Well, we didn't make it

Thanks to the first August blizzard in 4 years on Mt Rainier, we did not make it to the summit. We started with rain, turning to sleet, then snow on the way up to Camp Muir. Needless to say, we were a soaking mess by the time we arrived. We'd planned ahead and brought additional dry gear. However, the winds kicked up and the snow started flying. When we left at 1:30am to try to push for the summit, we were in blizzard and white-out conditions. The RMI Guides couldn't even find the route (flags were buried or blown away), nor see the crevasses, so we turned back and arrived at Camp Muir again at 3:30am. The weather didn't clear in time for our window to summit, so we headed down in the snowstorm starting at 8am. Looks like we'll all be trying again, probably in 2 years. Damn!

Here's a link to a video I took of the winds at Camp Muir. This was actually before they got really bad and the snow got worse. Below are some pics we took as well.

Indian Peaks Wilderness-Crooked Couloir Trip

On Saturday, May 17th, John, Mark and I "officially started" our alpine training in advance of Ranier. First real hike of any distance for us this season. Introductions left to right - Mark (Ranier trip), Sean (friend of ours and experienced backcountry guy who graciously agreed to lead the trip and teach us the basics of snow conditions, snow climbing and glissading), and John (Ranier fella too). It's 4:30AM at the park-n-ride meeting spot....so this is what they mean by an "alpine start". Ugghhh...


5:45AM at the winter closure of the Brainard Lake Rec Area. It is three miles up a paved road to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead. We brought our bikes to ride up to the trailhead and shave some much needed time. Locked and loaded for the ride.


Let the biking fun begin...three miles of pedaling and we'll be at the trailhead.


Well, perhaps we won't be biking to the trailhead after all! Yes, that is the road. Seems the record snowfall in Colorado this year, coupled with the lack of a plow, will make this bike attempt a bit of an adventure.


Our destination as seen from Brainard Lake-Mt. Audobon 13,223'


The road around Brainard Lake and to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead dives deeper into the trees. Based upon our consistent "hike-a-bike" trip up the road, it's time to ditch the bikes and start walking. The bikes are locked to the tree to keep the nefarious Brainard Lake bike thief from ruining an otherwise glorious day.


At the Mitchell Lake Trailhead. The IPW backcountry sign provides many a rule and admonishment on what one can and can't do. Once again, the MAN speaks. Those that know me, know how I feel about that! :-)

Time to don the snowshoes and begin the 2-3 mile trek to Blue Lake and the beginning of the ascent.


After approx 1 mile of stomping, we arrive at Mitchell Lake. Looking into the Blue Lake basin, you see Mt. Toll, 12,979' in the center of the shot, with Little Pawnee Peak, 12,466' in the left foreground. Mt. Audobon is in the right side of the cirque, but not visible in this picture.


Short break at Mitchell Lake. At left, Sean ponders the beauty of the cirque. At right, John ponders a direct route across the hopefully frozen solid lake. At center, Mark finds relief and ponders the "small things" in life.


Which way now? Heading into the Blue Lake Basin. Mt. Audobon visible in upper right hand corner of picture.


Mt. Toll rises prominently in the cirques west end. Notice the tons of snow that still remains in mid-May. Record runoff is anticipated and the paddlers are salivating at the thought. The foolish and inexperienced had better get their affairs in order now.


Onward and upward. Mark and John trudge on.


We arrive at Blue Lake. It's break time. Time to refuel, drop the snow shoes and reconfigure the gear for the boot pack up the Crooked Couloir.


Let the fun begin! Sean, Mark and John start the climb to the Crooked Couloir. From this point, we have only about 3/4 of a mile to go. HOWEVER, we still have approx 2000' of elevation to gain. Oooofff. The Crooked Couloir is visible at the far left of the picture. An unnamed couloir is seen at the right.


