Conditions North Cascades

Avalanche risk North Cascades - US - jun/jul

Im part of a team of three brits heading over next week, and im a bit unsure of the sketch with avalanche conditions in the area.

We are looking at alpine/ alpine  rock and alpine ice type routes ( Ruth Mountain, Forbidden peak west ridge, Eldorado pk, shuksan pk fisher chimney, mt baker north ridge, mt rainier liberty ridge )

The avalanche forecast service has ended for the year and were this the alps I wouldnt ordinarily entertain carrying TSP in summer alpinism, but, there are reports of avalanches on some of these rtes into July etc

We are planning on taking TSP and of course assessing as we go, but it still feels a bit odd so late.

Can anyone lend any advice or update on conditions of late please?

I don’t live out in the Cascades, but climb there in the summer. For alpine conditions I keep an eye on this site. Just scroll down for the peak you are looking for to get the latest conditions report. Usually pretty thorough. Have a great trip!

https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/climbing-conditions.htm

I’ll preface this by acknowledging that all climbers should of course evaluate conditions and hazard level for themselves and not take advice from a random guy on the Internet.  That being said, it’s very normal to do routes like those you describe without beacon/shovel/probe during normal summer season.

FYI Liberty Ridge is (or was) already out of conditions of the year and is basically never climbable in July these days.

That’s a wide geographical region and weather is changing all the time, so conditions will vary.  The routes you mentioned vary in terms of how much they depend on snow level and their normal season.  For example, Liberty Ridge may be done for the year, and the road for Forbidden might not even be open yet.

Hey,

Thanks for the responses, and ack that conditions page, I had come across that and have been monitoring it.

Kyle, that largely tracks with what I was expecting, although the Liberty Ridge point is interesting. Is thay typically only a spring only winter route then? I had read mostly May-Jun but must say I had thought it was a route that lingered longer.

As for forbidden, I hadn't considered the roads not being open a consideration at all!

Thanks thats really useful even if disspointing!

We have never climbed here and not knowing an area its very tricky to work it out just from the internet and limited guide books. Cheers

I’m pretty confident the road is closed up to the Boston Basin approach trail. Don’t let that stop you though, it’s a couple extra miles each way and it goes by pretty fast since it’s just walking the road.

Is it actually blocked with snow you reckon or just.... closed?

My friends climbed forbidden a couple days ago. Just walk the dry road. From the trailhead for Eldorado to the trailhead for forbidden.

As for Baker, the common hazard is known as the Colfax Icefall which you pass under on the Coleman-Deming glacier route. If you climb the North Ridge, that is your descent route.

Haven’t heard any conditions about the N Ridge itself but rumor is that a chunk of hanging glacier is appearing ready to cut loose from that icefall area.

As for Shuksan, I’ve heard it’s still quite snowy generally. The chimneys themselves will likely be filled in or patchy. Filled in could be good. Patchy leaves potential hang fire.

Avalanche conditions follow precipitation as well as significant increases in temperature.

Watch for those conditions. Otherwise I wouldn’t worry about Avalanches specifically though Serac and Cornice fall is its own possibility. 

Joseph Robertsonwrote:

Kyle, that largely tracks with what I was expecting, although the Liberty Ridge point is interesting. Is thay typically only a spring only winter route then? I had read mostly May-Jun but must say I had thought it was a route that lingered longer.

May-June is the normal season, but that typically isn't all the way until the end of June.  Often it's more like 1-2 weeks in early June.  It varies year to year though.

As for forbidden, I hadn't considered the roads not being open a consideration at all!

Here is the road information: https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/road-conditions.htm

"Current: Cascade River Road is closed for the season at milepost 20 (Eldorado). The seasonal closure length is weather and snow-dependent and is typically closed through mid-late July. The road is unmaintained and unplowed in the winter and may be impassable due to downed trees, slide debris, snowfall, or washouts."

As mentioned upthread, you can walk the road, it just adds some mileage.

We have never climbed here and not knowing an area its very tricky to work it out just from the internet and limited guide books. Cheers

Areas like Washington Pass will be very accessible for alpine rock climbing, and a lot of the Enchantments will too.

Alpine Ice opportunities will be quite limited by this time of year.  You're basically limited to glacial ice routes (as opposed to season snow or melt-freeze ice), which would be things like the Kautz Glacier on Rainier, North Ridge of Baker, and Adams Glacier on Adams.

We tried to climb the north ridge today but where turned around by lack of vis and overnight freeze.(it was pretty mush with new snow and rain)It was climbed earlier this week though.
 As others have said don’t let the cascade river road closure bug you. It’s a pretty chill walk to the Boston basin th. 

Good morning all (UK morning, en route to the airport!),

Thanks everyone for the additional detail thats all really helpful! Good to know the road to Forbidden is just a wee walk. Still doable in a (long) day or with the added mileage do people usually bivvy somewhere? (Or recomend that anyway - I've read conflicting advice on this).

Regarding Colfax on Baker, would the ranger offices or guide companies know more about that? Hanging glaciers aren't typically something I would choose to gamble with!

Interesting point on glacial ice rtes still being in knick - thats as I expected but I must say, from what I'd read I'd taken liberty ridge to be mostly glacial ice rather than owt else - hence my surprise! I mean the "crux" is crossing the bergschrund as I read it. Am I to take that by now thats opened up significantly to become impassable?

Thanks again all, I really appreciate the input. Thumbs up.

Joseph Robertsonwrote:

Still doable in a (long) day or with the added mileage do people usually bivvy somewhere? (Or recomend that anyway - I've read conflicting advice on this).

