High pressure continues to dominate the Pacific Northwest. Guide teams are still reporting excellent climbing conditions across the state. The upcoming forecast continues to look favorable with more sunny skies ahead. The large spring and early summer snowfall has caused the mountains to be in excellent condition this time of year.
Mount Rainier
We saw little change on the mountain in the recent week. Tahoma (Mt. Rainier) is melting out slowly from the massive spring storms. Climbers are now using trail shoes to approach the Muir Snowfield. Small patches of snow are crossed on the way up to Pebble Creek. Once at the base of the Muir Snowfield it is consistent snow to Camp Muir. The upper mountain continues to be in good shape with teams reaching the summit in 4-5hrs from High Camp via the DC route. En-route to the summit there is currently a ladder crossing at high crack (11,300ft) and at 13,100ft. The route is well established and teams are summitting daily. Our teams have finished climbing on the Emmons and Kautz routes for the season.
North Cascades
Komo Kulshan (Mt. Baker)- We have seen little change over the past week since our last update. The mountain is continuing to get climbed daily the Coleman Deming (CD), Easton, and Squak glaciers. On our 3 Day Baker programs, access to Sandy Camp is snow free all the way to camp. Above Sandy Camp is still fully snow covered. The Schreiber’s Meadow trailhead to access the Easton Glacier has finally melted out, cars are now parking at the trailhead. On the North side of the mountain, FS Road 39 is still closed due to the washout at mile 3.8. Trails are dry to Hogsback camp just below 6,000 ft on the North side. On the Northside of Mt Baker guides are reporting excellent climbing conditions on the North Ridge route. The route currently has two pitches of 70 degree ice climbing. The lower Coleman glacier to access the North Ridge is currently not broken up at this time.
North Cascades- Teams continue to explore the North Cascades, with successful Shuksan summits via both the Sulfide Glacier and Fisher Chimneys. Guides are reporting the summit pyramid of Shuksan to be a mix of snow and rock with excellent alpine climbing conditions. Teams have been climbing the SE ridge to reach the summit of Shuksan. Deeper in the North Cascades teams have been making successful ascents of Forbidden Peak, Eldorado, and Sahale. Guides are reporting good climbing conditions on all routes at this time. For access to the West Ridge of Forbidden teams are climbing the ‘Cat Scratch Gullies’.
Climbing in Washington Pass is snow free now and boots/crampons/ice axe is no longer needed.
General Cascades
While our Rainier and Baker climbs have been the spotlight of our season thus far, we have launched our Glacier and Olympus climbs over the past weeks. Although there are still large amounts of snow in the North Cascades, teams highlight the beautiful conditions prevailing the Pacific Northwest with many successful summits. Summer brought the sunshine, find us in the mountains!
