Ingraham Direct and South Side Photos 4/19/2024

South side photos and Ingraham Direct photos from 4/18-4/19 2024.   

A view from Glacier Vista on 4/18

Looking towards Camp Muir from Cathedral Gap 4/19

Looking up the Ingraham Direct from Cathedral Gap 4/19

A party crossing a snow bridge around 11,800' on the ID

A view from Glacier Vista on 4/19 with fresh avalanches noted on the Nisqually 

 

Climber Self-Registration Begins September 11th

Where did the summer go? With the return of fall, operations and services at Mount Rainier will begin to decrease. Climbing and Wilderness Permits are still required through the fall and winter for traveling on Mount Rainier above 10,000 feet or on glaciers. Self-registration for climbers in Paradise begins Monday September 11th, 2023 as the Paradise Wilderness Information Center will close September 10th. There will be a self-registration box located outside the Old Ranger Station in Paradise. As winter approaches a large tunnel will be put in front of the door. Walk through this tunnel and find the self-registration box with instructions at the end of the walkway. This is open 24/7 for registration, even if no one is staffing it.

Self Registration is at the Paradise Ranger Station near the center of the photo.

Climbers can still register in-person (which we recommend) in Longmire and White River. Check the park's operating hours and pay special attention to the date at which the operating hours change as we move into winter. The White River Wilderness Information Center will be staffed until October 9th, 2023. After that date, there will be a self-registration box on the outside of the Wilderness Information Center as well until the road closes for the season. The Longmire Wilderness Information Center will also close around then and move their operations to the Longmire Museum for the winter. 

There are two things required to climb in the off-season. The first is to pay the online Annual Climber Cost Recovery Fee. The second is to use the self-registration stations at Paradise or White River to fill out your permit. 

Filling out your self-registration permit completely will help any necessary search and rescue efforts - please take the time to get it right! The full list of instructions will be located at both self-registration stations. You will fill out a sheet (front and back) at the ranger station and leave it in the drop box, you don't carry the permit on you. Please remember when you get off the mountain to fill out the return slip at the station and put in the drop box as well to check out from the field. 

As summer turns to winter, our seasonal staff starts to migrate away from the mountain. High camps will only be staffed very occasionally, search and rescue operations will be delayed, and the park's exclusive use helicopter will be departing the park by late September. Please keep in mind that during the winters, there aren't rangers actively staffing the high camps to talk about conditions or weather. It is recommended that climbers are prepared to be very self-sufficient as any rescue efforts could take days! 

Fall DC/Mountain Update 9/2/23

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.

Crevasses on the Upper Portion of the Snowfield

More Broken Terrain on the Upper Portion of the Snowfield

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.

DC Update 8/22/23

Looking across the Cowlitz Glacier from Camp Muir with some smoke haze in the air. (8/22/23)

August is quickly coming to a close, and we are back to discuss the condition of the DC after the heatwave in the past week or so. The aftermath, if you will. If you haven't gotten the chance to check out what was happening to the mountain during this prolonged period of elevated temperatures, check out:

•  This blog post with pictures about what was happening mid-heat wave 8/16
• A video from the helicopter with upper mountain views on 8/18

Route Overview:

With 17,000'+ freezing levels, the small and thinning snow and ice features that the route utilized to reach the summit in our 8/8/23 DC update have suffered significantly. Portions of the route have collapsed, and other cruxes have become so difficult to surmount that some guide services have officially ended their seasons taking clients to the summit. As we anticipated, the high temperatures then subsequent cool off have led to firm, icy surfaces on many parts of the mountain, resulting in slide-for-life conditions where arresting a fall would be difficult.

It is important to understand that while one can still climb the Disappointment Cleaver route in it's current condition -- at the time of this post -- to the top of the mountain, that there is no longer a maintained "route" that many climbers have come to expect. In most places, there is no bootpack, no wands, nor any ladders to lead to you to the summit. Ladders and route adjuncts above the cleaver were all going to be pulled by today 8/22/23.  Old routes may be apparent but are NOT maintained.  Be prepared for steep and exposed conditions that demand advanced glacier navigation, discretion of hanging or unsupported features, evaluating bridges and plugs, and potentially more involved glacial travel techniques such as rappelling into and needing to ice-climb out of crevasses to cross them.

