Hello -

I'm (sort of ) new to this site and I'm planning on taking a 6 day glacier mountaineering course in WA in the Cascades next year in the last week of May. I was just wondering what is the communities opinion based on the weather, if I should continue as planned and take the class in late May or wait until later in the year (late July)? I believe the course summits Mt Baker or Mt Shuksan.

Thanks

ffer_06,
FWIW, I've always found to that the last two weeks of July (and some extent first week of August) to be the best "Wonder Window" for weather/snow conditions trade off for Washington Cascades summer climbing. Others may (and probably will) disagree. I'm sure they will chime in shortly. Since your trip includes a summit attempt and you probably want the "best" weather possible, my suggestion is to shoot for a course in July if your schedule is flexible.
Good luck on your course!
Best,
JM

I'll chime in, but I won't disagree with Jesus. (I hear he walks on water.) Weather in May and June is about 50/50 in terms of chances of having decent weather. Starting July 5th the weather becomes dramatically more stable as the jet stream changes course. The weather is typically good for the rest of the summer, often into October. July-mid August seems to be the sweet spot - good weather and good snow/glacier conditions for the standard routes on the volcanoes.

Just don't go climb anything the first 4 days of July

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The main reason I was thinking of May was because it is the earliest course I can sign up for. The courses run all the way through mid-September. I have a week long trip to CO in the last week of June, and I wanted to spread my trips apart by a month. So taking in all your input, I think it would be best for me to postpone my WA trip to late July, early August.

FC

I did the exact same thing... a six day course on Mount Baker in May years ago.

It rained every single day but one.

We managed to do what we could, but the conditions made everything a bigger challenge, and somewhat less pleasant. Not what you are looking for when you are trying to gather as much as you can from a class. I'd take it at another time just like has been suggested.

Another problem with May is that, depending on the Spring weather, there can be a lot of unconsolidated snow, which means you may be slogging through exhausting, knee-deep snow (not to mention the avalanche danger is great in May). I prefer July, when the snow has consolidated and is easier to walk on. And the threat of avalanches has diminished. Oh, yeah, and the weather is usually better, as the others have said.