Should we take beacons and shovels for a climb of Liberty Ridge in mid June?

Are there places on the ascent or descent that are particularly exposed to avalanches?

(We're a party of 3, and will likely be roped together most of the time.)

I climbed Liberty Ridge in late June of last year. I should say up front that 1) I did it with RMI so wasn't responsible for making avalanche-related decisions, but 2) do have basic level 1 avalanche training so was at least somewhat aware of what was going on. We did take avalanche gear; there didn't seem to be a lot of avalanche hazard on the actual ridge, but we saw many small and some big snow releases down the Willis Wall to the left, so the avy gear didn't seem like complete overkill. The real hazard on the ridge was rockfall, which was constant on the way up to thumb rock.

Shovel yes, but more for digging out tent platforms.
We did not take beacons when we did it. You are pretty much out of the way on the ridge itself. If you did get caught, it would most likely be a serac fall that would sweep you down 4,000 feet, not sure how much help a beacon would be.

Kai wrote:Should we take beacons and shovels for a climb of Liberty Ridge in mid June?

Are there places on the ascent or descent that are particularly exposed to avalanches?

(We're a party of 3, and will likely be roped together most of the time.)

I would not bring a beacon. If you get avalanched on Liberty ridge they will be digging you out from the carbon glacer 1-4 thousand feet below.

bird wrote:Shovel yes, but more for digging out tent platforms.
We did not take beacons when we did it. You are pretty much out of the way on the ridge itself. If you did get caught, it would most likely be a serac fall that would sweep you down 4,000 feet, not sure how much help a beacon would be.

My thoughts exactly.

If anybody heads out on the North side of Rainier in the next few days, it would be great to hear an update on avy conditions. Thanks!

I don't remember who said this (maybe Fred Becky) "Liberty Ridge is a relatively sane place surrounded by chaos". I haven't read the quote since I climbed the ridge 15 years ago so I probably butchered it. But yeah, It is possible to watch dozens of avalanches slide down the Willis and Ptarmigan walls from the safety of the ridge.

We brought shovels but no other avy gear.