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| Guides establishing a climbing route on the Ingraham Glacier on May 1, 2021. |
Welcome to the first route conditions update for the 2021 climbing season on Mount Rainier. The rangers have been busy with pre-season training and are just getting the high camps up and running.
Climbers and ski mountaineers have been climbing with a relatively high success rate for the month of April due to the historically dry and warm conditions. Also, the guide services are ramping up their operations for the summer. We expect the success rate on the Ingraham Direct to go up even more as the route becomes better established.
That said, the upper mountain snowpack looks more like late-June than early-May. The windy winter and lack of April storms has resulted in more open crevasses and generally lower snow levels than one would expect this time of year.
Rangers climbed the ID to 12,300' on May 1. The route across the Cowlitz Glacier and up to Cathedral Gap is very straightforward. There are a few rocks poking out in the Gap but just a couple of steps to cross.
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| Cathedral Rocks and Cathedral Gap |
There is some icefall debris on the climbers left of the route as you enter the Ingraham Flats area so it's best not to break until you are all of the way clear from that hazard. After that the route climbs up to approximately 11,500' where you will encounter the first of many crevasse crossings.
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| The Ingraham Glacier from Ingraham Flats |
The guides have installed a ladder at approximately 11,800' in order to bridge a crevasse that cannot be end-run. From this elevation up to 12,300' the route weaves its way back and forth across the Ingraham, end running and crossing several large crevasses.
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| A ladder on the Ingraham Direct Route |
Crevasse fall is an ever present hazard on Mt. Rainier, especially so for the Ingraham Direct route. Please make sure your team is proficient at managing this risk and is capable of self-rescue in the event of a teammates' fall into a crevasse.
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| Climbers negotiating steep, crevassed terrain on the Ingraham Glacier |
