Hello climbers,
It felt like the switch to fall happened in the mountains this week! Cool temperatures and precipitation have returned to the mountains. New snow returned to mid and upper elevations over the last couple days, and a handful of inches is expected over the next few days and leading into the weekend as light to moderate precipitation continues. The freezing level has dropped significantly and will continue to stay pretty low, hovering around 7500’-8000’ throughout the weekend. Near the end of the weekend and with the start of next week temperatures will increase again with the chance of the sunny skies returning to the mountains.
Mount Rainier (Tahoma)
Lately, cold temperatures and precipitation have kept the route in good shape but made summit attempts slightly more difficult with storms on the upper mountain. Nothing much has changed from the last week on the upper mountain, which is good! Climbers should expect firm climbing conditions with the lower freezing levels. Two ladders still exist on the route, one below the Disappointment Cleaver, and one above. Accessing the cleaver is still supported by 2 handlines to help climbers move efficiently through broken terrain. Above 13000’, the climbing route is well established, however penitentes are making travels a little more complicated than normal. Even with some recent challenging weather, it looks like the route will hold up for the duration of the season!
Mount Baker (Komo Kulshan)
The Easton Route is still climbing well, heading into the changing season. It has been a bit wet and soggy getting to Sandy Camp recently, as it’s all under the recent snowline. Once out of camp, though, the actual climbing route is solid. The opening crevasses that guides have been monitoring still have had little effect on the route. No significant reroutes have taken place recently, and the route is still very direct to the crater. The Roman Headwall continues to have a well-developed climbing path to the summit plateau, which is a pleasant surprise for this time of year!
Across the Cascades
As temperatures drop, it’s one of the best times to get out alpine climbing in the Cascades. Cool approaches and perfect mid-day climbing conditions on rock are the perfect reason to head into the mountains for one last technical objective. Recent trips on both sides of Shuksan reported back great route conditions from last week. The Sulphide Glacier has a few more open crevasses, but they are easily navigated on the way to the way summit pyramid. Over on the Fisher Chimneys side, the route is still climbing stellar but is showing signs of melting out. Typically, once melted out the portions like Winnies Slide and Hells Highway become much steeper climbing and can require 2 climbing tools for some climbers. Finally, as smoke cleared out of Washington Pass, climbers got on the West Ridge of Cutthroat Peak and enjoyed some solitude while climbing the stellar granitic alpine ridge.
