Good route conditions continue for Rainier!

Our Mount Rainier climb that summitted yesterday reported fantastic conditions on the Muir route. They noted that the route up the Disappointment Cleaver is in excellent condition, and they were able to pull some of the fixed lines from the route that had been in place since early season.

Snow conditions lower on the mountain are still very good, so we are not yet needing to use our trail shoes on the portion of the climb just out of the Paradise parking lot.

Rainier climbs summits & reports high winds

Our 3 day Muir climb summitted Rainier & reported high winds, other than the wind they said conditions were good. We hope the good weather will contine with the low pressure system moving into the region this week.

Success on Lib Ridge & Emmons routes!

The recent Alpine Ascents Rainier climbs of Liberty Ridge & the Emmons Glacier routes have been successful. 100% of our Liberty Ridge climbers made the summit with guides David Morton & Michael Horst. They reported good route conditions on the route. The Emmons route is also in good condition, and is a very direct route much of the way above Camp Shurman as a result of the large snow accumulation earlier in the year. The DC route (or Muir route) is changing fast and we currently have a guide doing route work as part of a joint team of guides from another guide service on Rainier. They hope to shovel sections of the route on the steeper parts of the DC ridge to make for safer climbing.

On another note, our Mt. Baker climbs have gone well with successful summits of the Easton Glacier. Conditions there are great & we hope for good weather to continue!

Nice Weather allows for many Rainier summits

The weather in Washington has been great over the last 2 days & is forcasted to contine, a high pressure system next week is very likely which would create fantastic weather for our climbing programs in the Pacific Northwest.

Here is a photo of an Alpine Ascents guide & climber standing atop Rainier's summit, Columbia Crest, at 14,411' last week on a nice day!

Rainier route still in good shape but changing fast

Our recent Rainier climbs on the Muir route have been successful, however the changing route conditions due to the warm & cold weather patterns have made for some additional challenges. Over the last week several snow bridges that allowed for passage over wide crevasses above 13,000' have collapsed. This made for more difficult route finding around these crevasses, but our climbs were still able to reach the summit. There was a significant rockfall/landslide off of the Nisqually Cleaver last Monday which was likely caused by the shifting temperatures as well. As the snow continues to melt on the Cleaver our route will become less direct & will make several switchbacks. We have had some great weather windows over the last few weeks & we will continue to hope for great weather in July!