Mount Rainier Guiding Concessions

Here is some worthy Mount Rainier climbing news... Today, the NPS released the names of the companies that successfully competed for the future guiding contracts on the mountain. You may recall, the NPS went through an extensive commercial services planning (CSP) process over the past 4 years. The finalized plan, published in the spring of 2005, called for three guide service concessions to operate on Mount Rainier (as opposed to one, RMI). The CSP set a number of parameters for the next 10 years, including commercial use levels and commercial free zones, yet it also opened up the possibility for varied forms of guiding and training to occur. Many felt the plan was a historic step forward for the NPS, resource protection and for the mountaineering industry.

SOOO, who recieved the contract awards???... Rainier Mountaineering Inc., International Mountain Guides, and Alpine Ascents International. We'll provide the official press release later, but the word is out and we thought you should know.

Fall - Rock-tober

There isn't a whole lot to say about specific climbing conditions on Mt Rainier these days. It's mid fall, it's beautiful, it's quiet. For climbers, the issue revolves around dry glaciers and lots of exposed bare rock (volcanic rock that is). A few of the steeper routes (Mowich/Ptarmigan) may come back into shape, but those are a gamble. Most of the fresh snow is now 4 months past and the new stuff doesn't seem to really accumulate till November (sometimes later).

All that said, if you'd like the mountain mostly to yourself, some of the finest days to climb are happening right now. That's because the weather has been quite good overall (it's predicted to remain so for another week) and the DC remains climable.

The reponses to the Muir Snowfield question are stilll coming in. As of yet, no one has desented from the general observation: the snow and ice on the Muir Snowfield seem to be visibly shrinking! To those who wrote, thank you. To those who didn't... :)

Muir Snowfield and the Disappointment Cleaver Route

Check out this 2x6 style of crevasse crossing. The image was snapped over the weekend (thankfully the board didn't)... The lumber has since been pulled, so now climbers must find another way around the crevasse. Here's more on the DC...

I received a few comments about the ice mass on the Muir Snowfield. Avid Rainier skier Ron Jarvis had this to say,

"When I started playing on Rainier in 1991 there were no dismounts required while skiing from Muir to Pebble in late summer/fall and as I recall that seemed to be the case right up until the last 2 or 3 years (dementia notwithstanding :-) ).

I would also add that similar conditions (volume/snow-ice depth) also seem to be the case on the contiguous neighbor to the east, the Paradise Glacier."

The Muir Snowfield

Camp Muir was quiet this weekend, but a few teams made the summit via the Disappointment Cleaver. We'll post our report soon. In the meantime, I've updated the conditions on the Muir Snowfield.

And about that Muir Snowfield... I had a good conversation with a senior RMI guide about the level of the snowpack on the snowfield. We both felt that there was a noticeable drop in how it measured against the rocks. That is, the surface of the snow seems to have lowered, thus exposing more bare ground. It appears to my untrained scientific eyes that the ice mass underneath is melting and diminishing, leaving less ice-volume throughout the snowfield. The surface appearance seems normal for this time of year with ice, some fresh snow, and a few crevasses, but the overall snow level seems to have decreased. In essence, we noticed more exposed mounds of sand, pumice and volcanic rock. I'd be curious to hear if anyone who hikes the snowfield a lot is left with a similar impression.

Stellar weather and long term forecasts

I found this long term forecast from the Climate Impacts Group. They've done a little weather projecting into the fall and winter (and even the spring). Here is an excerpt,

The seasonal outlooks through spring 2007 suggest... a continuation of warmer than average conditions throughout the region for the coming fall, winter, and spring seasons... pointing toward[s] a weak-to-moderate intensity El Niño event for the next few seasons... suggest[ing]... an anomalously dry fall and winter for much of the region.

Of course there were some serious disclaimers, but if you follow this prediction, the forecast doesn't look so hot for skiers.

In the meantime, it's warm and dry on the mountain. Camp Muir enjoyed a balmy low of 49 last night! It's at 59 degrees as of 9 AM.

Image by Rob Veal

Vacation...

If you haven't noticed, there have been few updates over the past 2 weeks... my apologies. This is largely due to the fact that I took a much needed climbing vacation. But I'm back, and with such fabulous weather on the horizon, I'm looking forward to more mountain related reports and gossip.

To start things off, Rainier fans will appreciate this recent Camp Muir development. Now there is a remote weather station at 10,000 feet. Check it out! With just a click of the mouse, you can find the temps, winds and other basic weather data at Camp Muir (providing the equipment doesn't fail). Which is pretty cool, as climbers and skiers will appreciate the high altitude information when predicting (guessing) the conditions. Maybe someday, we'll even get a Camp Muir Cam!

In other Mt Rainier news, we now know that climbing visitation is up from 2005. Not a huge leap, but up. We are already above 9,200 attempts for 2006, and I suspect that a few more will trickle throughout the fall and ealry winter. Also up in 2006 was the success rate, which is hovering around 62-63%. On the downside, however, is overall visitation to all of the National Parks (and in this case camping). The Denver Post covered the story in "Camping vacation falls out of favor." I find this topic interesting, and wonder about the trend.

Fall

Although Autumn officially begins on Sept. 22nd this year , it's starting to look and feel like "fall" now. The weather REMAINS outstanding (!), but change is in the air. Each day, the sun dips lower and lower into the sky, while the nighttime temps continue to drop.

Of course, there really isn't an official "Mt. Rainier Climbing Season," but if there were, it would start in late May and end around Labor Day weekend. Hmmm... Labor Day weekend just passed, and it's getting quiet around here...

I'd share a route report about some cool line or ski descent, but it's September and most of our reports are focused on the DC and Emmons. As an example, a climber called today and asked about the Kautz Glacier. From Aug. 21st to now, only 15 people have attempted it (6 made it) and they had little to share. The DC and the Emmons, however, are in fine shape (if you like crossing crevasses and few other climbers).

Regarding the "climbing season"... I find it WONDERFUL that we had no (I mean NO) rescues all summer!!! A few were hurt, yes, but no one needed any sort of "rescue." Everyone was able to walk off on their own. More on this topic later...

In other news... PAY ATTENTION MOUNTAIN GUIDES (or if you are interested in commercial guiding).

The NPS at Mt Rainier is OPENING professional guiding opportunities for competition to INDEPENDENT GUIDES (not concessions). After some research, you'll find that the scope of the introductory program IS quite limited, but the intent is for that program to expand. Moreover, other parks and agencies are watching Rainier, as independent guiding here could be precedent-setting within the industry, Park Service and other federal agencies.

As of today, roughly 8,600 climbers have attempted the summit this year, and the success rate hovers around 63%. By the way, it's no longer smoky up here.