Excellent work by all, especially
as you had no prior experience on the peak! You appear to have
had glorious weather and conditions, and a good team. Nice that
the more direct (4th of July) route from the Snow Dome was open;
from the pics, one can see where the bergschrund is forming and
starting to open. The times I've summited have occurred later in
the year, and we've always had to take the more circuitous
Crystal pass/Five Fingers route. The snow pack actually looked
quite good from the photos near the summit block.
You (Michael) indicated the descent
from the lateral moraine to the glacier wasn't too problematic?
When last there with Garry and Milan (admittedly ~ 6 years ago),
it was horrible - with loose rubble, scree and granular
dirt. The descent, and later return ascent, of the moraine was
the worst part of our trip. It's also disconcerting that the
park service has seemingly still (after ~ 30 years) not replaced
the sand ladders with a more permanent trail fix/route option as
one enters Glacier Meadows.
Mt Olympus remains a worthy and
memorable climb. You work
for it and climb the whole mountain, from the lowlands and rain
forest along the Hoh, across the glaciers to its rocky summit
block. Kudos to all!