climbergirl blog

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…)