If you do believe you and your teammates possess these skills, plan on navigation taking a significantly more time than any other ascents of the Disappointment Cleaver. Plan on at least a handful of attempts to bypass obstacles that will end in needing to turn around to try a different option. All recreational climbers that rangers interacted with at Camp Muir did not go past Ingraham Flats this past week. To put it simply, the objective hazards on the route are currently just much higher than other times of year.

Wildfire Smoke Complications:

Looking down towards Paradise from Camp Muir in unhealthy smoke conditions.  Normally, you would be able to see the whole Tatoosh Range, as well as Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood. (8/21/23)

In addition to the difficulty and character of the route changing since the heatwave, there are a number of fires that are plaguing the Northwest air quality at the moment. If you live in-state this won't be any surprise, however if you're coming from out of town, know that the AQI (Air Quality Index) has been in the unhealthy range many days in the past week. While the fires still carry on, wind direction / atmospheric flow plays a huge role in if the smoke reaches Mt. Rainier. For the most up to date information, check out these air quality / wildfire resources:

• AirNow Fire and Smoke Map is a government resource where you can input any location in the U.S. and see a map of current air quality readings at monitoring sites as well as active fires. If you click on a location, some even have smoke forecasts, letting you know if experts in atmospheric flow believe the smoke will improve or worsen in your location of interest. How cool! The closest one to Camp Muir is at the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise.
  
  
• Mt Rainier Webcams is a site with links to webcams all over the park, including at Camp Muir and Paradise. Curious if high camp is above the smoke, or if Paradise is socked in? This is a great place to check. 
  
  
• InciWeb is a great resource to see the most up-to-date details on wildfires in the U.S. Similar to the AirNow platform, there is an interactive map of incidents. If you click on an incident, you can find out what percentage the fire is contained, size in acreage, types and amount of resources dedicated to the incident, along with fire behavior and a lot of other information. This can be a helpful map to look at if you're trying to brainstorm a plan B for Rainier, and find out how the fires that are causing the smoke are developing. 

Feature to Feature Updates:

• The Cowlitz: Similar to our last complete route update, this section of the route continues to be threatened by overhead rockfall from Gibraltar and Cathedral Rocks, ever-thinning snow bridges, and widening crevasses. There are some cracks opening up less than 8 feet away from where you leave the dirt at Camp Muir, so be sure to rope up before leaving camp. And -- evaluate your campsite selection wisely if choosing to camp on the snow! Some commonly used sites are now sitting a top thin snow bridges on the Wind Roll. 
  
  

  

  Note the cracks opening up on the Cowlitz Glacier. (8/20/23)

  
  
• High Crack (11,300'): High crack -- the first notable feature when climbing up past Ingraham Flats -- still has a ladder to grant passage across it at this time. A popular alternative for many climbing parties who are not prepared for the high hazard route finding higher on the mountain is to opt to climb from Camp Muir, across the Cowlitz, up through Ingraham Flats, to High Crack and turn around. Some want the ladder crossing practice, but will spin just on the other side, to avoid entering the higher hazard portions of the Ice Box and Bowling Alley. This is an excellent alternative if you want to climb, get some glacial navigation and ladder crossing skills practiced, but do not want to undertake the more complex and severe hazards higher on the route.
  
  
• Getting onto the Cleaver: The unprotectable traverse to gain the Disappointment Cleaver from the glacier as of 8/8 relied on "a narrow section of ice, that then gains the cleaver on some quickly melting, and thin, small snow and ice features". These features have since collapsed. While there is a way to navigate on top of the smashed remains of this traverse to gain the cleaver, these new features remain vulnerable to further collapse. There is running water beneath the remains of these features, and it would be a high likelihood, high consequence event for this traverse to further collapse. Be sure to understand the risks you are taking before you embark across this section, knowing it must also support you returning to camp later in the day.
  
