Cam Muir/Muir Snowfield June 16th

Ranger hut before the storm picked up in the night. Current weather conditions aren't allowing for great photo's.

With 2.5 inches of water falling from the ski in the last 24 hrs, and sustained winds above 35 mph this week's storm has proven to be much more than a summer squall. Since the storm began early Thursday morning, visibility at Camp Muir has been nearly zero due to the sustained winds, intense precip and high level of snow transport. All independent climbers and guided teams turned around near pebble creek or below yesterday due to deteriorating conditions. Although the weather is forecast to let up a bit by Saturday, sustained winds and another pulse of precipitation on Saturday evening may continue to make mountain travel difficult through the weekend. Although the winds are making it tricky to judge the total accumulation of snowfall on the upper mountain, it's certainly stacking up on leeward aspects and "fetch" zones. Rangers are experiencing pockets of snow around camp from 1-3' in depth. Everything else around camp that hasn't accumulated new snow is covered in 1-3" of ice. 

Guided parties headed up to Camp Muir today are reporting challenging conditions in the white out and difficult navigation as many of the wands up the snowfield have either blown away or are buried in snow. In storms like this, proper preparedness and conservative decision making are more crucial. What starts out as light rain leaving the parking lot can quickly turn into blizzard like conditions as temperatures drop and saturated clothing begins to freeze. Anyone planning to travel up the snowfield this weekend should be carrying a GPS with an appropriate track log or "route" of the path to Camp Muir. Appropriate winter layers/clothing and enough supplies/equipment to make an emergency bivy on the route if necessary are also critical this weekend. 

Many folks have been calling to inquire about climbing conditions as the weather breaks and begins to warm early next week. Although the weather is calling for general clearing by next week, climbers must keep in mind the amount of new snow this storm cycle has put down on the mountain (2.5 inches of water!!!!) in the last 24 hrs. This, paired with the rapid warm up will no doubt lead to unstable snow conditions on the upper mountain for a few days as the snow pack begins to heal/consolidate. If you plan to come up for a climb or an overnight in the next few days, be certain to tie in with rangers stationed at the Climbing Information Center in Paradise. These rangers are and invaluable resource for weather and route condition information before you head up the hill.