Looking at doing this climb with two friends this summer. We are looking at a May/June climb potentially.

I see most climbs reviewed are done in July/August. We are looking for more snow to minimize any crevasse impacts. We did Rainier in August and it was brutal due to lack of snowcover on the rocks as well.

What is the weather like on Glacier peak earlier in the season? On the summit?
Is there significant avalanche danger earlier in the year?
Should we expect snow at 6-7000' in May/June?

Any help or advice is appreciated. There doesn't seem to be a ton of info on Glacier Peak online.

Thanks!

Colin

"What is the weather like on Glacier peak earlier in the season? On the summit?"
This is the PNW. It could be lousy or it could be nice in May/June, though obviously trending toward nicer weather as summer gets closer.

"Is there significant avalanche danger earlier in the year?"
On a high peak like Glacier Peak, your winter-style of avalanche can still occur due to fresh snow on top of compacted, consolidated snow. But normally in May/June the avalanche type is sloughalanches, which can still be dangerous especially as they flow down constrictions and gullies.

"Should we expect snow at 6-7000' in May/June?"
Yes.

May and June would be an excellent time to climb Glacier Peak--especially in nice weather. People ski it too.

Paul

I prefer Late August, mainly because I don't ski. A very straight forward climb...but long. Very scenic!
http://karl-helser.com/glacier-peak-8-21-16/
Feel free to rip the maps and track if you plan on this approach...

Despite its name, crevasses are pretty much a non-issue on Glacier Peak if you take the standard route. Rainier is a short walk followed by lots of glacier; Glacier is a long walk ending in a bit of trivial glacier.

Thank you for all the information!

We are probably looking at a July climb now. I'd rather deal with cold and heavier snow than crevasses so we were aiming for earlier in the year but doesn't sound like the crevasses will be too bad based on what I have read and your input.
Karl thank you for the blog- looks great. I will be sure to use this as a guide.

We hope to do this in three days which I'm sure will be tough.

Just hard to find a lot of information on this mountain online compared to other pac NW volcanoes.

Not a lot of info online for this peak? I find that hard to believe. Try nwhikers.net or cascadeclimbers.com.

The south route via White Pass is a three-day trip and is an attractive area. From the Puget Sound side you hike the N. Fork Sauk Trail to White Pass then across the slopes of White Mountain crossing the divide to the White Chuck Glacier, which has receded quite a bit from what is shown on the topo map. If you are reasonably fit you should be able to get to this basin or just before it on the first day.

You'll want a filter for water because the only nearby sources of water may be stagnant glacial melt ponds because the creeks themselves are often so laden with silt that your water bottles will have a few inches of it in the bottom after it settles out.

On Day 2 hike up to the peak and back, going around the east side of Disappointment Peak or steeply up the pumiced south slope of Disappointment Peak. I seem to recall some broken glacier skirting going around the peak. From the saddle north of Disappointment the rest of the climb will be up volcanic slopes and snowpatches. The summit has a couple of tops and some steep snow and rocks lurking about.

Day 3 hike out.

seano wrote:Despite its name, crevasses are pretty much a non-issue on Glacier Peak if you take the standard route. Rainier is a short walk followed by lots of glacier; Glacier is a long walk ending in a bit of trivial glacier.

I don't often agree with seano when it comes to glaciers, but I agree with his assessment. When I did the standard route 20 years ago in August there was only one small slot that I had to step across. The glaciers are definitely not on the scale of Rainier or Baker. Plus, late in season means blueberries will be ripe. We added wild, ripe blueberries to our granola in the morning, a nice treat.

Klenke,

Thank you for those sites, I was not familiar with them. We have nailed down our trip to be June 30th-July 2nd. We are going to try to do a three day climb, which may be ambitious but we are all in fairly good shape (at least we will be when we attempt the climb). I did find this great report on a climb two years ago during the same time frame we will be going.

http://www.miyaradventures.com/glacier- ... port-2016/

Very helpful.

If there is any advice on waypoints for the GPS or a guide anyone has put together that would be great as well!

Also does anyone have any insight into permit/fees for the Glacier Peak area?

Looks like you have been given lots of good information on this magnificent peak! It is easily one of my favorite climbs with it's isolation, diversity of terrain and relative lack of people to be seen.

Just some observations from my three solo C2C climbs of this mountain. My first climb was in August of 2015 and the Cool Glacier route was a maze of crevasses that year due to our low snowpack from the non-winter. My second climb was in June of 2016 and I found this to be nearly perfect conditions. Snow free for the most part until White Pass, then fantastic consolidated snow from there almost all the way to the summit. The glacier was in fantastic shape and I only had to end around one or two minor cracks. Third climb was in August of 2016 and the crevasses were definitely opening up at this time on the glacier. Last summer (2017) I planned another climb but eventually called it off. A few friends that did the climb a few days before I planned on heading up said they did have to cross some snow bridges on the glacier.

Since I prefer the glacier route (going over Disappointment Peak is a bit of a shit show), I will plan on my climbs in the June/July time frame. Of course this is all dependent on our snow pack levels from the winter. This year they are over 100%.

Hope you are able to find a fantastic weather window to get the climb in! She's special!