I can see why very few have summited in the past few weeks. The glacier has turned into a solid ice wall, making it near impossible to climb without proper ice climbing equipment.
I did manage to successfully summit using a slightly different route than the regular one. Instead of going up the face of the glacier, I went up the northwest side where the glacier meets the rock. This route was much safer and easier than climbing up the glacier the main way.
My route vs the standard route
Crampons (I used mine with trailrunners) + one or two ice axes (and preferably a helmet) is required this time of year. The route I found still involved climbing up the glacier, just not at the most steep part and not for as long. Where the glacier met the rock, at some parts it formed a gravel chute. Walking up this gravel chute was was easier than walking up the glacier. There is a section where the best route is to climb up on the rocks and walk on a slanted rock to get the the next section. Taking off crampons here makes it much easier.
After the rock section, near the top of this route on the glacier, there is a crevasse between the glacier and the rock. The best way to tackle this is by putting on foot on the glacier and the other on the rock and slowly moving forward. At one part there is a rock that stick out, so it's best to out both feet on the glacier and your back on the rock. After this, the glacier part is essentially over, there is only a bit more walking to get off the glacier.
The steepest part of the glacier from the crevasse
The crevasse between the glacier and the rock
After I successfully made it off the glacier, I left my crampons and ice axe and scrambled up to the summit. The scramble is trivial compared to the glacier.
The final scramble to the summit
The view from the summit
When I was scrambling up to the base of the glacier, I ran into a trio who had just attempted to go up the glacier. They said they couldn't make it as the glacier got too steep and they didn't know where to go. They also only had microspikes which would've made it impossible regardless. I assume they were the only others attempting summit that day.
Dragontail Peak from Colchuck Lake
