Mt. Rainier. Tahoma. Tacoma.
Known by many names the iconic mountain dominates the Seattle skyline at 14,417 ft. and is the most glaciated, most prominent, and 5th tallest peak in the Lower 48.
This climb felt like the ultimate culmination of my Covid mountaineering adventures. With glacier & crevasse crossings, 9k feet of elevation gain, backpacking, snow camping, and temperatures ranging from 20-80 degrees, it truly required all of the learnings from Helens, Adams, and Baker.
The first day ascent was relatively calm, with the 5 mile trek to Muir being non-technical and not too steep with a well defined boot pack, and the final mile of the day to our campsite at Ingraham Flats being minimally glaciated.
The campsite was utterly beautiful.
After taking a break and admiring the location we began shoveling out our site and getting prepared for the summit attempt.
Then we ran out of fuel
Shit.
We each were left with 2-3 liters of water and no real dinner before the hardest day of our lives.
6pm: Lights out
Midnight: Alarms go off
It was time.
Aided by headlamps and red bull we began our final ascent. Crossing glaciers via bridges and ladders, short roping up disappointment cleaver, and finally slowly making our way up the upper section of Rainier as elevation sickness began hitting all of us.
At 6:00 Am we crested the crater
6:30 AM we summitted. We were halfway done.
The descent was brutal, and by the time we returned to Ingraham I was dehydrated and beginning to have signs of heat exhaustion.
We took a long break taking down camp allowing me to cool off, and after covering myself in snow and sleeping pads for 30 minutes we began the remaining descent.
Each step was painful and exhausting and by the time we made it to the car I could barely take another step.
And I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Big thanks to the rope crew of Matt, Nathan, and Tim for being the best squad for this adventure.
