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| Emmons-Winthrop Route as seen from Camp Schurman |
Things were looking a bit thin on the upper mountain
back in April, when we had unusual high temps and dry weather. However, climbers
and skiers will be psyched to know that the May and June-uary storms have
really helped refill the upper mountain this last month. The Emmons-Winthrop
saw it’s first ascents of the season last week and it is as good as it gets for
late-June. There have even been a couple of ascents and descents of the
Winthrop shoulder, though the cracks opening up down low warn that it wont last
long if the high temperatures remain.
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| Looking down on the "fin" (lower left) |
As seen in the photo, the route goes straight up the
Corridor which has only a few cracks opening up right now. It then traverses
right, across a thick "fin" which feels solid in the morning when it is frozen, but
maybe makes one pause and contemplate a possible quick belay on the way down
when conditions soften. After the fin you traverse over to the Alpine Meadows and
head almost straight up to the summit, crossing several long troughs in the
snow that hint at the large crevasses that will open as the weather gets hotter
and drier. Look carefully for the safest crossing, especially on the way
down, for it looks as though a couple of boots have already broke through sagging bridges to the crevasse below. As of now the route goes around left over the large bergschrund seen
near the top of the route from camp.
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| Bridge over the upper bergschrund |
It is important to note too that June still has some storms
left before we hopefully hit the high pressure that marks true summer in
Washington. With these unusually cold storms there were a number of avalanches
that occurred during and even a couple of days after despite the intense solar
radiation. Whumphing has been heard around the Cowlitz and Camp Muir long after
we would usually suspect storm or wind slabs lasting this time of year. A climber triggered a significant avalanche on the Turtle Snowfield Monday, two days
after the last storm. Several wet slab crowns (one that occurred 24 hours after
a storm) can be seen on the Winthrop Glacier at approximately 10,000’. They
occurred on a ~40 degree southeast facing slope. As the weather continues to
fluctuate, stay tuned to what is happening on the upper mountain the days
before your climb and don’t let go of those avalanche assessment skills even
though summer is officially here.
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| Wet slab crown seen from Camp Schurman |
As for the approach to Camp Schurman, it is easy walking all
the way to Glacier Basin with just a few patches of snow to cross; tennis shoes
or light hikers are recommended. Switch to skis or mountain boots
and continue up the basin (watch out for creek holes) and up the Inter Glacier.
The Inter is still relatively smooth for this time of year, though it has not
been freezing completely overnight, and there are a couple of crevasses
starting to open.
Plan and prepare for your trip so that you can have an
awesome climb - read the terms of the permit carefully, check the various weather resources to get an idea of the conditions you'll encounter, and revisit the blog here for any updates. We look forward to seeing you on the
mountain!
