It's feeling and looking like Fall on the mountain.
The Muir snowfield has become the Muir icefield. Microspikes, or even better - crampons, are necessary for the travel. There is no longer a 'trail' to follow, and one should expect to use dry glacier navigation skills. With fall moving in, whiteout conditions will become more common. Have a GPS track running on the way up, to follow on the way down in case of weather.
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| Crevasses on the Upper Portion of the Snowfield |
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| More Broken Terrain on the Upper Portion of the Snowfield |
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Guide services have been working all season to manage risk on the upper mountain through maintaining an accessible route, one that all climbers benefit from. Last Sunday 08/27, guide services pulled adjuncts off the route due to hazardous and hard to maintain conditions. High crack can be navigated with intermediate climbing skills. The ice fin onto the DC has become more unsupported and the ice box is subject to more frequent serac and rockfall. These factors make access to the Cleaver challenging and hazardous. Risk management and proper decision making is required, even though the physical movement through here is relatively straightforward. While the summit could previously be reached with more technical climbing and glacier navigation skill, with the absence of a ladder over the 12.8 crack, there is no longer a known route to the top.
Rangers have not had eyes on other routes, but it's safe to assume the rest of the mountain is looking the same.
