Mt. Rainier Climb

Success!

olallaskibum — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:51:00 GMT

After nearly 8 months of preparation and two tries, we were successful in our second attempt to climb Mount Rainier.

The weather for our trip could not have been better. We had two days of brilliant sun with blue skies and very little wind. The difference between the two attempts is interesting. On our first try, July 2 - 3, everything had been orchestrated and planned for months. We stayed on the clock and everything went according to plan, except for the weather on the night of July 2, 2008.

Last Thursday and Friday were set as an alternate day after the disappointment of the July 3 weather. Perhaps because of the letdown I didn't start to become excited about the climb again until about 2 weeks before the date. Last Thursday we were plagued by delays. First I had to act as Steve's alarm clock while parked in his driveway to pick him up. Then one of the boys did not have his photo ID and we had to wait for Dad to go home and get it. Even with those delays, we arrived in Ashford only 15 minutes after Whittaker Mountaineering opened to pick up rental gear. But the rental gear was not ready for us and that caused another 30 - 40 minute delay. Registering for the climb had been done at Longmire in July, but after stopping there, we were directed to the visitors center at Paradise to register for the climb. With all the incremental delays it was 10:30 before we left the parking lot instead of the 8:30 I had planned for. And to finish off the delays, I forgot my water bottle in the car and had to go back for it after 10 minutes on the trail.

Even with all the delays, we managed to arrive at Camp Muir about 4:30. We had tents for everyone, but were amazed to find the public shelter nearly empty so we decided to camp there for the night. This was a stroke of good fortune as it saved lots of time pitching and striking the tents.

Ray struggled on the climb to Muir until Ben and I went back and carried his pack the final 600 vertical feet to Camp Muir. While talking over his dinner we both agreed that it would be best all around if he stayed at Camp Muir rather than trying to attempt the summit in the morning.

As we sat and talked, we watched a fabulous sunset and almost simultaneous moonrise. With the moon nearly full it was a beautiful sight. By 8:00 PM everyone was in bed. By the time I crawled into my sleeping bag, I could hear a few of the boys breathing deeply already. Steve and I lay in our bags and may have dozed a little, but for the most part I just last there until my alarm went off at midnight.

When I came out of the shelter at about 12:30 AM, the scene outside was remarkable. The night was warm and the nearly full moon almost made it light enough to see without a headlamp. The boys were excited and got ready with very little encouragement needed. At 2:00 AM everyone had tied into their assigned rope and we were off across the moonlit Cowlitz Glacier. The trek across the Cowlitz and the climb up the rock and sand ridge to Cathedral Gap were fairly quick, except that the ropes behind me were not keeping up.

At our first rest stop at Ingraham Flats, one of the boys announced that he was too tired to continue. We parked him wearing all his clothes in addition to some clothes of another boy, with instructions to remain there until we return. It turned out that we were not able to pick him back up for more than 10 hours. From 10 that left Paradise, we were now down to eight climbers.

The next obstacle was to cross the upper Ingraham Flats to the bottom of Disappointment Cleaver (DC) and then ascend the DC. The lateness of the year had opened lots of crevasses on the Ingraham and the route to the DC went up then down before finally going up again. The lower portion of the DC was all rock and finding the marked route in the dark was tricky. What added a good bit of frustration for me was that there were a couple of teams in front of us that were moving really slowly up the DC. While climbing the DC, another of the boys was insisting that he was extremly tired and wanted to rest often. We finally had to park the second boy about half way up the DC.

By the time we had all of the remaining seven climbers at the top of the DC (~12,500 feet) and ready to go, it was 7:00 AM. It had taken us 5 hours to make a 3 hours climb. At this time I was very concerned about the lateness of the day and the thought entered my mind that we may not have time to get to the summit and return. I decided to continue and see how we managed the next section of the climb.

From the top of the DC the trail went steeply up the Ingraham Glacier. When Emily and I climbed the mountain in June of 2007, the route had gone across the Emmons Glacier from the DC and then ascended the North ridge of the Emmons Glacier. The route up the Ingraham was very steep and zigzagged a great deal to avoid crevasses. Right at about 13,500 feet, as we were ready to stop for the final rest before the summit, the route required that you take a rather large step across a very deep crevasse. The gap was about 3 feet across and a bit unnerving but everyone made it fine.

We made very good time once we left the DC and made the crater in 3 hours. If it had not taken 5 hours to reach the top of the DC, we would have been right on schedule. Last December, when I put together the list of boys, that would be the right age to go on this outing, I was concerned about Kevin and Bobby because they were not very athletic. Because of that I put them on my rope. I was so proud of both of them they made the climb without complaint and never caused me to stop and wait for them.

The boys crashed in the crater for about 30 minutes before we took pictures and began our descent. I think that at least 2 of the boys (and perhaps more) were feeling nauseous because of the altitude. I kept encouraging them to pressure breathe, but I am not sure they believed that it would make them feel better.

The descent was uneventful, except that it was nearly 4:00 PM instead of Noon before we arrived back at Camp Muir. The descent of the DC was very difficult, even more difficult than the ascent. The boys that we had parked had followed instructions and were both waiting where we had left them.

I was the first to the summit and the last to arrive at the car. Descending the part of the trail that is not covered with snow is always brutal on my feet. By the time I arrived at the car, the big toe on my right foot had paid the price and turned black. I had hoped that I was going to keep my toenails this year.

I was pleased with the boys who persevered when it was monotonous and they were tired. David Breashears final in the comment in his movie "Storm Over Everest" is particularly telling to me:

"The mountain doesn't care whether we are here or not. It doesn't compete with us. It isn't burdened by our hopes and dreams. Everything it means to us is only what we bring to it. It's what the mountain reveals about us, that has any lasting value."

