We have officially launched our 2024 Rainier and Cascades dates today! Check out website for 2024 dates and we would recommend booking early as they sell out quickly. This week the Pacific Northwest has been under a heat advisory and heat warning for the last 3 days. Temperatures in greater Seattle area have hit the mid/upper 90’s and freezing levels on Mt Rainier have been over 17,000ft. The heat wave is expected to continue through Thursday with a cooling trend forecasted over the weekend into next week.
Tahoma (Mt. Rainier)
On the Muir route, the trail to the Muir snowfield is snow free. We have switched to using trail shoes to access the Pebble Creek. Once on the Muir snowfield climbers are switching to mountain boots. The seasonal snow on the Muir snowfield is melting quickly and sections have melted out already to bare ice and rock. Climbers are now renting crampons from the Alpine Ascents office and may be using them while on the Muir snowfield. Guides will determine if they are needed while on the route to Camp Muir. Above Camp Muir the route has changed over the past week from the above seasonal average temperatures. There is a well-established climbing path across the Cowlitz to reach high camp. The seasonal snow on Cathedral Gap has melted off, climbers can expect to travel on dirt through this section. Above high camp the route ascends the Ingraham, crosses a ladder at High Crack and traverses to the Disappointment Cleaver. Access to the Disappointment Cleaver has melted out and changed. Seasonal snow on the DC has melted off, the route climbs on a broken dirt path. From the top of the Cleaver, the route is becoming more broken with crevasses. On August 15 a large crevasse has opened and with the incredibly hot temperatures our team did not make a summit attempt today. We have senior staff guides on the mountain working to re-establish a climbing route to the summit. Stuart Robertson and Jonathon Spitzer are up on the mountain evaluating conditions and working to put in a new route when temperatures cool off this weekend.
As mentioned in our previous post we finished our climbing season on the Kautz and Emmons routes for the summer. We had great success on both routes this summer, with 6 of our 7 Kautz teams reaching the summit and 8 of our 10 Emmons teams reaching the summit. We look forward to returning to both routes in the 2024 season! On the Muir route, we are still seeing teams summiting daily. Looking back on our season thus far we have seen around 90% of our 3 Day Muir teams summit Tahoma. We hope to continue our success into the end of the season!
Komo Kulshan (Mount Baker) & North Cascades
Our 3 Day and 6 Day teams on Komo Kulshan are still summiting regularly. All the camps on Kulshan have running water and trail shoes are recommend to access camps. The Easton route has changed over the past week with the incredibly warm temperatures. Climbers can expect to travel on glacial ice in sections as the seasonal snow is all melted off the lower glacier. The upper mountain is a mixture of seasonal firm neve snow and glacial ice. Over in the North Cascades National Park guides have been climbing Shuksan both via the Sulfide and Fisher Chimney route. Both are in excellent condition, running water at camp and the Shuksan summit pyramid is snow free. Deeper in the North Cascades teams on Forbidden Peak are climbing the West Ridge. There is a road closure on Highway 20 due to the Sourdough Fire in the North Cascades National Park. A fire near Washington Pass in the Blue Lakes area has prompted a closure to the Washington Pass climbing zone.
Happy climbing,
