ScaredSilly

Nice work ... but ya gotta learn to measure the slope angle better. No way was it was that steep unless you off to the side banging on the penitents.

I am assuming you want a Cascade volcano. South Side Mt. Adams. Plan for mid week.

Depends ... check with the rangers: http://mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com

I agree with Ivan August is not a great month. I am not even sure how good Cooper Spur would be as one would probably be on a bit of rock in places. You are close enough to pick better conditions. Take kids and grandparents for a hike to some of cool places around the hill.

We carried up and over, it was not too bad. As DPS said coming down the DC and through Muir is easier than via the Kautz. But few do it. If one thinks about it the extra weight is around 10 lbs. (tent, stove, and sleeping bag). When we were there a group of four came down and another group of two turned not far above the second step. They rapped the upper step and down climbed the lower step. BITD folks would just rap right the ice fall directly down to Hazard. Which avoids the short hike back up to Hazard which is a hazard. I should also note that we did not cross over Wapowety Cleaver and went up to Point Success then walked to Columbia Crest where I smoked at cigar to celebrate 25 years of playing on Rainier.

I would not bring my Cobras for a route like the Kautz as they are too short. For the Kautz I would bring a tech axe (like DPS described) or an old school ice axe that can be swung and my ski poles. I would not bring a second tool just for the steps. But I have climbed a lot of ice and think many are too quick to go with a second tool. When we climbed the Kautz we walked up to Hazard with ski poles. Our 60m axe was handy - either between our shoulder blades or on our harness. Above Hazard one pole was stowed in our pack and we continued on with our axe and the other pole. If conditions were supper icy and long one person could bring a second tool for leading the ice steps while the second person used one axe. But as I say the angle is low enough that learning to climb such bits with a single axe is really key to learning to travel efficiently.

The first gen BD Cobras are great alpine tools. I have used them on numerous alpine routes. Easy to swing, cane, or plunge. Combining them with trekking poles for the lower angle slopes is my primary MO. Get out there and put them to work.

I could be clearer as well. A competent person can climb the ice steps on the Kautz with just a regular ice axe. It is low enough angled ice that two tools or a second tool are not needed. So yes, a regular ice axe works just fine (albeit my comments below). And that is really my point. Folks today do not seem to spend time learning how to use a regular axe on steeper terrain. We climbed the Kautz with a regular axe 60cm and a ski pole. My axe is an old school BD carbon fiber straight shaft axe with a classic interchangeable pick. Some of the fault lies with the mfg. as they sell super lightweight axes that are not worth shit on steeper terrain or crevasse extraction because there is no head weight. Without any head weight there is little pick penetration. So in those cases one is forced to bring a second tool that can be swung. Which sucks cause one then has to carry a couple of extra pounds for 15 minutes of climbing over a two-three day climb. A friend was just given a BD Raven. He traded it in for a Grivel Air Tech Evo G-Bone. For exactly this reason the Raven has no head weight.

The Kautz is a good route option that is a step above the DC and Emmons. However, IMHO it does not require a second tool as it is 40-45 degrees at best (or yer off route). Depending how comfortable you feel and the conditions you will certainly have the opportunity to place pro. By the end of July there will be ice but also lots of sun cups. One option to consider is to make the climb up to Camp Hazard two day affair. That will put you at Camp Hazard early enough in the day that you could hike up to the first step and play around. Another option if you really want to play around with two tools is to wait until fall and head down to the Elliot Glacier on the north side of Mt. Hood. There are lots of cracks where one can set up top ropes or lead. That said practice using one tool on steeper ice. People tend to immediately start using two tools when one really suffices. That will improve your technique and let you move faster on steeper terrain. After that you can run up Copper's Spur which in the fall can ice up nicely as can the North Side Gullies. The latter is big step up as it can be a couple of thousand feet of ice rather than a couple of pitches.

Yes Al Burgess, he and Ad are friends of mine. If you have not read their book you should. As for the serac collapse - the upper crack we crossed was pretty much filled in from serac debris. And I would agree the route can and will change. I am trying to see if my friend will send me images from when they climbed it almost about the same time as you. It would be interesting to compare the route from different years.

Nice trip and a great way to do something different.

Mountaineers Camp (old name) == High Camp (new name). We arrived at our bivy site around 7pm on the 5th and passed by one group already camped. It was pretty foggy by then. There was another camped by the lake. As we descended we passed the skiers going up the N. Ridge around 1pm on the 6th. Overall the Adams Glacier route is certainly more involved than the Kautz. The two ice steps on the Kautz are around 40 degrees and are very straight forward. All one needs is a single tool for that route. The huge crack we down climbed into and out of was not bad but the location was key. Sounds like you did not find the spot. Bummer. When we got to it we had just caught up to another party who were climbing out. I did not see how they dropped in but I easily found a way down that we and the guided party behind us used. We did not immediately see other places to climb into and out but then again we were not looking. Above it was no steeper than the snow above the first ice step. After that it kicked back for the most part. A funny story about the Adams Glacier. Some 15 years ago friends did the route and showed images from their trip. A good friend, Al Burgess was there and after seeing the slides he joking commented that in places it looked like they were going through the Kumbu Icefall. At one point my partner thought we were going to be doing the same until I spied the quick traverse through the debris field that led to a shelf.

