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| A climber end runs a large crevasse at 11,600' on the Ingraham Glacier |
As of 6/19/2018 the Ingraham Direct is still the preferred route to the summit from Camp Muir. This is the longest the route has been viable in the 14 years that this ranger has been working on Mt. Rainier.
That said, the guides are prepping the Disappointment Cleaver for the eventual shift to that route. Most guides are now ascending the Ingraham in the night and descending the cleaver in the warmth of the day. This avoids crossing snow bridges when the snow is soft.
A lot of climbers are asking about the 'sketchyness' of the crevasse crossings on the Ingraham. This is obviously very subjective and each team will have to make their own risk management decisions when they get to the crossings. For an experienced team, using proper rope techniques, the crevasse crossings present much less of a risk than they do to a team using the rope improperly and certainly much less than an unroped climber.
Teams that are unfamiliar with heavily glaciated terrain should approach the Ingraham with utmost caution. Team fitness, weather conditions and snow surface conditions are all contributors to the sketchyness factor and should be taken into account throughout the climb.
