Guided climbs · Mount Whitney, 14,505 ft
Guided Mount Whitney climbs, compared
You can't hire these companies for the Whitney Trail. Guided Whitney means the Mountaineer's Route or the East Buttress, and only companies that already hold Forest Service permits can sell them.
Start here
What kind of trip do you want?
Copied from each company’s own pages on Oct 19, 2026. Every “See dates” button opens the page we used. Where a page says which season a price is for, we show it. Prices change; the operator’s page wins if it disagrees with this one.
Free · no guide
Climb Mount Whitney yourself
Everything above is for hiring a guide. If you have the skills, this is what you need to do it on your own, free. Facts come from the summit’s own page on PeakSeeker, with sources.
- Normal route
- Mount Whitney Trail
- Grade
- Class 1
- How long
- 1-2 days as an overnight, or 12-18 hours as a single-day push
- Best season
- July-September (quota season runs May 1 - November 1)
- Permits
- Inyo National Forest wilderness permit required year-round for the Mount Whitney Zone; May 1-Nov 1 quota-season permits are allocated through a recreation.gov lottery (applications typically Feb 1-Mar 15).
- Start from
- Whitney Portal (Mt. Whitney Trailhead), 8,365 ft (2,550 m)
- Climb from there
- 6,140 ft (1,871 m) of ascent over 11 mi one way
- Getting there
- Most climbers start from Whitney Portal, about 13 miles west of Lone Pine, via the Mount Whitney Trail. Nearest airport: No major commercial airport nearby; closest options are Eastern Sierra Regional Airport in Bishop (~60 mi, limited seasonal service) or Los Angeles/Reno-Tahoe International (~200 mi) for full service.
- Hazards
- Altitude sickness, afternoon thunderstorms and lightning above treeline, ice on the Trail Crest chute outside mid-summer.
- Gear
- Bear canister required for overnight permits; layered clothing for large elevation/temperature swings; ice axe and crampons often needed on the Trail Crest chute into early summer.
Mount Whitney Trail
Line from OpenStreetMap; profile approximate. Map and GPX download →
Sources: fs.usda.gov ↗recreation.gov ↗
Read this before you pay a deposit
You can't hire a guide for the standard Whitney Trail from these companies. Guided Whitney means the Mountaineer's Route or the East Buttress/East Face.
For a strong backpacker on a first summer trip, the 3-day Mountaineer's Route costs $1,465 at SMG (2026 dates, max 2:1) or $1,695 at SWS (1:3).
East Buttress trips cost about the same as the Mountaineer's Route at SMG ($1,465), so if you already follow 5.7 multi-pitch, SMG's 2:1 rock trip is good value.
Cancellation windows are short. SWS refunds nothing within 30 days, and SMG charges 50% at 14–30 days and the full fee under 14 days.
- Inyo NF requires a wilderness permit year-round for every trip in the Mt. Whitney Zone, including day hikes. From May 1 to November 1, quotas allow 100 day-use and 60 overnight entries per day. fs.usda.gov ↗
- You apply for the quota season through the Mt. Whitney lottery on Recreation.gov, open February 1 to March 1. Winners pay a $15 per person reservation fee and must accept by 9 p.m. Pacific on April 21. Leftover dates go on sale April 22, first come, first served. recreation.gov ↗
- Overnight Mt. Whitney Trail permits do not cover the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek approach to the climbing routes, which uses a different permit. Day-use permits are valid on all routes in the Whitney Zone. Day-use and Whitney Trail overnight permits are non-refundable. fs.usda.gov ↗
- Guiding on the main Mt. Whitney Trail requires special authorization. Inyo NF says it will issue no new permits to guide any Mt. Whitney mountaineering route, so only companies that already hold permits can guide them. fs.usda.gov ↗
The companies
Sierra Mountain Guides
- Programs
- 5
- Refunds
- Trips in the lower 48 states: cancel 30+ days out for a refund minus $100 per booking. 14–30 days out: you owe 50% of the fee. Under 14 days: you owe the full fee. If SMG cancels for conditions, you can reschedule at no extra cost or request a refund in writing.
- Private
- Scheduled Whitney trips need at least 2 climbers to run, with a maximum 2:1 guide ratio.
Policy from: sierramtnguides.com, sierramtnguides.com
SWS Mountain Guides
- Based
- Mt. Shasta, CA
- Programs
- 3
- Deposit
- Domestic trips: a non-refundable deposit per reservation (amount not stated), with the balance due 30 days before the start.
- Refunds
- Cancel more than 30 days out: you get back what you paid minus the deposit. Within 30 days: no refund.
- Private
- Private and custom climbs are offered. The summer Mountaineer's Route runs at 1:3 and the East Buttress at 1:2.
- Contact
- 888-797-6867
Policy from: swsmtns.com, swsmtns.com, swsmtns.com
Get an email when bookings open
The Whitney permit lottery opens February 1. Get an email the week before, and when 2027 guided dates go up.
Before and after the trip
Most programs start in Lone Pine, California. Lodging is extra on nearly all of them.
Mount Whitney on PeakSeeker → routes, live summit weather and permits.
More comparisons
How this page makes money: links to Booking.com, Viator and 57hours may earn PeakSeeker a commission if you book. Links to the guide companies themselves don’t, and nobody pays to be listed or to change what we say. Spot something out of date? Tell us.
Sources
- fs.usda.gov/r05/inyo/wilderness/mount-whitney
- recreation.gov/permits/445860
- fs.usda.gov/r05/inyo/permits/wilderness-permits
- sierramtnguides.com/alpine-tours/
- sierramtnguides.com/terms-and-conditions/
- swsmtns.com/bookings/
- swsmtns.com/mt-whitney-mountaineers-route/
- swsmtns.com/private-mountain-guiding
- Each climb’s own page, linked from its “See dates” button.