Emmons-Winthrop Holding Steady

The Emmons-Winthrop route continues to provide consistent access to the summit of Mount Rainier. Route conditions have begun to stabilize a bit after the rapid change experienced during our historical "heat dome" in June. Freezing levels have remained slightly above average (14,500-15,500ft) but clear skies have been providing a decent refreeze overnight. Light to moderate west/southwest winds have been staving off diurnal thawing until around mid-morning where snow conditions begin to become soft and punchy. 

 The Inter Glacier has melted out severely. As of writing this, climbers were still able to piece together their ascent via snow but a large portion has melted down to bare glacial ice. The crevasses on the upper reaches have begun to sag and open up. As the Inter Glacier continues to melt out expect the overhead hazard to increase as well. The cliffs and rock features along the flanks shed rock frequently and without a seasonal snowpack to help slow their progression, rockfall events will begin to make it farther down the glacier. Think about safe places to break and consider moving effeciently through the lower portions to avoid exposure.

The red line indicates the route we ascended. The purple and yellow lines are older variations that are still viable but likely encounter more difficult terrain.

From Camp Schurman, the route ascends directly before gaining the corridor around 10,200ft. Much of the corridor has melted down to glacial ice but the route avoids these areas by staying climbers left. From the top of the corridor, more glacial ice is encountered and the route trends climbers left again and ascends a snowfield before cutting back climbers right at around 11,800ft. From here there still remain several ways to gain the upper mountain and each variation is equally as kicked in as the other so it's a bit difficult to decipher which is the more traveled way. Fortunately, each variation has been allowing climbers access to the upper snowfields at 13,000ft. The older variations take a more direct route through broken glacier and includes a mix of glacial ice and snow. The more recent variation, and the one we used during our ascent, takes a long traverse to the North towards the Winthrop Shoulder before crossing a large crevasse bridge at 12,600ft and then traversing back South, gaining a snowfield at 12,800ft. 

Some exposure is found on the traverse South after the 12,600ft crossing. A climbing team descends an older variation in the background. 

At 13,200ft the technical crux of the route is encountered. A crevasse crossing here requires about a body length of steep climbing to gain the upper side. There are currently two places to achieve this, an upper crossing which appeared more difficult or located about 100ft downhill, a second crossing that we found to be easier. Climbing parties have been using both with success. After this obstacle, the route ascends towards the bergschrund at 13,800ft and follows its ice cliff climber's right providing easy access to the summit crater. 

The 13,200ft technical crux. The upper crossing (Blue) requires a bit more climbing through steep terrain. The lower crossing (Red) provided easier access over the crevasse. 

All things considered, the route is in pretty good condition. With several variations available make sure to evaluate terrain carefully and choose the best option suited for you and your team's experience and ability. As the season progresses the route is taking longer and longer to ascend and descend as reroutes  avoid obstacles. Plan accordingly and allow you and your team plenty of time. Consider having a pre-determined turn around time to help mitigate this concern. It's important to manage fatigue within the group and remember that getting back down still requires a great deal of energy. It's been a great time to climb the Emmons recently with good route conditions and fantastic weather. Stay safe out there, have a great climb, and we'll see you up there!