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| Looking up from Ingraham Flats. The Ingraham Direct is center frame, the Disappointment Cleaver is the climber's right. |
A week of pleasant, early summer weather with clear skies and modest freeze levels has kept the Ingraham Direct climbing well into the first week of June. The route as of 6/2/26 is still entirely snow covered above Camp Muir. Cathedral Gap is melting out quick and will soon present the first few patches of dry ground to navigate. As a reminder during this season of melt out, we recommend groups shorten their rope lengths when moving across dirt and rock to prevent knocking rocks down onto parties below and avoid stopping under cliffs where you are exposed to rock fall.
The Ingraham Glacier between 11,400 and 11,800 remains the most dynamic section of the route, with widening crevasses and some weakening snow bridges. The number of crevasses is dense in this section of the route.
Depending on the size of your team and rope spacing, it is entirely possible that one end of your rope team is encountering a new crevasse/ladder crossing while the last member is navigating the previous feature. There are 3 ladders and numerous pieces of fixed protection throughout this section. This section of the route is the most sensitive to warm weather and teams should be prepared for the possibility of any of these crevasse crossings to fall out either prior to their ascent or to find them uncrossable a few hours later while descending.
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| A ladder crossing on the Ingraham Glacier on 6/2/26 |
The terrain mellows out for a few hundred feet before ascending steeply to Camp Comfort at 12,700 ft. Above Camp Comfort, the route encounters one more large crevasse and a steep, exposed snow slope near 13,000' before easing back to the summit. This crack at 13k is currently bridged well but may widen with warmer weather. There is ample fixed protection through this crevasse and steep slopes above.
Sections of the route with steep slopes, ladders, and fixed protection tend to create traffic jams on busier days. Please be respectful of other teams on the route, communicate with each other, and plan in some extra time on your climb for traffic jams.
Conditions tend to change quickly this time of year. Guides are still favoring and maintaining the Ingraham Direct as of 6/2/26, however a few days of warm weather may render the ID unfavorable at which time more effort will be directed at the Disappointment Cleaver. Stay tuned.
Be sure to check out our previous Ingraham Direct blog post from 5/26/26 for more information on driving access, climbing registration, and the Camp Muir approach, as well previous route conditions.
