At one point, the trail we were following encountered a crevass about 8 feet wide--too wide to simply step across. The highly competent guides at Rainier Mountaineering Institute had put a metal stepladder across it and secured it with four snow pikes. It seems to have been a few days since that event and only two of the ladder's four ends are now resting on solid snow. The other two hover in the air a foot or so above the snow.
Understandably, this is less than secure, which becomes problematic when looking down at the 50' drop beneath the shaky ladder.
Fortunately, when we crossed the ladder in the morning on our way to the top, it was too dark to see down to the bottom of the crevass. On the way back, however, both the bottom of the crevasse and another, safer way around were visible.
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