Mount Rainier Climb - Aug 29 - Sep 1, 2016

I was hiking in Southern California for about one and half year and had hiked all major peaks in SoCal and also hiked Mount Whitney in June 2015 – highest peak in lower 48 states. My hiking buddy Jerry motivated me to take on Mount Rainier. Rainier is highest peak in Cascade range. A potentially active strata volcano and most glaciated peak in lower 48 states with 27 active glaciers.

This is the starting point and training ground for all top American mountaineers. Giant glaciers, steep climb and unpredictable weather of pacific northwest makes this mountain a perfect training ground for big Himalayan climbs.   

With Jerry's motivation and desire to take the next big step, in December 2015 I signed up for climbing Rainier. It was an uphill challenge and I trained for 8 months for this mountain. Shopped around and bought all my climbing gear. I was physically and mentally ready for this challenge by end of July! 

All excited about my 2016 adventure, I flew to Seattle on morning of August 27^th and stayed my friend Sushant Pathak’s place for 2 days. Relaxed for 2 days and did some last minute shopping in Seattle RMI.

Day 1 – August 29^th

On afternoon of Monday 29^th I drove to Ashford which is base camp of all Mount Rainier climbs.

We had orientation of trip from 3pm to 6pm. We checked all the gear during this orientation, and had introduction with my team members

After the orientation we packed our bags for next day’s mountaineering school and surrendered to the beds

Day 2 – August 30^th – Mountaineering school day

We met 2 of our guides - JJ Justman and Lucas Halaand. JJ had an impressive climbing resume with 1 summit of Everest, 20 summits of Aconcagua and 237 summits of Rainier. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide. Lucas was a newbie on Rainier but had 12 summits to his name.

RMI shuttle took us to Paradise visitor center.

After initial introduction with team we started our hike for about 1 hour to lower snow field slopes of the mountain.  

For next 3 hours we had training for rest stepping, making corners, self-arrest, and roped travel. Stuff which looks easy in YouTube videos turned out to be very challenging and tiring. It was fun to do all those activities. After some rigorous but fun training we retraced our steps back to paradise visitor center.

Day 3 – August 31^st – Climb to Camp Muir

We met at 8am at the base camp in Ashford.

Our third guide Pepper Dee joined us on this day.

After quick 5 minute update from guides we headed to Paradise in RMI shuttle. At 9.30AM we stepped on the trail to Camp Muir. Today we had to gain about 4,300 feet to reach 10,100 feet. Snow on the lower altitude on mountain melts in late summer. We hiked on a dirt trail for about 1.5 hours to reach pebble creek.

Pebble creek is the beginning of Muir snowfields. We changed into our mountaineering boots at this point. The weather turned foggy as we were gaining elevation. We hiked on Muir snowfield for next 2.5 hours to reach Camp Muir at around 2pm. 

On Muir snowfield approaching Camp Muir. 

As we were 15 minutes away from Camp weather became really windy and it started raining. We took all the required stuff for summit day with us and dropped our packs outside of RMI bunkhouse. Found our bunk space in the bunkhouse and started settling in for the night.

RMI Bunkhouse at Camp Muir - 10,188 ft

Inside RMI Bunkhouse at Camp Muir

At Camp Muir 

At 3PM 2 lead guides – JJ and Solveig came to bunkhouse for summit talk. In 45 minutes talk they gave us some realistic expectations of summit day.

At 4pm the guides provided us with warm water for dinner. All of us had our gourmet dinner ;) and by 5pm most of us surrendered to the sleeping bags.

Day 4 (Thursday September 1^st)–

Our guides woke us up at midnight and have 1 hour to be ready with our packs, and 15 more minutes outside the bunkhouse to wear crampons and be summit ready. Although we had no appetite because of being at altitude, we had to grab some breakfast. Everyone was ready by 1am and out of bunkhouse. The wind from yesterday had died a little but it was still cold. Temperature was around 20F, much below freezing point.

Rob from my team decided not to continue on the climb since he was not feeling 100% at Camp Muir. It’s a hard decision after investing so much time and money, but he took that call for good of the team. One definitely doesn’t want to be a liability on Upper Mountain. So we were down to 6 members’ team at the beginning of Summit day. Our 6 member team was divided on 3 different ropes each led by a guide. JJ was leading with Martin and Richard, followed by Lucas with Johnny and Morgan and then my team with Pepper, Matt and myself.

