What It’s Like to Climb the Kautz Route on Mt. Rainier, WA The Kautz isn’t your standard mountaineering route. Especially on a low snow year like this. Early season the Kautz can be a walk up with snow covering the steepest part of the route. Sooner or later, this snow melts out and reveals the toughest part of the climb, the Ice Chute. When the chute is fully melted out, multiple pitches of alpine ice climbing are exposed and the Kautz becomes more difficult and more exciting to climb. Conditions Report Zeb Blais | August 5, 2015 0 Comments