8-Days on Mt. Rainier

“Hey All - just got back from spending 8 grueling yet beautiful days on Mt. Rainier (Mar 22-29). I took this Denali Prep Mountaineering Course with Alpine Ascents and had a truly memorable experience. Unfortunately the weather didn't really cooperate and we never got above 8-9000 ft of elevation (10-11ft of snow in 8-days made for rather terrible avy and travel conditions). That said, I still learned an aweful lot from some great guides and I'm heading back in mid-June to tackle that biatch via the Kautz Glacier route...weather permitting. I posted a bunch of pics from the climb on Flickr if interested - see path below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhall75”

“Looks like ya had a great time....from what I can see. The Flicker site seems to be having some issues.


What did they go over? 10'/11' in 8 days is kind of a dump, LOL. It's also kinda realistic ;-)”

“First time on Flickr - is there something I'm doing wrong to make my pics public? Anyway, it was a wonderful time despite the heavy snow fall (which made it great to learn other things). Here's what we covered:

Map & Compass Review, Knots, Mountain Safety, Prussiking, Snowshoe travel with sleds, snow camping in harsh conditions, ice axe and crampon use, self belay, self arrest on snow/ice slopes, rapelling and descending fixed lines, crevasse travel and rescue, setting up rescue systems...amongst other things. Can't wait to get out there again. Unfortunately we didn't get to do as much climbing at altitude as I hoped, but better safe than sorry - mountain will be there when I return.”

“Crevasse travel? Could you even see any crevasses? Did you spend all your time on the lower Nisqually glacier or was that Wilson?

I would love to do the Kautz route. I'm going back this summer to do the DC route unguided with my buddy who didn't make it to the top last year.

The pictures worked fine for me. I abandonned my flickr account and started using Picasa.
http://picasaweb.google.com/toejamhikes/PNW2007/photo#5167720989355063138”

“Good point on the crevasse travel - given the conditions we didn't get to spend time on the glacier during the trip. We had to practice rope travel, crevasse rescue and navigating crevasses out in the snow field and along some slopes not prone to avy danger.

Great pics on Picasa BTW - I might need to change sites as well. flickr doesn't seem to be very user friendly - couldn't get the darn pics in the right order.

I'm excited about the Kautz trip and excited to get out to Colorado next weekend to climb Gray's & Torreys - my first CO 14ers. Are you in CO? If you ever want to climb in CO over a long weekend and would like some company, let me know.”

“What a great bunch of skills to learn! When you do Rainier you will be much safer, and an asset to the team you are with. Best of luck! The smart thing to do on Rainier is not even make an attempt if the weather is bad or marginal. It can turn way worse very quickly. On one climb of Rainier did, my rope partner was picked up by wind and went sailing through the air, over my head, to land in front of me. That was a first for me.”

“Wow Idaho, partner tossed? I believe it. It was amazing how quickly the weather changed while I was there. You would wake up and think, today's the day...then blink and be enveloped in a white out with ridiculous winds. Can't imagine being caught up high when that type of weather rolls in.

Thanks for chiming in!”

“We have a 3 day window to climb from high camp in case conditions are bad. But it will be in August, so odds are in our favor. We'll get to see some giant crevasses then. There was one really freaky one last year. Someone had anchored a running belay in the middle of it on a snow bridge about 4' wide. So you had to drop to your knees and fool with the carabiner with a bottomless abyss on both sides.

I will let you know if I plan a quick trip to Colorado for sure. But the way my life and the price of gas is, I prolly won't make it out there until Crash's trip.

Have fun on your trip. Didn't you climb Quandry this winter?”

“Quandary trip was cancelled due to terrible conditions - seems to be a trend with me lately. Anyway, looks like it's beginning to warm in Denver - Sunday is supposed to be low 60's and Monday high of 69. Hopefully the following weekend will bring some decent weather.

Love the crevasse story - guess you didn't take out the camera and get a shot of that! Hopefully we'll get out and climb together some time.”

“I had a great opportunity for a picture of that crevasse, but I had no camera. A few nights before arriving at Rainier the wind blew dust into my tent all night, and the next morning the lens ground to a halt when I tried to turn it on. So all my Rainier shots are pictures I bummed off the guys up there with me.”

“toejam - I did not address you on the other thread when you criticized me, just like you didn't address me here. Leave me out of your posts, and I'll do the same. It's very simple.”

“What is with moonglo...it seems like he posts something about someone criticizing him on many posts where he hasn't even been mentioned...I find it confusing...but then I am easily confused...

Meanwhile, your pictures were phenomenal, Chowdahead...now THAT'S winter camping with a vengeance...thank you for giving us the link...”

“Mataharihiker - That was my point. toejam posted something crticizing me on another thread where I did not address him. I was pointing out how it's inappropriate by demonstrating it for him. I see that you agree it should not be done.”

“No moonglo, I do NOT agree with you..I do not feel that because someone you might disagree with posts on one thread you should carry your dispute with them from another thread to that thread...look at me...I'm hijacking this thread...I DO apologize to the original poster...
last edited: 4/11/08 9:02:43 AM”

“I do not feel that because someone you might disagree with posts on one thread you should carry your dispute with them from another thread to that thread

That is precisely what I am saying. You DO agree with me. Toejam did that and I demonstrated for him how it was wrong. By saying what I did was wrong, you are agreeing with me.

Funny how you felt compelled to respond so angrily Mata when you were not even the subject of the dispute. Imagine if you were... now you know how I feel.

If you don't like this, encourage toejam to knock it off.

Do you hear this toejam? Keep your dispute with me off this board. People don't like threads being hijacked for your disputes. It's your choice.”

“Ah, sux when your camera goes. As for this other crap - weird. Thanks for sharing everything Toejam and thanks for the compliment Mataharihiker - I had a great time.

Moonglo - start your own thread and #&%!$ at Toejam. It's that simple...”