Quick break...this boot packing stuff is hard work. Notice the recent wet snow slide at the right of Sean and Mark. Hmmmmm..... At this point, we turned hard left and continued the climb up the couloir visible on the left. No more pictures of the climb...it was a methodical step up...repeat. The camera never left the pack at this point. :-) We alternated leading to conserve enery. At approx. 12,600', we were running out of time and the snow was softening considerably. Sean recommended that it might be a good time to turn around, and enjoy the glissade back to Blue Lake. The three winter backcountry neophytes gladly took the recommendation, looking forward to the childhood fun of sliding down the snow.


Now THIS is fun!!! John demonstrating fine glissading technique. After Sean gave us the finer points of sliding and most importantly self arrest, we slid down the approximately 1300' feet of couloir in no time. This is the way to travel! :-)


Enjoying post-glissade chow at Blue Lake. While we were sitting there, we heard a dull roar, which at first I attributed to an airplane. Instead, it was an avalanche on the south side of the cirque. We watched a group of skiers we leapfrogged with on the couloir descend from Audobon in fine fashion. Back on go the snowshoes and we headed down the trail, to the bikes, to the trucks and ultimately, to the beers. All told, the trip was about 12 miles from start to finish. Great day...great training...let's do it again in a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoyed the documentary and the climbing juices are starting to flow.

Training?

Ok, I want to hear who's been training? I've heard rumors that one east coast guy is running something silly like 50 miles a week. I think he'll be fine! LOL

Me, I just completed the Indy 1/2 Marathon. Had flu that week so I was quite happy to run slow 9 minute mile averages. Next weekend I ran 10 mile hill run in Lemont Ill. I forgot how much running hills sucks. However, managed another exact 9 minute mile average for the 10 miles. I may be slow, but I'm consistent.

So, what's everyone else up to?

Great Mount Rainier links

I found some links today while trying out a new web search site at Mahalo. I think this may be my new favorite search engine. The best link is this climbing blog which is kept up to date on all activities about climbing Mt Rainier, including some interesting stories about recent people getting lost and having to bivy overnight or getting stuck and having to be saved. Last is the link to the Mt Rainier National Park info. Cool reading. I know I'll be visiting the blog when we get closer to our climb this summer.

Bunkhouse prep

Thanks to John we won't be car-camping the nights before the actual climb. We'll be staying at the 1912 bunkhouse (thankfully renovated in 1990) near our actual Guide location. The name of the place is Whittaker's Bunkhouse.

Diamox

Anyone heard of Diamox to help fend off altitude sickness? Never used the stuff, but thought it might benefit a flat lander like me.

Gear - rent vs buy & what to bring

Ok, a few of the guys who haven't climbed big mountains as much as some of us, asked me what I was planning on renting/buying vs. bringing. Here's my first take. Feel free to comment and respond with anything I've forgotten.

Of course, the RMI site says to bring all this stuff: http://www.rmiguides.com/rainier/4_day_sc_equip.html

The stuff I am acquiring is:
- ice axe (bought last week)
- bigger gators (my gators are too short for snow)
- undergarments ( figured I'd update my long underwear to more modern, wicking, material)
- boots (my boots are old, so I'm looking at getting new one's now that I can break in by August)
- new lighter snow pants or something better to hike in than snow pants

Things I'm looking at renting are:
- crampons
- helmet
- climbing harness

Things I already have are (and no, I didn't remember this from memory -- I have a cheat list that I just copied and pasted here):
- large 5000 cu in backpack
- trekking poles
- low temperature sleeping bag
- sleeping pad (although looks like we don't need due to sleeping in hut...but I'll still bring and just leave behind if don't need)
- tent (although looks like we don't need due to sleeping in hut...but I'll still bring and just leave behind if don't' need)
- stove (although looks like ....." ....." ......" )
- titanium pots
- titanium spork
- helmet light
- wrap around sunglasses that are polarized
- ski goggles
- ski hat
- multiple layers of clothing (I'm not doing the down parka, just layers); e.g. multi-layer coat, underwear, pants, shirts, fleece, etc.
- backpack rain cover
- pillow
- rain gear
- camelback for holding water
- glove liners
- snow gloves
- whistle
- baseball hat
- suntan lotion
- toilet paper
- toothbrush
- toothpaste
- allergy medicine
- Kleenex
- cigars
- lighter (one that works at altitude -- generic bic works best)
- 5 mile walkie talkies (2)
- digital camera
- extra batteries for helmet light
- blister repair kit
- drinking cup
- knee brace (I sometimes have knee problems)
- Deet (probably won't need but I'll bring just in case)
- Liquor (something that can be ported, and drank warm)
- wash rag
- towel
- contacts
- contact carrying case & solution
- watch
- coffee packages

