Aerial Route Photos from Thursday, May 21st

Upper Ingraham Glacier

Fuhrer Finger

Upper Kautz Glacier

Success Couloir 

Tahoma Glacier

Mowich Face

Upper Ptarmigan Ridge

Upper Liberty Ridge 

Ptarmagin Ridge 6/19/25

Multiple parties have made attempts on Ptarmigan Ridge over the past few weeks with only one successful climb. Photos taken on 6/19/25 show an overview of the area and current snow and ice coverage on the route. 

These photographs were taken by an independent party of 3 that opted not to climb due to the current conditions on the route 

Emmons Update 6/18

 

The Emmons Winthrop route is still in good shape and has seen many successful ascents and descents in the past week. 

The trail to glacier basin is mostly snow free with a few patches of stubborn snow the final mile before. Above glacier basin there are various boot packs up the inter glacier to Camp Curtis. The Inter Glacier still has decent snow coverage from the winter with on fern ice on 6/18. There are a few open moats around the various nunataks, but no open crevasses were observed.

Looking up at the Inter Glacier from the moraine above glacier basin

A route to the Summit on 6/14/25

Although there is a well-established boot pack on a majority of the route climbers are encouraged to evaluate changing conditions and deteriorating snow bridges and make their own decisions on the best/safest path when necessary. There are a few points on the route where the well-trodden "path" crosses a marginal snow bridge. Safer crossings can be found by looking around to a less traveled area where a more robust bridge can be utilized or a crevasse can be end run. 

Crevasses at 11,400' - 6/14/2025

This last weekend we saw many descents by skiers and split boarders. When we talked with these parties on the route and back at Schurman many skiers used terms such as "bad skiing", "rugged", and "highly variable" when describing their descent. Many also reported carrying their equipment back down the mountain a distance before reaching a point they wanted to ski/board from. Further, rangers repeatedly observed riders get off their intended descent route at ~12,000ft landing them well above the corridor in broken and crevassed terrain. 

Boot pack at 13,400 - 6/14/2025

Overview of the Emmons route from Camp Schurman - 6/14/2025

If you are planning for a ski/board descent of the Emmons come prepared for variable surface conditions consisting of, sun cups, Penitentes, ice, and Sastrugi. If you are expecting planer surfaces and good corn skiing on the upper mountain you may be disappointed and find yourself in more challenging conditions. Carful route-finding is even more paramount when descending on skis due to the faster speed at which riders encounter terrain and a lack or rope to arrest a fall. 

If your team is planning on un-roping and riding down the mountain be thinking about your rope strategy... If you only have one rope for the team and the person who is carrying the rope falls into a crevasse, what is your plan?? 

North Side Photos and Route Info

The north side of Rainier 6/17/25

Climbing traffic has slowed down on the north side routes of Rainier over the last week due to changing route conditions and difficulty accessing some routes.

Liberty Ridge: Climbers have reported bailing from the approach to Liberty Ridge in recent days after having difficulty accessing the ridge from the Carbon glacier. Parties have reported a lack of adequate snow coverage on Liberty Ridge, which is typical for late June. Navigating the upper Carbon glacier has been difficult as well, with numerous open crevasses, necessitating circuitous travel.

Ptarmigan Ridge: Parties were successful on Ptarmigan in early June. There have been no reports of successful summits on this route over the last two weeks. Note that Ptarmigan ridge must be accessed from the White River campground this year due to the Mowich lake road closure. 

 Liberty Ridge (left) and Ptarmigan Ridge (center) on 6/17/25

Upper Mountain Conditions Photos from 5/23

Success Couloirs (Center)

Kautz Ice cliff (Center Right)

Russell Cliffs and Curtis Ridge (Willis Wall in the background)

Willis Wall and Liberty Ridge

Ptarmigan Ridge (Center)

April Showers.. and May Storms!

It's been an unprecedented stormy start to the summer on Mount Rainier.  Prepare for full winter conditions for any adventure in the park this May.  Not much to report conditions-wise since weather has been shutting most of the climbing and skiing down.  Use caution when entering onto steeper slopes on the upper mountain - the snow pack hasn't transitioned to a regular spring diurnal pattern yet, and there could be hazardous conditions with all of the new snow.  

The Paradise Wilderness Information Center (PWIC) is already open on weekends - come on up and register in-person!  Self-registration is still in effect during the weekdays until May 27th.  After May 27th the PWIC will be open everyday through the end of the climbing season in September.  Paying the Climbing Fee and obtaining a Climbing Permit is required for all climbers and skiers who journey above 10,000 feet or onto a glacier - even folks doing a single-push style ascent.

Rangers were able to get up in the helicopter for some aviation training and snapped some photos of the upper mountain.  See below for some photos taken May 10th and 11th.  We're excited for more stable weather patterns and a bit more sunshine - and excited to see everyone up on the mountain soon! 

