Greetings follow climbers!
The third week of August is starting, and operations are in full swing with teams climbing across the Cascades and across the world! Our teams are checking in from Mt Olympus to Rainier to even Glacier Peak deep in the North Cascades. A cooling weather trend has set in this week, bringing more mild and seasonal temperatures to the Cascades. We saw temps in the 70’s in Seattle, and freezing levels fluctuating between 10K-13K in the mountains. Despite several large wildfires in the Western US, the air quality in the Cascades has been in the “green” as the westerly flow has prevented the smoke from settling in the region. Currently a wildfire has closed access to Cascade River Road, which impacts all climbs that access Boston Basin, Eldorado, and Forbidden Peak. A large fire has started near Mt Adams which is now closed for access. Finally, a section of Highway 20 is also currently closed, but climbers continue to access Washington Pass climbing via an alternate driving route up the eastern side of the state.
Koma Kulshan (Mount Baker) & North Cascades
Guide teams continue to report solid climbing conditions, and our teams are summiting daily. Our Alpine Ascents Foundation trip, a fundraising climb that raised money for sherpa education, summited just a few days ago. The Alpine Ascents Foundation climb donated 100% of proceeds to the Sherpa Education Fund, which has help provide access to better education opportunities in Nepal.
Tahoma (Mount Rainier)
Last week we wrapped up our final climbs on the Emmons and Kautz routes for 2024 and we look forward to returning to those routes in 2025. If you’ve got your eye on one of those routes, please make sure you follow our newsletter as we will be announcing next season’s dates in September. You can sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of our homepage.We continue to climb on the Camp Muir route up the mountain, and our route has seen minimal change since last week. Climbers are wearing approach shoes and traveling on dry trail up to Pebble Creek. The current climbing route climbs the Disappointment Cleaver and then winds up a series of steep steps and a ladder crossing to 13,200. Our team summited today, and we expect it to stay in condition for the time being. We have guides up on the mountain working on the route performing “route work” to help maintain the route for guided climbers.
Lastly, with the warmer temperatures, guides at the gear check have been adjusting the required equipment list to match the current conditions. Please understand that the gear list is a tool for packing based on all weather conditions and upon arrival at the gear check, the guide might adjust based on the short-term forecast.
Happy climbing!
We provide a weekly conditions report. Stay tuned for future updates.
