Greeting fellow climbers,
It’s a busy week for climbing! With Senior Guide Ben Jones at the helm, our Everest team has been climbing strong and will be tagging the top of the world any day now. Ben is sharing progress from his 10th summit attempt on our cybercast. Two climbers will also be attempting Lhoste after Everest. Be sure to follow along and wish them the best!
In the Cascades, we’ve had teams spread far and wide from Tahoma to Kulshan to the North Cascades. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – May is a wonderful time to get out climbing! The days are growing longer and the seasonal snowpack is in fantastic shape, allowing for quick and smooth travel. Most trailheads are melting out quickly across the state, and we’re enjoying all that the month brings.
Tahoma (Mount Rainier)
While snow is melting quickly, the Paradise parking lot on Tahoma is is still fully snow covered and we measure over 8ft of snow at the snow stake. The route up to Camp Muir still follows the winter route around Pan Point. As it melts, our groups are making micro adjustments to prolong the route and continue to walk on snow (the most durable surface). Once on the Muir Snowfield the route to Camp Muir is direct with a well-established track. At Camp Muir the route over to the Ingraham Glacier has changed slightly over the past few days as Cathedral Gap is slowly melting out. Climbers can expect to walk on a mixture of volcanic rock and seasonal snow. Once on the Ingraham Glacier we now ascend the Disappointment Cleaver route as the Ingraham direct has had recent large icefall activity. Our trip today climbed to just over 13,500ft and reported great conditions for climbing. Guides noted the route is in good shape with a well-established climbing track on the route. Access to White River is scheduled to open this weekend, and our first Emmons climb of the year will enter the field next week!
North Cascades
This past week our teams climbed both sides of Kulshan (Mt Baker). Overall, guides have reported excellent route conditions and well established tracks to camps. Earlier this week we saw reports citing 6” of new snow fall at 6,000ft and more snow above. Our teams have been climbing both the Coleman-Deming route and the Easton route. On both routes, climbers are in double boots from the trailhead. At lower elevations, the seasonal snow is very soft and wet. In other parts of the North Cascades, our guides have been climbing and skiing in the Washington Pass region. They report good conditions for the time of year, and are still calling for mountain boots to access the standard alpine rock routes.
Happy climbing!
