redirect you to an isolated peak that recieves less traffic still I think Whitney is worth the trip

Good luck to you.

We climbed it on May 8 (my b-day). The weather was perfect. I think it took us 16hrs. Stopped for a nap and had a slow partner. Borrowed money for crampons and used homemade piolet's. The talus slope was completely filled with snow which made it easy, especially on the way down (we basically sledded on our backpacks). Above the talus I recall having to cross an ice chute (no fall zone) requiring the ice gear. two of us soloed up the chute and the other having to scramble up the rocks due to his ice axe not being sharp enough. This was a long time ago so details may be sketch. I don't remember a permit.

The day i buy a permit to run up a mountain..or climb a peak in the sierra..and need a lottery ticket to do so...just the idea of that. spins my mind.

If you want to do other CA 14ers I would get the Cameron Burns book. Honestly, now days it's not too difficult to locate/navigate the route given the amount of traffic. The trail to and over the E-Ledges is pretty well-worn/cairned. The main thing is to check the conditions and plan accordingly. The Whitney Portal store forum is the best site for updates: whitneyportalstore.com/foru…