Our first leg of the climb was traversing Cowlitz glacier and reaching Ingraham flats (11,200 ft). It was a gain of about 1,100 feet and took us about 1 hour at a pace set by JJ. This section had a relatively gentle elevation gain and everybody was performing really well.

At every break we were supposed to put our Insulated Perka jacket on, eat about 300 calories, drink 300ml of water and sit down on our backpacks. (Mountaineers say - why stand when you can sit, why sit when you can lie down)

Our guides did a check on us to make sure that everybody is in shape to continue the climb. JJ stepped on the trail with his team after spending exactly 10 minutes at the flats. Soon other teams followed.

Next section was much steeper and longer section. We were traversing disappointment cleaver – a section of loose rocks and scree. There is a high risk of rock fall and ice avalanches in this section. So we had to keep our pace and not take any breaks till we reach to the top of cleaver. This section turned out to be much intense than first section.

We walked on Ingraham glacier for next 15 minutes, descended about 200 feet to traverse around some massive crevasses – which we saw while coming down in the daylight. After that section of 15 minutes we started ascending cleaver – a section of loose rocks and scree. The guides shortened ropes in order to gain control. We had to be very careful of not kicking any loose rocks for safety of teams climbing below us. We had to keep pace for next 1.5 hour and that started kicking my butt. In mountaineering one cannot take breaks anywhere except assigned spots in order to avoid risks of rock fall, avalanches. Although I was struggling a little bit, I was sure that I will be fine once I catch up with my breath at break#2. After 1.5 hours of climb we reached to top of Disappointment cleaver 12,300 feet. We followed the same rituals of break, only difference being it was getting tougher to do everything – even opening packets of cliff bars.

Top of cleaver is the last point where you can turn around. At this break you are committing yourself to summit. All guides asked them their team if everyone was feeling good. Pepper asked me as well and my response was I am feeling 80%, but confident of summit.

2 folks – Richard from my team and Nicole from other team chose to turn around. Another tough decision, but good for the team!

Next leg of climb was reaching high break at 13,500. This entire section was climb on very steep trail on hard glaciated ice. Climb was getting more intense as we were gaining altitude. Initial 30 minutes after break#2 were relatively conformable for me. But then I started struggling significantly – mainly due to altitude kicking my butt. I was not pressure breathing as much as I should have had done. My oxygen saturation was going down and I was able to feel it. At this point Pepper started yelling at me to breathe properly and keep walking.

Now the sun was rising above the clouds and we were able to get amazing views around. We were above any other place in state of Washington. We could see Mount Adams and Mount Hood to our south. This is probably the most serene view I have witnessed in my life so far. Although I was tired, I was able to enjoy the views around me.

Navigating switchbacks to high camp. 5.30 AM 12,600 feet

Sunrise over Little Tahoma

Mount Adams in front and Mount Hood (Oregon) in background

After climbing for about 2 hours we finally reached high break 13,500 feet, our last break before summit. Here Pepper shouted at me – “ I know you are tired. I asked you at Break 2 and you said you will come up. You committed to the summit when you said that. Right now you are not walking in style. We are going to drop your pack here. You are going to eat, drink water, breathe, rest step and keep walking. You have no other option.” (Later on he told me that that shouting was part of motivation technique to ignite burning desire inside me). Although I was tired, I knew I was able to push myself to summit. With all the hiking I had done, I had the endurance and confidence to go down safely. So I gathered all my energy and started walking the last leg in style. We were about 1 hour away from Crater summit. Conditions turned super windy with winds blowing at 30mph. That coupled with altitude slowed us down. My struggle was real as we were 400 vertical feet away from Summit. At this point Pepper pulled the rope to drag me and keep up the pace.

All the teams came to a sudden halt when my team was at around 13,900 feet. Solveig was leading the climb and she decided to call off the expedition because it was too windy to continue further. Moreover because of intense wind an ice bridge collapsed and a crevasse became wide open. The conditions were not the best for 16 people to cross that crevasse.

 

At 13,900 feet where Solveig almost decided to call off the climb

Wide Open Crevasse at 13,800 feet

At that point I was just glad to catch a break  :) . Solveig waited for about 2 minutes. Luckily the wind died down a little bit. She decided to push through and was able to cross the crevasse comfortably.

