Heads Up Regarding Late Season Hazards

Icy area

Fall is arriving swiftly with changing weather and variable visibility.

Please use caution and come prepared for your visit. The fall weather can change rapidly from sunshine to clouds, fog and even snow. Expect decreased visibility conditions.

In some places the glorious sunshine of the summer has finally melted down to the ice of the Muir Snow Field. Be aware of firm and slippery ice in some places. Crampons or other traction devices are still optional at this time but may come in handy on the upper section depending on your comfort and skill level.

Weak/false bridge across crevasse.

THERE ARE CREVASSES ON THE MUIR SNOW FIELD AND INTER GLACIER. PLEASE WATCH WHERE YOU ARE GOING. 

You don't want to go there.

As of this posting none of the crevasses observed were wider than ~18" and were easily stepped over. Note that 18" is still large enough for some people to fall into. By crevasse standards 18" is small but it is big enough to bite and cause serious harm or worse.

Mountain Ambassador Extraordinaire

Early in August - on the fifth - we remembered our partner on the mountain, colleague, and friend, Ted Cox.  Ted passed away two years ago, but still seems to be present in our lives everyday at high camp.  He worked at Camp Muir for about a decade doing most everything: fixing doors on huts, installing new solar toilets, painting and weather proofing the structures, helping climbers with broken crampons, hauling down garbage left in the public shelter, hauling up medical kit supplies, and assisting the rangers with search and rescues. These were but a few of his skills. Where Ted stood far above the rest of us was in his extraordinary willingness to befriend anyone who ventured over to say hello. "Welcome to Camp Schurman" he would say as someone walked out of the clouds into Muir.  The ruse never lasted long, but reminded everyone that everything didn't have to be so serious.

Ted brought a mix of compassion, thoughtfulness, humor, competence, and sense of place to Camp Muir.  He knew exactly the measure of the mountain with respect to the cosmos, and kept others informed of it with his sharp wit and smile.  Ted summitted Mount Rainier, but he valued brotherhood and the journey more than any summit.  He'd see folks jockeying to get in front of or behind other rope teams; frustrated from not summitting; nervous about late starts. Ted would try to tell them it wasn't about bagging the peak.  There's always a taller peak - some climbed, like Everest (29,029 ft) and some unclimbed, like Olympus Mons (69,649 ft) - but enjoying the time on the mountain and the people you're around is most important.

In that spirit we remind folks that next time they're waiting for a slow climber on a ladder, or behind a rope team taking a photo, or waiting at a bottleneck on a popular route; to offer a smile, some spare water or snacks, even offer to take a photo.  We're stoked to see so many folks up climbing and having great adventures together.  See you on the glaciers!

Summertime's Back

Warm weather around Mount Rainier has been creating some pretty large electrical storms near the mountain.  Spectacular to see from afar, but a bit unnerving to be near - especially if there's nothing else around that's taller than you!  Safety around electrical storms is all about minimizing the chances of getting hit.  Put the odds in your favor by avoiding any climb that puts you near a storm, staying near depressions and away from ridge tops, and crouch with your feet close together if the storm is unavoidable.  Definitely don't climb up into a storm - it's generally not fun.

Also - a heads up: for those of you planning to arrive in the wee hours or depart late this next week, Monday through Wednesday, August 4, 5, and 6 the Nisqually Road will be CLOSED TO ALL TRAFFIC between the Westside Road and Longmire between  the hours of 9:30 pm & 4:30 am.  This is the main road into the park from Seattle and Portland.  Climbers heading into or out of the Paradise area during these nights will need to use Stevens Canyon Road.

Mid-July Update

Despite the recent heat and associated melt-off, routes are holding strong around the mountain! Some areas are definitely starting to become more barren of snow, but that hasn't stopped motivated climbers from successful outings on Ptarmigan, Mowich, and the Tahoma to name a few. The DC and Emmons are still in great shape and seeing lots of traffic, especially on weekends. Being organized when you show up at the ranger station to get your passes and permit helps a ton in making that part go fast! Have your group together, information (car license!) accessible, and your climbing pass or payment ready. 

Tahoma Glacier - Photo by Tim Hale

There is still lots of road construction happening between the Nisqually entrance and Longmire so be prepared to have a delay if you are driving through that area. There is construction and scheduled shutdowns on 410 near Chinook pass (check WSDOT for latest). Some of the lower Paradise trails are receiving some much needed resurfacing and portions of the trails will be closed weekends for the next couple of weeks. There are many easy alternate routes through the Paradise meadows, so this should not delay anyone too much.

Please be extra vigilant about trash and blue bags. This is the time of year rangers are picking up more garbage and human waste from all over the mountain. If you bring it up on the mountain it is your responsibility to take it off. This includes all uneaten food and unburned fuel. All this stuff becomes garbage no one uses and rangers end up packing it down for you, which is bad form on the part of whoever left it. Even worse form is leaving a huge poo right beside camp or the climbing route. People don't want to walk by that and rangers sure would rather not pick it up. It always amazes us how many people leave their poo for us to pick up, please be a better steward of this mountain than those people. Thanks to everyone that has helped us clean up areas and taken down trash that is not theirs, your help does not go unnoticed! 

No major accidents on the mountain recently either. Keep on staying safe, and like always have fun!

Heat Wave

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. Even though there were some steady winds up high many people got up and had successful summit bids. Routes all over the mountain are being climbed and reports seem to be that things are staying in good shape! Check out new reports on Mowich Face, Ptarmigan Ridge, the Disappointment Cleaver and the Emmons/Winthrop.

The upcoming days are going to be seriously HOT. Climb early (teams are stoked to reach the summit before 8:00 AM)  or late (as soon as the snow firms up at night) to avoid sloppy snow, postholing, increased icefall and rockfall, sunburns, dehydration, sunstroke and photokeratitis. Snow surfaces should refreeze nicely with the clear nights, but will rewarm and soften rapidly when the sun comes up.

Stay safe out there.

Early June Update

Mowich Headwall

This upcoming weekend looks to be a sunny one! Warm but not too warm temperatures should also prevail making for some potentially great climbing conditions. We have started seeing the summer surge of climbers here on Rainier. Weekends at popular spots (Muir and Schurman) have been crowded and lots of people are successfully reaching Columbia Crest (aka the summit).

We've recently crunched some numbers for you folks who are interested in such things and found this: The six year average of registered climbers between January 1 and June 1 is 1,160 and this year during that same time period we have had over 2,000 climbers register. It's hard to tell if this trend will continue through the season but we are happy to see so many folks out enjoying the alpine! Usually somewhere between 10,000 and 11,000 people register to climb Rainier annually, so anyway you look at it the majority of climbing this year is still to come. Also thanks for registering and getting permits. Not only are you following the law, but you are also helping yourself out tremendously in the event of an emergency. The permit system is how we track climbers, figure out if you are overdue, who your emergency contacts are, cell numbers, itinerary, supplies, gear you have, etc. This is very valuable information. One of the first things rangers do if we get any sort of hint that a group might be in trouble is look at their climbing registration. It's Important!

We are playing catch up a little with some of our route updates, but there are now current photos of almost all routes on our conditions page. Climbers rangers have done very thorough updates for the Emmons/Winthrop and Liberty Ridge routes. Stay tuned for updates on the DC (It's great right now). Coverage seems to still be good on all routes and people have definitely been taking advantage. Please be safe out there. Take your time, get good info, watch the weather. Know your and your partners ability. Climb Safe!