Mt. Rainier

Brian Buda, Jonathan Hagena, Alex Knafl and I (rope team #1) meet in Bellingham, Washington for a 3-day Glacier Skills Prep Course with the American Alpine Institute (AAI).

The four of us, 6 other clients and two AAI guides hike toward Mt. Baker in northern Washington.

Jonathan learns to prusik up a rope, an essential part of crevasse rescue.

A view of the dry glacier (no snow) we are practicing on.

Back at camp, a marmot poses next to our rope.

It's amazing how water repellant this moss is.

A small beauty.

An incredibly vibrant little plant.

We practice team crevasse rescue.

Pablo, our guide, such a friendly guy.

Justin, our head guide, lives and breathes this stuff.

We drive to Mt. Rainier and meet rope team #2. On day 1 everyone is ready to go at the White River Campground: Jonathan Hagena, Alex Knafl, me, Pete Elkowitz, Arne Blohm, Brian Buda, Jim Janowicz and Neil Johnson. We have an easy hike from White River Campground (4400 ft) to Glacier Basin Camp (6000 ft), which is just below tree line.

On day 2 we go above tree line and approach the Interglacier.

We start up the right side (climber's right) of the Interglacier. It is steep but straightforward.

We reach the Camp Curtis ridge at the top of the Interglacier and enjoy our first full view of the Emmons and Winthrop Glaciers, which are the route that we plan to take to the summit.

But first we must descend the ridge to the Emmons Glacier. A landslide recently wiped out the trail and we are forced to descend some very loose rock.

Things go from bad to worse so Alex sets up a rope for us to rappel down. This ridge really scared me. Alex and Jonathan talk while Pete rappels with his huge backpack.

After about 7 hours of walking we reach the Emmons Flats (9750 ft), dig out tent platforms, melt water, eat and get ready for summit day. On day 2 I'm up from 5:00 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. and go to bed exhausted. The summit in the background is already in the shadows.

Day 3 is summit day. I get up at 11:15 p.m. after 3 hours of sleep and we start climbing at 1:40 a.m. It's a cold and clear night with a moderate wind that really chills. We reach the crater after 5 1/2 hours. The altitude really hit us in the last 750 ft. Five steps is all I could take before being totally winded!

Everyone reaches the summit at 14,410 ft. The wind is not nearly as strong up here and the sun warms us.

Returning to base camp on the Emmons Flats (photo by Pete Elkowitz).

Going back to the Emmons Flats is harder than we expect. We are tired and the snow is very soft. These portraits are taken less than a minute after returning to camp:

Pete.

Neil.

Arne.

Jim.

Alex.

Jonathan.

Brian.

Stani.

On day 4 we break down camp on the Emmons Flats and descend back to the loose rock wall below Camp Curtis. The Emmons Glacier has melted away from the wall we are forced to take an even more perilous route. Alex sets up a top belay and each of us climbs the terrifying wall. After having lunch at Camp Curtis we descend the Interglacier which is melting badly and is quite treacherous with rock fall to our right, soft snow and weak snow bridges. In this picture I've just returned to "earth" and am so happy about it.

One last view of the Interglacier. Our route is on the far right.

At the end of day 4 we return to the trailhead.

Pete's GPS mapped our route up and down the mountain (white/yellow).

We drive to Sunrise Point to take this beautiful picture of Mt. Rainier showing Glacier Basin, the Interglacier, the Emmons and Winthrop Glaciers and the Summit.