  
• Above the Cleaver: There is no established route that will get you to the summit of Mt. Rainier from the top of the Disappointment Cleaver. As described earlier in this post, know that advanced glacial travel techniques and a significant amount of experience are needed to continue further up the mountain from this point. Route adjuncts have been removed beyond this point as of 8/22/23.

Looking Forward:

While there is still traffic heading up and down the mountain in various forms, the climbing season is certainly winding down. A light dusting of snow coated Camp Muir on the morning of 8/23 -- telling us of the changing of seasons that is ahead. If you're planning on a hike up to Camp Muir, remember to check the latest blog on the changing conditions on the Muir Snowfield. That's what we have for now, folks! See you up there.

The sun makes it's debut from behind Muir Rocks on the morning of 8/23/23 after a light dusting of snow fell atop Camp Muir.

Video of Some Upper Mountain Conditions

Upper Mountain Conditions 8/16/2023

The 17,000+ foot freezing levels we've had over the last few days have had quite the impact on Mount Rainier and its glaciers. Things have been changing drastically from one day to the next (or hour by hour) with how fast things are melting. This puts climbers at a higher level of risk than normal and requires a lot of prior experience on glaciers and climbing to have the skillset for managing the risks and route navigation decisions.  Again, these HOT temperatures are making conditions DIFFICULT for climbers.

The traverse across the Cowlitz Glacier has been changing day by day as guide groups have made edits to the route as crevasses rapidly open up in the bootpack and rockfall threats above change fall lines. A number of people have punched into some crevasses, surprised to fine the "track" went over an overhanging snow bridge that was not obvious before.  No climber "plans" on falling in a crevasse, so please come prepared on these HOT days to do actual crevasse rescue.  

The double ladder at high crack at the moment is still in place and folks can still traverse onto the Cleaver, but the plug that connects to the cleaver had water running underneath it and has a big overhang, so if it were to collapse in these HOT temperatures it would not be good.  

Looking at the traverse onto the DC on 8/14/2023

Above the cleaver, the snow is isothermic, or "punchy" and not very supportable. There have been reports of folks falling into crevasses unexpectedly here too. The double ladder at 12,800' was still in place as of August 16th, but from here, folks can plan on finding their own route. On August 15th, the guides pulled the triple ladder spanning the 12,900' crack because it was sitting on overhangs that weren't reliable.  No parties have summited the DC Route for the last couple of days due to crevasses not being safe to cross.  

Upper Thousand plus feet of the DC Route. 8/14/2023

Parties that want to find their way to the summit via the DC Route will have to do some extreme end-running of crevasses or rappel into and ascend out of crevasses.  And, at the moment, you will need to find your own route, accept a relatively high level of risk for this route, and have extensive glacier and climbing experience.  Recognize that crevasses may fail any time during the day, sometimes behind you, leaving your party to discover they can't descend via the route they came up.

Another view of the upper couple thousand feet of the mountain. 8/14/2023

Luckily there is an end to this heat in sight. Temperatures look like they may plummet to about 9000' freezing levels by Sunday. After these warm temperatures however, such cold conditions will likely present challenging conditions in a different way - all this glacial melt could solidify making for icy and unforgiving surfaces. Having sharp, steel crampons on full shank boots and sure footing with them will be essential to help you manage this upcoming drastic change in conditions.

Looking at Camp Schurman and the Emmons-Winthrop on 8/14/23

While this all sounds a bit dire, there's still some great vistas, cooler temps, and great opportunities to practice mountaineering skills around both high camps on the mountain.  The stars and meteor showers have been all-time.  Just don't plan on a typical "summit climb" adventure right now.  See you on the mountain!

Looking above the Cleaver. 8/14/23

View near the Emmons shoulder and the 12,900 crack. 8/14/23