West - North Side Conditions Photos - 6/16/2019

Left to right: Sunset Ridge, Sunset Amphitheater, Puyallup Cleaver, Tahoma Glacier, Tahoma Cleaver.

On Sunday our helicopter crew took some aerial photos of the west and northwest side of the mountain on their flight up to North Cascades National Park. The hot weather appears to have taken its toll on Liberty Ridge.  Reports from several parties that approached Liberty Ridge over the weekend stated that the lower ridge is mostly rock and that there is near constant rockfall on the route.  Conditions turned most of these parties away.

Left to right: Ptarmigan Ridge, Mowich Face, Sunset Ridge.   

Left to right: Ptarmigan Ridge, North Mowich Headwall, Central Mowich Face, Edmunds Headwall, Sunset Ridge.

Left to right: Ptarmigan Ridge, North Mowich Icefall, North Mowich Headwall, Central Mowich Face, Edmunds Headwall, Sunset Ridge.

Ptarmigan Ridge in the center.  Mowich Face on the right.

Left to right: Curtis Ridge, Willis Wall, Liberty Ridge, Ptarmigan Ridge, Mowich Face.

Ptarmigan Ridge

June 26th, 2018

Ptarmigan Ridge is still seeing late season ascents. Most years this route is climbed before the end of June. Once the summer time sets in and freezing levels rise, this route goes out of shape fairly quick. Experiencing rockfall and rotten unsupportable snow on the lower slopes up to 11,500’ is not uncommon and will demand a high level of skill and risk acceptance. 

Below is a trip report provided by Tod and Peter. This climbing team ascended the ridge using the rock step variation on June 21-24.

Summary of our trip:  Started at White River and camped on Curtis Ridge the first night on our traverse over to Ptarmigan.  Camped at Ptarmigan high camp the second night.  Overall the approach was fine, doable in a day if necessary.   On summit day, we crossed the bergsrund at 5:00AM (a little late in retrospect)  and summited at 4:30PM.  We camped at Schurman on the way out.  Had great weather with freezing levels around 10,000 feet keeping the face quiet.  Conditions were lean which led to us pitching it out more than anticipated.  The hourglass was ugly and we belayed rather than simul-ing out of concern for rockfall.  Lot’s of grit coming down due to wind, but nothing major. We were able to find decent sheltered belays, but most rock gear is suspect because of the fractured nature of the rock.  The ice pitch (see picture below) on the right-hand traverse was great and can be seen from the approach, it's highlight of the climb.  It's about 200 feet of 55 degree blue ice. The rock step exit was one ridge past that.  We missed it and traversed out under the Mowich face.

Some things I’d recommend to other climbers attempting it soon or in similar (mid season conditions):

A rock rack was essential:  we took a .4 BD Camelot, 3 small to medium HB offsets and 2 Lowe Tricams (Brown and pink).  We used most of it multiple times and would take some even smaller nuts if we were to do it again.

Hourglass:  It looks really bad from high camp, but is manageable.  Stay right of the 10 foot high exposed rock band that cuts across the face. The rock band has ice on it, but it’s detached and and won’t take screws.  Couldn’t find gear elsewhere unless you had pins.  In a week or two the right route may be complete junk, but it’s still probably better than trying the rock band.

We appreciate all the great photos and trip reports coming in from climbers on the mountain over the last couple of weeks.  Thanks for all the support!

NW Side Route Photos

Here are some photos taken from Observation Rock. Liberty Ridge looks pretty ugly and we don't recommend anymore Liberty climbs this season.

Hazardous Midsummer Conditions

Although summer weather was delayed arriving to Mount Rainier this season, strong high pressure and warm temperatures over the last few weeks have taken their toll on the upper mountain. Despite good snow coverage early on this spring, recent hot weather has begun to melt out many of the routes at a rapid rate. Climbers, guides and rangers alike have been reporting persistent rock fall, hollow bergschrunds, icefall and tedious glacial navigation on some of the mountains popular routes.

Although some parties have been continuing to climb routes like Liberty Ridge, Ptarmigan Ridge, Fuhrer Finger, etc... nearly all of them have reported near misses and unsafe/unstable conditions. In addition, some parties have even had team members pegged by rockfall while on route. At this stage in the summer, climbing rangers are asking public climbers to avoid these routes in order to minimize risk. Just because you might be able to sneak up a route, lucky and unscathed DOES NOT mean you should. Although many routes may no longer be "in season" here on the mountain, there is still plenty of fun to be had climbing other routes like the Disappointment Cleaver, the Emmons and the Kautz Glacier. Waiting until next spring to tick off a new, non-standard route may very well be your best bet.

With that said, any climbers that wish to speak more thoroughly on the topic are more than welcome to call the Paradise CIC (360.569.6641) or White River WIC (360.569.6670). Rangers there may be able to answer your questions or connect you with climbing rangers directly.

Ptarmigan Ridge (May 10th, 2017)

Large serac collapse through the route

Ptarmigan Ridge

Ptarmigan Ridge/Liberty Cap glacier