Archive for the ‘Mountaineering’ Category

Mt. Rainier, Washington (Day 2) – Pack & Prepare

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

On Thursday morning, we had a big meeting in the garage to go over the group gear and trip itinerary. Finally, I got to meet Laurie and Sue! I was so excited to be part of the group. Everybody was super nice and I chomped on the bit to be on the mountain.

Was the weather going to hold out? So far, it had been picture perfect!

My bag turned out to weight about 57 pounds once I had my portion (Snow pickets, stove, and fuel) of the group gear loaded up. So, I was happy I had been training for the past several weeks, carrying big loads.

Later that day, I had a minor emergency.
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Mt. Rainier, Washington (Day 1) – Travel to Tacoma

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Mt Rainier
Mt. Rainier, as seen from a Boeing 737, on July 4th!

I must admit, when seen from an airplane, Mt. Rainier is even more amazing than from ground level. As we flew right by it, I thought, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’m climbing that in a few days! Those five weeks of training will really come in handy!”

When I landed in Seattle, I tracked down my bag and waited for Anne, Kevin, and Josh to arrive. It was Anne who had invited me, and her father in law (Kevin’s dad, Bruce) was going to be leading our trip.

Anne, Kevin, and Josh are all CMCers from Denver, so I just knew we’d get along! I was also excited to meet Bruce since it was his 17th climb and he’s obviously a pretty bada$$ mountain man! Also joining the trip were Laurie and her 18 year old son, Wyatt. Laurie climbed Rainier when she was 7 years old and was (for the longest time) the youngest person to ever climb Rainier. To round out the trip, was Sue, an avid cyclist preparing for her first century.
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Gear List For Mt. Rainier

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Here is my gear list for my journey up Mt. Rainier. There are additional items I brought to Seattle, but didn’t take with me, and one item I acquired in Seattle and did take up the mountain (Fleece Pants).

In the end, my pack weighed 57 pounds, which was in line with my expectation. I only drank about half of my water on the way up to our first camp. So, I could have probably spared myself 4 pounds on day one. However, that would have later put a burden on the fuel, as we would have had to melt more snow. In the end, we nearly ran out of fuel, so it was great that I started day 2 without needing extra water!

I used *everything* I brought, with exception of the extra pair of socks and about 8 ounces of food. I consider this to be wildly successful as these two items were necessary to mitigate risk. I did forget to bring ski goggles, so I was very lucky we had relatively kind weather and didn’t need them. Glacier glasses worked perfectly!

Also, it is very important to re-apply sunblock very often on Rainier. I didn’t do this enough, so I should have carried more than the 3 oz of sunblock. I ended up with blistered and puffy lips as a result!

In addition to my gear, I carried Snow Pickets, Stove, and Fuel Cannister. I don’t recall how much extra weight this was. Probably around 3 lbs combined. (more…)

Tenmile Peak 1 (12,933 ft), Frisco, CO

Saturday, June 30th, 2012

CMC Trip Leader Clare on Summit of Tenmile Peak 1
Climbergirl on Summit of Tenmile Peak (12,933 ft)

As part of the Colorado Mountain Club’s 100 year celebration, trip leaders were asked to lead as many trips up the top 100 highest peaks in Colorado. I selected to lead three separate trips, under this Centennial Celebration!

Tenmile Peak Hike - Ladies Only!
CMC Strong Mountain Mamas!

Tenmile Peak Hike - Gents Only
CMC Strong Mountain Men!

On Saturday, I led a trip up Tenmile Peak 1, which was actually a training trip for one of my three Centennial Celebration trips. All the folks hiking Tenmile had the intention of later summitting Pigeon and Turret Peaks.

As the trip leader, I was anxious to see how the personalities would settle and if people would pull together as a team, or if ego’s or differences in hiking speeds would be a problem.

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Glacier Safety Day – St. Mary’s Glacier, James Peak Wilderness

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

St. Mary's Glacier
Clare, Evelyn, Robert (Glacier Coach!), and Bang

Robert was kind enough to lead a special glacier safety session on St. Mary’s Glacier. I was very excited he was going to spend a few hours with us going over glacier travel and glissading. It had been a few years since I practiced.

St. Mary's Glacier
An example of a snow anchor

Around my birthday, I was invited to join an unguided trip on an attempt to climb Mt. Rainier! Of course I said yes. Almost immediately, I booked a flight to Seattle and started shopping for gear. I had about 5 weeks to obtain all the gear and get my body in shape to carry the weight ~57 lbs! I could not believe my luck, but also was a bit nervous about whether I would remember the skills with the ax as well as snow travel.

I had just purchased a brand new ice axe, so I wanted to make sure it was the right size for me. I ended up returning it for one that was a couple inches longer.

THANK YOU A MILLION to ROBERT for working with me on my glissade technique! It gave me the confidence I needed to go on the trip, knowing that I could self arrest!