Al Gore?

Ah, come on. I just read that Al Gore had once climbed Mt. Rainier. That almost, but not quite, ruins it for me. Of course, that was probably just another Gore story like inventing the internet.

Anyway, here's the article. Just search for Mt. Rainier in it. Ugh.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/16/AR2008011604165.html

And then there were 9!

Ok, our last and final member has signed up for the trip. Laird, from HP in Chicago has signed up. Laird is my cousin, but hopefully you won't hold that against him.

Laird lived in Seattle for almost 12 years, but never made the climb. Now that he lives in Chicago he's finally decided to spend the money to fly back to Seattle to make the climb. Yes, we are all shaking our heads.

8th is in

Welcome Michael as the 8th person in our party. We now finally have our official sacrifice to the mountain gods if we need it.

We will need to toast the late Sir Edmund Hillary in Seattle!

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, has died, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced Friday. He was 88.

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper. "Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," Clark said in a statement. "The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.

Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement - and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of climbing companion Tenzing Norgay. He had pride in his feats. Returning to base camp as the man who took the first step onto the top of the world's highest peak, he declared: "We knocked the bastard off."

The accomplishment as part of a British climbing expedition even added luster to the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II four days later, and she knighted Hillary as one of her first act.
But he was more proud of his decades-long campaign to set up schools and health clinics in Nepal, the homeland of Tenzing Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953.

He wrote of the pair's final steps to the top of the world: "Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no false cornice, no final pinnacle. We were standing together on the summit. There was enough space for about six people. We had conquered Everest.

"Awe, wonder, humility, pride, exaltation - these surely ought to be the confused emotions of the first men to stand on the highest peak on Earth, after so many others had failed," Hillary noted. "But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper, once the star pupil of the Tuakau District School, but no great shakes at Auckland Grammar (high school) and a no-hoper at university, first to the top of Everest. I just didn't believe it.

He said: "I removed my oxygen mask to take some pictures. It wasn't enough just to get to the top. We had to get back with the evidence. Fifteen minutes later we began the descent."
Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement - and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of climbing companion Norgay.

His philosophy of life was simple: "Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities, such as I regard myself," he said in a 1975 interview after writing his autobiography, "Nothing Venture, Nothing Win."

Close friends described him as having unbounded enthusiasm for both life and adventure.
"We all have dreams - but Ed has dreams, then he's got this incredible drive, and goes ahead and does it," long-time friend Jim Wilson said in 1993. Hillary summarized it for schoolchildren in 1998, when he said one didn't have to be a genius to do well in life. "I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it," he said before planting some endangered Himalayan oaks in the school grounds.

The planting was part of his program to reforest upland areas of Nepal.
Hillary remains the only non-political person outside Britain honored as a member of the Britain's Order of the Garter, bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II on just 24 knights and ladies living worldwide at any time.

Inaugural post

Well, so far we've got 7 people ready to climb Mt. Rainier this upcoming August. As I mentioned, here is an easy place to update the group with

• links to Rainier info web pages
• boasts about cool new gear you've bought in anticipation of the trip
• lies about all the training you are doing so you don't get left behind at 10,000 feet
• whining and bitching about the cost of the trip, you cheap b******s
• witty comments, that probably aren't so witty

...and I'm sure more stuff I haven't thought of. Enjoy!