Thoughts on Shuksan Price Glacier mid-June -- wild speculation encouraged

Friends, I made an aborted attempt on this route back in 2003, and always wanted to come back. I have an opportunity to do it in a couple of weeks. I don't live in the area, so it's difficult for me to judge what the conditions would be. I'm aware that Washington's snow pack is very low (as it is here in Colorado). I would be extremely grateful for any insights you could provide on what you expect the route conditions to be in mid-June. Would you expect snow under treeline on the approach? Would you expect the glacier to be snow-covered, or bare ice? Will it be cold enough at night for the surface to freeze, or will it be slush? Does anyone have recent knowledge on the river crossings along the approach?

This was the view of the Price Glacier on the approach way back on July 7th, 2003, and it looks like there was still plenty of seasonal snow on the glacier at that time of year:

And this was the view from our high camp. It started raining overnight, so we decided to bail, over concerns that it was too warm:

Mike, can't speak for current conditions, but I did it in Aug 2014 and I can't imagine current seasonal snowpack in June 2026 will be less than it was in Aug 2014, and since I think (but could be wrong) that MORE seasonal snow will only make it better, its at least doable for you in Jun 2026.

More snow (i.e earlier) = maybe more snow on approach, elsewhere, etc., but you would/should be prepared for that based on nature of the route and earlier season may hide some cracks, but the glacier should get in better condition than later.

Less snow (i.e. later) = maybe less snow but potentially a more troubled glacier route ...

IMO if you want to do it, june is probably a reasonable time, and can't wait for others' opinion. 

Good luck!  Its sick

Thanks for the advice Dave! I agree...I think more snow on the glacier would be helpful, and with climate change, the prime climbing season is getting earlier and earlier for routes like this. Just compare my photos from '03 to those posted on here from '23, and you can see the recession of the glacier has been dramatic. 

Not sure how useful this is, but I attempted Price Glacier May 9-10 this year and bailed. My guess is it'll be a good climb in mid-June.

It was the tail end of a week-long heatwave and it was much too hot to be on the mountain with a Spring snowpack. The mountain was shedding a ton of ice even through the night with minimum freezing levels somewhere over 10k'. We heard what sounded like a large avalanche overnight and saw a bunch of recent slides and ripe glide cracks. We very stupidly attempted anyway and turned around after I got hit by icefall that came off Nooksack and shattered my helmet around 3am. I got extremely lucky that I had no TBI symptoms and could walk out. I've been taking a long hard look at my decision making since then because I knew better and should have turned around long before that.

My opinion when leaving was that it seemed like it'd be way safer to attempt in a month or so once the early season snow/ice finished coming off, though it looked like it was already an ice climb in early May this year and I've heard it's frequently just steep snow this early. I also haven't been paying enough attention to the weather since then to know how it might've changed though I know it snowed a bit about a week later. I'm currently hoping to re-attempt in early July. Some of those cracks near the top look like they might become problematic though.

Snow started for us around 3500' but wasn't really consistent until the ridge - even then it was mostly only in open areas. I'd kinda expect snow before the glacier on the approach trail to be gone or nearly gone by mid-June. We were postholing pretty badly, but again it was the end of a heatwave. My guess is that there will still be snow on the glacier, but not a ton and you're probably looking at pretty technical ice through the steep parts. Here's a few pictures of conditions with different angles/lighting:

River crossings are fine. First log bridge was washed out on the far side of the river, but we were able to get across on some logs near where the bridge used to be. I suspect it'll be easier in June. Someone installed a semi-permanent metal cable tyrolean with a petzl trac guide over the second river crossing. Looks relatively new and I'm guessing it went up last year. Not sure if this is something I should be mentioning though, so someone let me know if I should take this info down...

The old bridge:   

The tyrolean:

Extra helmet pic to remind everyone both to make good decisions and to always wear your helmet:

By the way, I'd be thrilled to hear about conditions if you do go in June since I'm thinking about trying again in July   

I climbed it in mid August in 2009. We pitched out 22 pitches, 5 or 6 of which were overhanging. I nearly got clobbered by a giant rock coming off of Nooksack Tower. I thought we were both going to be swept off the face when a huge serac calved above us.

I’m glad I did it and I’m even more glad I don’t have to do it again

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/68708-tr-mt-shuksan-price-glacier-8152009/#comment-897548

David, I'm so glad to hear that you are OK. That must have been terrifying...you probably thought you had rolled the dice for the last time. I've always felt that when I step into that alpine environment, I'm trespassing in a world that doesn't welcome me. I have to sneak through before I get "caught", and I feel tremendous relief when I get back on solid dirt. I'm parsing your words and trying to understand your thoughts on this. It's clear that you thought May during a heat wave was no good. That makes sense...I remember that heat wave; we had similar conditions in Colorado. I would think that the really precarious snow would have shed by now? I don't think there has been much new snow since then, but I haven't been watching it every day.  I would prefer to do it when the overnight temps get into the 20s, but I don't see that happening the rest of the summer. For a few days in early June, it was getting that cold at 8,000'...but when I look at the NWS point forecast now, it isn't getting that cold anymore. You made another comment referring to the snowpack... It sounds like you are confirming that this was a "dry" year for snow, and another year might be better. Do I have that right? 

Hey Mike, ill be overflying it tomorrow and can take some photos for you!