This past week mostly sunny skies have dominated the Pacific Northwest. The stable weather has allowed climbers to reach summits across the state from Adams, Rainier, Baker, and in the North Cascades. The long term forecast is showing more stable weather into early July. While summer may be here, there is still a lot of snow in the mountains. The below photo curtesy of Mt Rainier National Park shows the difference in snow at Paradise from last year to this year.
Mount Rainier
Tahoma (Mt Rainier) has continued to see more seasonal weather this past week. The Paradise snowpack depth has decreased by just over 2ft this past week. There is still 75” on the snow stake. Teams have switched over to access Camp Muir via the summer route via Pebble Creek. With the current snow level climbers are using mountain boots from the parking lot up to Camp Muir. On the upper mountain there is a well established climbing path leaving Camp Muir up towards Ingraham Flats. Access over Cathedral Gap is still snow covered but melting quickly. Teams are continuing to climb the Ingraham Direct route at this time. With the continued warm temperatures we expect the possibility of adding adjuncts to the route and moving over the Disappointment Cleaver. Currently most teams are reaching the summit in 4-5hrs from high-camp. Over the past few days we have had teams climbing the Emmons route and the Kautz route as well. Both teams have reported good climbing conditions with straightforward glacier conditions.
Baker and North Cascades
Komo Kulshan (Mt Baker) – Over the past week teams have been reaching the summit of Kulshan via the Easton Glacier and Coleman Deming route. Teams accessing Sandy Camp have now switched over to the summer hiking trail. The summer trail is mixed of snow and dirt patches until around 4,500 when it becomes fully snow covered. The Easton Glacier route is currently in great shape and very direct. There is a well established climbing path on the Roman Wall. On the North side of Komo Kulshan, our North Ridge trip just summited and reports excellent climbing conditions on the route. There is around 4m of 80 degree ice climbing getting over the ice bulge section. The upper part of the North Ridge is in good condition to the summit. Currently on the North side of Baker climbers can find running water at Hogback and Murkwood camps.
North Cascades – With the sunny weather, teams have been exploring the North Cascades. Our first Shuksan Fisher Chimney trip summited yesterday (6/30) and reported good climbing conditions with a mixture of snow in the Chimney. On Forbidden Peak teams have been reported reaching the summit of route via the West Ridge. The route is a mixture of snow and rock at this time. The majority of routes in the North Cascades are still snow despite it being July 1st. With the continued sunny warm weather we anticipate more alpine rock ridges to see the seasonal snow melt quickly.
Ciao for now
