Things have cooled off substantially over the past few days (I saw spitting snow at Camp Schurman this weekend) which was great news for those folks who were climbing the standard routes. The high freezing levels and sun over the past few weeks, however, have had intense effects on diminishing the mountain snowpack. Cleavers like Tahoma, Success, and Kautz are mostly melted out... So are Liberty and Curtis Ridge.
That said, climbers are enjoying good climbing conditions on the Kautz Glacier, Disappointment Cleaver, Emmons Glacier AND Little Tahoma. For the most part, the success rate has been high. Also of note is a traverse of the Tatoosh Range, and a trip report on Sluiskin Peak (over on cc.com).
As a curiosity, there have been over 6,000 registered climbers (total) for Mt Rainier in 2006. The success rate is hovering at 62%. What's most amazing is the fact that we have not seen one significant injury or rescue!! What an accomplishment!
