The well-worn path before us switch backed up the face of the glacier and had pickets set at sections of higher risk. The only serious moment came crossing the aforementioned gap at 11,400 where the bridge across a 15ft crevasse narrowed to a width of a wooden plank in sections. The darkness of the drop off on either side seemed to swallow the light of the headlamp. In that moment I was thankful for past partners who had led similar sections and quickly crossed with some precise steps. Once past, I cracked a little smile as Thomas let out an audible “oh shit” as he hit the narrow part. Climbing is a very cumulative sport and I recalled the prior experiences which had brought me to that point; and the mentorship that had allowed me to be in those situations again as a leader.

We made good time up the remainder of the route and reached the summit crater without any hiccups. Unfortunately the top was capped in a cloud so our view resembled the inside of a ping pong ball. Nevertheless, stoke was high and we savored the summit for a few frigid moments before heading back down to regroup in the crater.

Near the top we learned that the guide services had officially closed the ID due to the instability of the bridge at 11,400. This meant that a team from AAI was tasked with making the route down the DC. The bottom section had been set up with fixed lines and pickets but we waited patiently as the team slowly stomped out the path down the snow “shoulder” of the cleaver. The mid-day sun brought warmer temps and uneasy feelings as things started to shift and release. We saw someone almost get hit by a basketball sized rock and plenty of rock/ice fall in the same spot that would fully release a few months later (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/this-would-have-been-an-unsurvivable-event-when-a-glacier-crumbles-on-mount-rainier/)