It's tricky to deal with a whiteout even if you have a compass and know what you're doing. you have to know your starting point with great accuracy, and you need to move in straight line units regardless of the terrain, using (and interpreting) whatever terrain cues you can find to figure out how far you've gone. It's very difficult if you're alone. In a group the person with the compas can at least send someone else ahead and keep that person on the right bearing.
There are almost as many ways to screw up with the compas as there are without it.
In most cases, in a whiteout on a glaciated mountain with no obvious trail or terrain features to follow, I'd hunker down and wait for conditions to improve.
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