May 23, 2018
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- High Break. (Betsy Dain-Owens)
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- Sunrise makes everything better! (Betsy Dain-Owens)
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- The summit crater. (Betsy Dain-Owens)
The climbing season is steadily ramping up here in the Pacific Northwest. On Mt. Rainier’s Disappointment Cleaver Route (currently the Ingraham Direct) IMG Lead Guide Betsy Dain-Owens and her team stood on top, on another absolutely perfect morning. Hot on their trails will be Luke Reilly and his team who left the Paradise Parking lot early this morning en route to Camp Muir. The met Betsy & her team on the snowfield for some handshakes, hugs and the guide info download.
On the south side of Mt. Rainier is Andy Polloczek and his Fuhrer Finger Team. They’re on day two of the climb and have established their second camp at the top of the Finger. With some thunderstorms in the forecast (and a feel in the air) they opted to dig in vs. climbing any higher today. They’ll see what develops then plan accordingly. They’ve got a few days to play with.
Meanwhile, things continue to ramp up later this week/weekend with our first Kautz, Emmons and Liberty Ridge climbs heading into the field. Looking ahead, next Tuesday stretches the bandwidth a bit when we have five teams on Mt. Rainier on four different routes! Soon after, the North Cascades & Baker seasons jump off. It’s going to be another busy summer!
Tye Chapman