Mt. Whitney permits for fall will be issued starting Wednesday

It’s still early to think about summiting 14,497-foot Mt. Whitney — unless you’re fine with crampons and an ice axe.

But once the snow melts, the 11-mile-one-way slog with about 6,000 feet of gain is a nontechnical (walk-up) climb in the breathtaking Sierra landscape. Though permits — one day or overnight — for the Mt. Whitney Trail are given out lottery-style in February, the Inyo National Forest’s website shows that permits are left for some dates in summer and early fall. Permits are required from May 1 to Nov. 1.

Anyone seeking permits in September and later needs to call [(760) 873-2483] or fax [(760) 873-2484] starting Wednesday, May 13. Permits cost $15 per person and go fast, so best to start calling or faxing at 8 a.m. when the permit office opens. (Mt. Whitney is off Highway 395 near the town of Lone Pine, California, about four hours north of Los Angeles.)

To check on what dates still have permit space, go to the Inyo National Forest’s Web page on Mt. Whitney Trail Reservation Availability.

So what’s it like to head up Whitney in the snow?

“Glissading down a 1,000-foot snowfield is the reward for climbing Mt. Whitney in the first weeks of May,” writes L.A. Times staff writer Dean Kuipers on the Outposts blog. “And it is sweet, flying down the steep bowl directly below Trail Crest on the seat of your winter climbing pants, ice crystals exploding in your face, and with nothing but an ice ax to check your speed. But that’s the coming down. First, there’s the tallest peak in the Lower 48 to summit, and that is no cakewalk in the snow.”

–Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photos: Top, the road to Mt. Whitney, by Mary Forgione; middle, Dean Kuipers summits Mt. Whitney in the snow, by Dean Kuipers.]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 at 3:05 pm by Mary Forgione and is filed under California, Outdoors & Adventure, Sierra Nevada, Summer, Winter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.