Doable in a long day even with the road walk. Since this area is in north cascades national park, mostly people simply do it as a day trip to avoid having to get a permit to camp. Boston basin is a beautiful area though and camping/bivvying there would be the most scenic way to climb forbidden. (Best bet would be try to get a walk-up permit on a weekday)

Regarding Colfax on Baker, would the ranger offices or guide companies know more about that? Hanging glaciers aren't typically something I would choose to gamble with!

While it is a large overhead hazard, you are only forced to be under it for 10ish mins on the descent. Plenty of people climb the Coleman deming route throughout the summer without issues, but it’s worth being aware and minimizing time under the serac 

Interesting point on glacial ice rtes still being in knick - thats as I expected but I must say, from what I'd read I'd taken liberty ridge to be mostly glacial ice rather than owt else - hence my surprise! I mean the "crux" is crossing the bergschrund as I read it. Am I to take that by now thats opened up significantly to become impassable?

Thanks again all, I really appreciate the input. Thumbs up.

Liberty ridge being ‘out’ generally refers to the rockfall hazard (or possibly the bergschrund as you noted). This year has been a fairly low snow year which means less snow to hold the rock (particularly rocks far above you that can come whizzing down the mountain) together. I attempted it in early June this year and bailed, I can send you some pics / a post from that. 

Joseph Robertsonwrote:

Hey,

Thanks for the responses, and ack that conditions page, I had come across that and have been monitoring it.

Kyle, that largely tracks with what I was expecting, although the Liberty Ridge point is interesting. Is thay typically only a spring only winter route then? I had read mostly May-Jun but must say I had thought it was a route that lingered longer.

As for forbidden, I hadn't considered the roads not being open a consideration at all!

Thanks thats really useful even if disspointing!

We have never climbed here and not knowing an area its very tricky to work it out just from the internet and limited guide books. Cheers

Cascade River rd to get to the TH for forbidden west ridge is in fact not open. It adds 2 extra miles and not an insignificant amount of vert onto the already decently long approach. We attempted the west ridge last year July 4th week and spend 24 hours moving but didn’t even get to the ridge before turning back due to time. Granted we had 4 people, although it’s just a walk on pavement, the extra 4 miles RT absolutely sucked (mainly the last 2 back to the car) especially after moving for 20 something hours. We were incredibly worked and I wouldn’t recommend it personally.

That being said my and one buddy are going back to get revenge next week and instead going to do the torment forbidden traverse with an overnight bivy.

Baker NR I think is in but it’s getting hot. This is also a possible objective for us but am not sure if we’ll commit yet. The road to access heliotrope TH is open where it wasn’t 2 years ago which also absolutely sucked and required an extra 2 hours in the approach or e bikes.

Liberty ridge is hella out this year based on photos I’ve seen and I wouldn’t attempt that unless it’s winter conditions there. 50/50 chance rock fall takes you out in these kind of conditions. 

I haven’t found any beta yet for conditions of shuksan FC. 

Good afternoon all - landed now - thumbs up

Thanks again all for the continued useful input. I'll have a think about Baker - mushy isn't usually a term I associate with a good time on ice but we will see.

Oh interesting, Mitch,I assume you bailed on account of poor conditions (rockfall?). Thanks for the offer of a post and photos. If its an easy link / already uploaded that would be ace - but im hearing a lot of evidence for no go on that route so my mind is pretty made up at this point.

Kautz glacier seems a good alternative - don't suppose anyone had any info on conditions  lately.

Slight aside, but has anyone know ow owt about Eldorado peak normal route of late?

Cheers again all 

^ I sent you a dm with it, if you didn’t get it feel free to message me again, but yeah I I’d advise it’s too late for liberty ridge to be reasonably safe ;)

Kautz glacier is a great route and generally stays in throughout most of the rainier climbing season. July onwards you get more ice (in May/June it can be snow covered and people have skied the kautz route). Here’s the rangers blog they occasionally post conditions for it or you can call them. http://mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com/?m=1

Eldorado also tends to be in until late summer when the inspiration glacier can become broken up / impassable

Baker NR tends to stay in until the Coleman glacier gets too broken up. The actual ice climbing pitch is on an ice cliff so that will be solid ice, but the rest of the route and the Coleman approach is on snow which is where the mush could be a factor if temps get too warm

Hello all,

Bringing this back up. We have just got down from Mt Rainier, went up thr Kautz glacier as per the recomendation here and down the DC. Excellent route, was in good nick, no signs of avalanche risk whatsoever, and an all round pleasant trip - cheers.

We are looking at Baker N ridge next, but, as before ive read some funny things about conditions amd wondered if anyone has any thoughts on its conditions noting the intense heat we are experiencing at the moment? Nb we would climb early / at night, but that only mitigates risk so far.

Cheers again all

Joe

No info for the north ridge of baker, but it looks like the road up to cascade trailhead is now open if you are still considering the west ridge of forbidden. 

If still looking for baker trip reports join this Facebook group pnw peak baggers , there are a few north ridge in the last few days facebook.com/groups/2093355…

Ace, ive put in a request to join. 

Good to hear that there have been north ridge ascents (attempts?) in the last few days though.

Cheers again

I climbed the North Ridge of Baker yesterday.  Conditions are good.  The ice on the the steep crux has a sun affected surface that makes it less than ideal, especially on the lower angled line on the left side of the pitch.  There is better quality ice to the right but the line gets steeper.  Take your long screws.

The exit through the serac at the top is about as good as it gets.

Jason4Too - youre not the guide with two clients by chance? We climbed it yesterday too!

Hey all, thats me at the airport now, we managed :

Mt Adams normal rte

Mt Rainier Kautz glacier 

Mt Baker N ridge

Forbidden peak is the only objective im dissapointed to have not managed but alas time did not allow.

(Both "technical" routes in really good nick incidentally.)

Thanks you all for the outstanding level of guidance and advice offered by so many on here, it really enabled our trip!

Cheers