Neither, the knife edge is a sub ridge that comes up to the side of the Mohlar Tooth. Retracing the ascent along the shit ridge is plain damn dumb as would be trying to retreat down the Jeff Park Glacier after crossing the bergshrund. Whitewater, while long is the std. route. However, if one crosses the bergshrund and reaches the top of the glacier and needs to descend before the knife-edge ridge it is easy to do so by dropping down the ridge line to the west and come back across the Russell Glacier. From the summit one can descend the Milk Creek Glacier and do the same come back across the Russell Glacier.

My partner took all pics ... will post some when he sends them to me. Yeah rough roads and shitty tires often make for a bad combo.

Bump ... I decided to used the ground cloth this past week on Adams. Works great.

Trip: Mt. Adams - Mt. Adams Glacier Date: 7/6/2016 Trip Report: A short report on conditions for those heading up the Mt. Adams Glacier. The area around the Mountaineers Camp (aka High Camp) is rapidly melting out. We bivied on bare ground next to the snow and found running water near by. It took us about an hour to approach the base of the route from our bivy. There are a few cracks on the approach to the first ice step. Nothing of note. The first ice step can be tackled three ways - right side; longer ice, lower angle snow, left side; shorter ice, steeper snow. Middle - split the difference. My partner and I soled through this section taking the middle and left options while a guided party was on the right side. The ice/snow is around 60 degrees. After that there is one big crack with a good bridge that leads above to a huge crack that one down climbs (~15') and then out (~20'). Mostly good neve with a bit of ice. I placed one screw just before some crappy snow. At this point one is more or less on the right side of the glacier. From here we went straight up a couple rope lengths before moving left and wandering around cracks. We passed one crack by dropping down into debris and climbing out onto a shelf. Not a big deal. Above that one has two choices. Traverse under a large set of seracs and head to the left side of the glacier. From there it is a straight forward to the summit plateau. Or continue straight up and eventually pass a shrund via bridge. We did the former and found it much quicker than going straight up gaining the summit probably 30 minutes ahead of another party which we had just passed before hand. The descent was a suck fest down the N. Ridge. What a suck fest of sliding down scree for some 3000 feet. The top 1000 of snow, and last 1000 of semi trail are not bad but the middle is a suck fest. Fortunately we had trekking poles to help with the suck fest. We left camp at 5am and got back at 3pm. Not a speed record by any means but not bad for a couple guys in their 50s. We spent a second night out before heading out in the morning. Gear Notes: Couple of screws and a couple of pickets. Approach Notes: The usual approach via Killen Creek. The road in has lots of pot holes. One car in the parking lot had a flat tire.

I'll add an update on the N. Ridge. Getting over to the ridge was straight forward with a few cracks to cross. We gained the ridge on the far left side with an easy shrund crossing. The ice cliff was gained from the apex of the rock and was at best WI3 for a short bit. Took screws. We too went through the serac to gain the summit also straight forward cause there were still tracks from the week before. We laughed cause it was the first time in many many years we had tracks to follow on a route.

I would do the same. Damage from rock fall would be my only concern.

I should say that on the std. routes I have not taken pickets. By std. routes I mean Gib Ledges/DC/Furher/Kautz. Mostly because I am traveling sans something to pound then in with (i.e. no hammer). I do take an ice screw - one per person. Whilst traveling with cracks about like others we use 1/3 of the coil and keep the slack to a minimum. Everything is a roll of the dice ...

I have climbed them as late as the first of July ... which was right after the road was opened. Which this year was yesterday.

What route are you climbing? I have not needed pickets on Rainier for any of the std. routes. If you have one for each person yer fine.

Depends on where you are starting from. When we fly in we stop at the REI in Tukwila. It is a couple miles from SeaTac. Easy on and off I5. If going to Hood the REIs in the Portland area will be way out of your way. BTW Do note that the Cloud Cap Road on the north side Hood will most likely not be open yet. So plan for some extra walking.

One thing to take into account with Rainier is that the weather is often crap only low down. More than once I have left Paradise in a piss storm and walk out of it once I reached Camp Muir. Of course then there are the times we have started out in descent weather and woken up to a full on piss storm where we could not see 50 feet. As such, for either it pays to know where you are heading ... as more than one person has managed to walk off the edge and take a long tumble.

From your pictures it looks to me that while there is snow, it is missing in some critical places that makes the route go. The first step is crap, as is the rest of the hill. However, the lack of snow forced you to go way right to even gain the bypass. BITD when we did it there was just enough but barely. Good part is that it sounds like you found the short step to gain the first snow field. Which from there the routes looks like it is in descent shape. Though one can not see the exit chutes which if sans snow could suck. As for your descent, props on that. A friend and I had to bail from a similar height except we were 1000' to the right in shadow. Just after we got off the Carbon the whole of Willis shat. I found a picture of our bivy, as you can see we had to also do some digging: Here is our photo from the gendarme (and if you zoom in you can see a small sliver of snow that we used to gain the shelf):

Nice, three days, three peaks,