Mount Rainier Summit

Mount Rainier Summit 2010

If you read my previous blog post about the Grand Teton, you read that my Dad and I swore to never to anything that crazy/stupid again....famous last words! Well, the fear and soreness of the Grand Teton eventually wore off and we decided to take on Washington State's Mount Rainier at 14,411'.

The first time I saw Mount Rainier in person was on a business trip  to Seattle back in the 2006ish time frame.  I remember flying over "the Mountain" and then enjoying its view from downtown Seattle.  Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanos in the World and is the third most prominent peak in the US.

This go-round, my Dad and I didn't go it alone...I recruited two (2) coworkers in Ryan Aalsma and Stephen Voight to join in on the fun!  We began discussing the trip around Christmas 2009 and finalized our plans in January 2010 for a summit attempt in June 2010 giving us six (6) months to prepare.

After plenty of research, we booked our trip with Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI) which was founded by mountaineering legend Lou Whittaker.  RMI also has several other mountaineering legends including Lou's son Peter Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, Dave Hahn, etc...RMI is headquartered in Ashford, WA six (6) miles from the Nisqually Entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.

The plot thickens...less than two (2) weeks prior to our departure date there was a massive avalanche on the Mountain which resulted in one casualty (never found).  That added a tremendous amount of anxiety as I thought to myself "shit just got real!"

Ryan, Stephen and I flew into Seattle on Wednesday where we met up with my Dad at SEA-TAC, loaded our gear in the rental car and made the drive out to Ashford.

Day 1 Pre-Trip Orientation

Thursday morning, we drove into GTNP and parked at Paradise and went for a brief hike to help get ourselves acclimatized.  We returned to RMI that afternoon to officially kick-off our trip with the Pre-Trip Orientation.  It was at this time that we were introduced to our guides, given an overview of what to expect, meet the other climbers and run through gear check.  RMI has a plethora of rental equipment available onsite so that made things extremely easy and helped keep the overall cost of the trip down so we didn't have to purchase items we were only going to use once.

Day 2 Mountaineering Day School
The Mountaineering Day School is spent training on the lower slopes of Mount Rainier where we are introduced to a number of skills, from the foundational techniques of efficient mountain travel (rest-stepping and pressure breathing), through cramponing, roped travel, and ice axe arrest practices.  We spent nearly eight (8) hours on the Mountain that day.

Day 3 Climb to Camp Muir

On Friday, we hiked 4.5 miles from Paradise (5,400’) up to Camp Muir (10,080’) gaining 4,500' in elevation.  We had partly sunny skies and were able to see Mount Adams and Mount St. Helen’s to the South. 

 

We took several breaks on our way up the Mountain and enjoyed the panoramic views.  We went to bed at 6:00 PM to get some rest before our 2:00 AM alpine start. 

 

Day 4 Summit Day

We awoke to 4”– 6” of new snow and 10-15 MPH winds.  We put on our crampons and assembled into our rope teams and began traversing the Cowlitz Glacier in nearly white-out conditions.  It was snowing/blowing so bad that you could barely see the headlamp of the person on your rope 30' in front of you.  At times it felt as though we were walking into an abyss!  It took about an hour to traverse the Cowlitz Glacier at which point we stopped for our first break.  Surprisingly, there were all ready a couple climbers who struggled mightly and chose to return to Camp Muir.

 

They have had an unseasonably cold/snowy spring so the mountain is still in full winter conditions which allowed us to follow the Ingraham Direct (Headwall) route in lieu of the Disappointment Cleaver which is the typical summer route.  With the recent avalanche, our guides were continually checking the snow conditions to confirm we were good to continue our climb.

 

This climb was extremely strenuous and I'm not exactly sure how to express it in words.  My fingers were numb, my toes were numb, the zipper on my down parka was frozen so I couldn't zip it up, we were hiking adjacent to 400' deep crevasses, etc...it was a total test of body and mind.

 

When we reached High Break at 13,800', Stephen was ready to throw in the towel and I wasn't too far behind him.  Our guides were offering words of encouragement and forced a couple gels in him to give him the fuel needed for the final push to the summit.  It was at this point, when out of nowhere my Dad jumps in front of the group and emphatically yells "LET'S CLIMB THIS $?/{ #^@%*&!!!!!"  That gesture provided the oomph we all needed to get back on our feet determined to make the summit.

 

As if someone was watching, we finally climbed above the clouds at the crater rim and were able to enjoy the summit in the sunshine at 8:00 AM.  As we removed our backpacks and pulled out the cameras, Aalsma walked over to me and said "Was that hard for you?"...I could have thrown him off the Mountain if I had the energy!  That statement suckered me into joining a few others to hike across the crater to the highest point so we could sign the Summit Log.  In hindsight, this was a bad mistake on my part as the hike across the crater and back at 14,000' took every last bit of energy I had and we still had a long day ahead of to make it all the way back down to Paradise.

 

 

The clouds rolled back in and made the visibility even worse for our descent.  It did clear up around The Flats at 11,200' which was a little eery as it exposed all of the hazards (crevasses and ceracs) that we unknowingly walked past in the dark. 

 

Back at Camp Muir, we gathered the remainder of our things and prepared for the hike down to Paradise.  We encountered some rain on the way down which made for some slick spots but not overly dangerous.  We also go to go glacading one at a time down one of the steeper passages which was a lot of fun and brought smiles to some tired faces.

 

All said, summit day was 12.5 miles round-trip gaining another 4,500' on the way to the summit (Columbia Crest 14,411’) followed by the descent back down to Paradise at 3:00 PM making for a 13 hour day.

 

We jumped back on the bus to head back to RMI where we returned our rental equipment, received our certificate and drank some celebratory beers.  We then packed up and drove to Seattle for a final night in a hotel and a much needed shower.

 

Ironically, we were there for over five (5) days and never able to see the Mountain as it was continuously engulfed by clouds and snow.

 

This was yet another unbelievable trip in which words and pictures do not do it justice.  I highly recommend RMI for any expedition and our lead guide Mike Haugen is one of the best!

 

I'm not quite sure what my next expedition or tangent may be, but we're expecting our second child in January so whatever I do will need to take place a little closer to home!