Then rest of the gang followed her footsteps and at 8am we made it to Creator summit at 14,300 feet!

Rainier is a potential active stratovolcano. It has 2 overlapping volcanic craters at the top. We entered the larger crater from south eastern side. All of us dropped our packs. Everyone was exhausted. But all of us had achieved something which very few people are able to accomplish. This was the pinnacle of all our emotional, financial investment.

We would have celebrated in style on any other day, but today was not that day.  It was very windy and cold at crater. Wind was about 40mph and temperature was about -5F. Most us were so tired that we opted not to go to true summit, which was about 10 minutes away. Only 3 folks and 4 guides went to true summit. Other 8 climbers and 1 guide chose to call crater rim the summit for the day.

We savored on our rock hard cliff bars and water. Took a break for about 20 minutes and tried to keep fire going inside us.

The hard part of being at summit is, you are only half way done. You have to go all the way down now – the hardest part of mountaineering.

My team approaching crater. Pic courtesy - Stacie Steele  

View from true summit - Pic Courtesy Matt Kayal 

Martin and Myself at Summit Crater 

Once everyone was back from true summit, we roped up again and started retracing our steps. Downhill climb was easy on our lungs but was very tiring on our legs. We started descending quickly and reached high break in about 45 minutes. I picked up my backpack which Pepper made me drop on the way up. We kept up nice and steady pace. Now we were able to see that massive glacier and all those giant crevasses which we traverse in the darkness.  

After walking for about 2 hours at 11am we reached our break#5 at top of disappointment cleaver.  We shed layers, had food and water. Next section was descending on loose rock and scree which we climbed in dark. We shortened the ropes and started descending on this section. Descending on rocky trail with your crampons on is art of balancing your body weight. It is much more tiring on lungs than one would imagine. At around noon we reached our last break at Ingraham flats. Now we had last 30 minutes of gentle trail left to camp Muir. We completed this last section appreciating the glacier and crevasses we crossed in dark about 8 hours ago.

Last break of the climb- Ingraham flats 

At 12.30pm we reached camp Muir. We had 1 hour to load our stuff which we had left behind at bunkhouse. Everybody was efficient in doing things by now. We got ready by 1.30pm.

Now we had to cover last 4,500 feet of home stretch on Muir snowfield and then dirt trail. Although we had our heavy packs with us now. Solveig gave us some tips for boot skiing, which is a way to use gravity for our advantage. Somehow I did not master this art for next 1 hour and fell down multiple times. Finally gave up on booth skiing and opted for glissading.  After 1.5 hour on Muir snowfield, we reached pebble creek. Most of us changed into our hiking booths here. Last 1 hour was on a dirt trail and we had a comfortable walk downhill. I got a chance to thank Pepper personally for his push earlier this morning. We had some good conversation. Finally at 4pm we reached paradise visitor center. 

Yes!!! I did it. Mount Rainier is in my bag now. I had achieved my 2016 goal in style. I had a sense of accomplishment like never before.  

Its not the mountain we conquer but ourselves - Sir Edmund Hillary 

 

My recommendation for prep –

1)    Be in the shape of your life!

2)    Focus on cardio strength and endurance 

3)  Make sure you have strong legs 

4) If you can, practice hiking with 30lb+ pack

5) Take rest 1 week before the climb. Don't push yourself too hard      

6) Train harder than you can imagine!!!

7) Be in Shape of your lifetime! ( I started this list with the same point for a reason. Because you really really need to be in shape of your lifetime! This a beast of a mountain) 

My recommendations during the climb - 

1) Don't try new foods before the climb. Know what foods work for you the best 

2) Stay hydrated at Camp Muir to avoid altitude sickness 

3) Have ibuprfane or advil if you feel mild headache. Mild headaches are normal 

4) Carry good quality of gloves and socks. Don't be cheap on that. Chemical hand warmers help a lot. Strongly recommended during winter conditions

5) Pressure breathe and rest step- don't forget this. It will be your lifesaver 

6) Listen to your body. Turn around if you are not feeling strong. 

It has to be a roundtrip and one doesn't want to become a liability on high mountain 

7) Listen to your guides. RMI guides know what they are doing 

8) Enjoy yourself. This is once in a lifetime adventure