After a busy Memorial Day weekend, climbers found a handful of days of favorable climbing weather and successful summits. After the serac fall from the upper Ingram Glacier on May 19, there have been no known climbing teams ascending the ID. All teams have been climbing the Disappointment Cleaver and holds the predominate track up the mountain for the Muir Corridor.
DC and Ingraham Flats camp
As for the route up the DC itself, it remains relatively unchanged from our previous blog post. Guide services have been putting in work widening and wanding the route over the past few days. With the increased climbing traffic helping to "punch in" the track, good cramponing and straightforward travel make for a fairly direct climb. There are still no ladders on the route at the time this blog is posted. A plethora of pickets above the cleaver to the summit remain as running protection options. Again, use at your discretion when deciding to clip into these. The NPS does not maintain these pickets and should be inspected by the climbing party for structural integrity in their placement.
Remaining Seracs from 5/19 collapse
Teams are encouraged to move with purpose from Flats camp to the spine of the cleaver where the route is exposed to serac and rock fall. Please do not take breaks under the exposure on the ascent or descent. If there are other teams moving through this zone, communicate with each other to minimize traffic jams and bottlenecks where the overhead hazard is high.
Overhead serac exposure in the "Ice Box"
Additional Information
A climbing permit and Payment of the Climbing Cost and Recovery Fee are required to climb Mount Rainier. More information can be found on Mount Rainier National Parks Website. The Paradise Wilderness Information Center (PWIC) is open for the season with hours of operation between 7:30am - 5pm
