Mt. Rainier

[The Splitter]

Hey guys! A friend and I from work have been doing a lot of day dreaming about climbing Mt. Rainier next summer. A little background... Were both Florida guys and were both in excellent physical condition. We've both done a lot of backpacking in the south east (all in the great smokey mountains). What I'm wondering is, how realistic is it that the two of us can safely ascend and descend this mountain? From what I understand if we take the Disappointment Cleaver route in the summer is fairly easy with very little mountaineering equipment actually required. I'd like to get some educated opinions. It obviously sounds like an exciting and very challenging trip, however, weed both like to make sure we don't get in over our heads.




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[Vegan.Hiker]

Why not do the Wonderland Trail. It's 94 miles and loops around the perimeter of Ranier. From what I understand, to takes about 12 days on average and you need a permit. Might interest you if your into the seeing the beauty of Ranier, not so much if your a peakbagger.


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[The Splitter]

I've looked at that as well, it's mostly the challenge that attracts me.


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[TannerT]

The challenge of mountaineering is different that other endeavors. I'm planning on climbing Mt. Rainier in 2016. I know it's a long way off but that's when a buddy of mine graduates from grad school. So here's what I've used to start prepareing. This is the guide Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide (A Climbing Guide) 2nd Edition. Also check out summitpost.org, there you will find a lot of resources to help with the planning. My friends climbed it before and says that it is doable but training is key. By training he means, cardio, strength and then time at elevation. Before he did it the group summited The Grand Teton, car-to-car, in a day. He said it was long and grueling but paid dividends on Rainier. That said I don't think you should sweat too much.
I agree with you Mt. Rainier, for as daunting as it is, a major route to the top is highly accessible to a lot of people. This year was one of the mountains worst in terms of deaths though. You need to be up to snuff on snow travel and conditions. I've always enjoyed mountaineering, whether it has been peak bagging or true moutaineering. There is something about the freedom of the hills that is unparalleled with other adventures (e.g. backpacking, canyoneering, rafting, etc.) My first love is backpacking. I do my fair share of canyoneering. I also do quite a bit of rafting (thanks to my wife ). I've had many mountains on my radar for a long time, but I never thought about doing Mt. Rainier until my wife and I stopped there coming home from North Cascades NP. Since then a photo of the mountain has been hanging on my wall to remind me of its beauty and keep me planning the adventure of a summit attempt.

I feel like I'm sort of rambling now, sorry. I say you do it. You've already consented the fact that you might need more preparation by trying to figure out what you need to know. Therefore, I would think that you're not going to jump into anything that you don't feel confident you have the skills to do. So I say again: Plan, prepare and prevail!

Salud!

 

[toejam]

I'll go ahead and proclaim myself educated. I've climbed it 4 times and always lived at very low elevation. The first time was from Texas - on that trip another Texian and myself were on top of Mt. Adams when a local asked, "How do you train for this in Texas?" "You really can't," was my reply. I ran when the weather permitted and did a stair machine in the gym. I had no trouble climbing Rainier, but my friend couldn't do it, although I've always felt he is a stronger backpacker than I.

That first trip was up Disappointment Cleaver with RMI guide service. The lead guide said I should come back and climb the Kautz Route with them, and 3 years later I did. It was a much more relaxed trip away from the line of ants on the far ridge going up & down the DC. We spent 3 beautiful nights camped on the upper mountain in perfect weather.

I met an IMG guide on Mt Hood that second trip, and he recommended their service. So my third trip was with IMG up the Fuhrer Finger Route. More perfect weather and we camped on the summit. IMG does more skills training and the guides fix breakfast & dinner. RMI and IMG have excellent guides who are really interesting and make the trips fun, but I liked the IMG experience better. Their DC program is better geared towards educating newbies and the pace is a little more relaxed.

This year I went with a friend on a IMG climb and glacier skills seminar up Little Tahoma. A few days later we climbed the Fuhrer Finger Route by ourselves and camped on the summit. All my climbs have been in July and the weather has always been warm & clear. This year we descended the DC route and it was so straight forward that the NPS climbing rangers were up there unroped. Strong guys from Florida could have hiked up there with ice axe & crampons in a long day hike (I met an Everest guide who ran up & down it in 4.5 hours). But the guides are really worth the money if you are unfamiliar with climbing big icy mountains. I've climbed a bunch of them now, and the Rainier guides got me started doing it right.