On Monday morning, we struck camp at 6:50am. We hiked down to Camp Schurman, where we disposed of our waste and used the loo. We had snacks and got ready for the descent. Around 10am, we left Camp Schurman.
By noon we were back at tree-line after one of the longest glissades I’ve ever had. Sliding down the Inner Glacier was amazing. It took about 10 minutes to go down what took us 2+ hours to ascend! (more…)
On Sunday (Anne’s B-day!), we left camp just after 1am, for our summit bid of Rainier. There was one other team who left before us, so we were 2nd in line. Or at least we were momentarily…
We were traveling really slow as a group, so we were continually being passed by other parties. By the time we got to the crux section, there were 10 other parties waiting to go through that section.
It was a huge back-up. Sigh.
I got quite cold standing around, so I’d layer up. Then, we’d move a little bit and I’d get warm, so I’d shed the layers. It was a frustrating experience. It probably took us about 2 hours to get to the crux and get past it. If it’s this bad on Rainier, I couldn’t help but think how horrible it must be on Everest, where the stakes are so much higher! (more…)
Anne psyched to be climbing Rainier
Camp Schurman
On Saturday, we got up fairly early and broke camp. We left the relative comfort of our ~8,500 ft perch on Inner Glacier for spacious camp on the Emmons Flats, above Camp Schurman (9,800 ft). It was important to make this move in order to give us the best possible chance to summit on Sunday. (more…)
On Friday, we started packing up the vehicles at ~6 am and had a nice breakfast. We piled into the mini-van and set off for Mt. Rainier. We stopped at the White River Wilderness Information Center to register and have a short discussion with a Ranger. Then, we drove to the trailhead, the White River Campground at 4,300 feet.
At the trailhead, everybody put their mountaineering boots on and strapped their ice axes, shovels, snow pickets, snow anchors, camp pads, etc to their packs. We applied sunblock, added batteries to things, and figured out how to use our helmet cams 8^)
It took about an hour and finally, we were ready! We gathered at the signpost to discuss the days itinerary and talk about pace. (more…)
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…)