I think that Mount Rainier revealed that these young men are capable of much more than they thought they were capable of. I'm grateful I was able to participate in this great event in their young lives.

Missed it by One Day

olallaskibum — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:12:00 GMT

If we had chosen to climb on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 1 and 2) instead of Wednesday and Thursday, we would have had perfect weather. As it was, we spent the night at Camp Muir through the most impressive thunder storm I have ever experienced from a tent.

Someone had the good fortune to catch this picture of the mountain and submitted it to KOMO news. I think that it speaks for itself about the violence of the storm last Wednesday night.

Our climb started in fair but humid and hazy conditions. The sky was so hazy that at no time on Wednsday were we able to see either Mt Adams or Mt St Helens, both of which appear close enough to touch on a "normal" day. We did start from Paradise about 2 hours later than I wanted to start (10:30 instead of 8:30) but nearly everyone managed to reach Camp Muir in the desired 6 hours. It is one thing to make the trek to Camp Muir for a one day outing with light packs. It is quite another to burden yourself with the requisite gear to spend a night and climb to the summit the next day. 6 hours was the expected time and the young men did very well.

Not long after we had set up our tents, we started to head the rumble of thunder and had our first rain/hail shower. As we were expecting to make a very early start, nearly everyone was in bed by 7:30. I was working on melting snow for water and was perhaps the last into my sleeping bag at atoub 8:00. Shortly after I got into my sleeping bag, the storm started to get serious. Sleep was not possible. There were prolonged periods of thunder, lightning, rain, hail and strong winds. Everyone was generally warm and dry and managed to enjoy the natural fireworks.

When my alarm went of at midnight I was (still) awake (not sure I ever actually slept) and the storm was raging fiercely on the other side of the rainfly. While I was laying there hoping that conditions would moderate, Elden came to my tent to tell me that he thought it was a bad idea to continue up. I agreed with this most obvious of conclusions. I did suggest that we could re-evaluate the situation again in an hour. The storm did not abate until about 5:30 at which time it was way too late to make an attempt for the summit and return on our time schedule.

We got up about 6:00 AM and discussed our options. I suggested that we could have breakfast, rope up and climb to Ingrham Flats (which would have been our 3:00 AM rest stop if the weather had cooperated) to get a view of the what glaciers are like and see the upper portion of the route. Nearly everyone agreed that such a trek sounded like a good idea.

About 8:00 AM ten of us set out on 3 ropes, across the Cowlitz glacier toward Ingrham Flats. It was a fun adventure that gave everyone an up close look at some large crevasses. The section between Cathedral Gap and Ingrham Flats had some very stong winds. As we moved off the rock back onto the glacier, the wind was so strong that the rope was flying uphill instead of laying on the snow. I did take a short video of the rope team in front of me which you can see here.

At Ingrham Flats we took group photos, gave thanks for our safety and could easily see the route. With the hard part of the route clearly visible everyone agreed that they were sure it was within their abilities to do. The short side trip served to give us a bit of an adventure and a desire to come back and finish the task.

We will be making another attempt on the mountain in late July or early August. I pray that we will be blessed with good weather so we can complete our journy next time.

Thoughts on the night before

olallaskibum — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:55:00 GMT

After months of preparation, we leave for the mountain tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM. All the boys and leaders are excited. I hope I can sleep tonight.

I feel privledged to have had the opportunity to get to know each of the young men who will be participating. I hope that they will all be as positively affected by the experience as I was on my first time last year. Getting to know the men who will be going has also been a joy and distinct pleasure. I feel very blessed that I have been called "for such a time as this".

I asked Bishop Sass to give myself, Ray Peterson and Steve Wrigley a blessing this evening. It was a sweet experience.

I will make this short as I want a good night's sleep, and we start early tomorrow. My next blog entry will come on Thursday after having returned from the event.

God bless us every one.

Tragedy on the Mountain

olallaskibum — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:22:00 GMT

This week we have had a stark reminder that wilderness travel can be hazardous or even deadly.

Two men and a woman, all residents of Bellevue and in their 30's were caught in a blizzard in the area of Anvil Rock below Camp Muir. The outcome of their ordeal was the death of one of the men. The woman and other man escaped their ordeal suffering the effects of hypothermia and frostbite.

While it may be a bit premature to sit in judgement as a Monday morning quarterback, some details about their ordeal have come out:

All three members of the group did have at least some level of preparation for inclement weather, but was not prepared to spend the night on the mountain.
They started from Paradise about mid-day in poor weather but continued toward their goal of Camp Muir despite the weather. I observed very strong winds in and around Seattle and there were power outages in the Port Orchard area as early as 3:00 PM becuase of high winds. They would have left Pebble Creek (7300 feet) and started on to the Muir snowfield at about the same time that the winds were becoming very stong in the lowlands. I expect that the winds above 7500 feet would have been at least as strong as they were in the valley.
In the face of the continued strong wind and wet snow they continued to climb toward Camp Muir arriving at around 6:00. News reports indicate that they started their descent to Paradise, after a short stay at Camp Muir, at about 6:30 PM.
Shortly after they started their descent from Camp Muir the storm increased dramatically in fury.
They were able to descend only about 600 vertical feet before the winds were gusting above 50 mph and they were in white out conditions.
Feeling unable to continue down they decided to dig some form of shelter in the snow where they were and wait out the storm.

Sunday night when Elden was discussing mountaineering accidents, he made the comment that every accident involves poor decisions. Additionally it is seldom a single bad decision that causes the accident, but almost always a series of bad decisions that cause the accident and the result might have been avoided by making a different decision at any one of a number of points in time.

I don't mean to pass judgement on this group when they are still mourning the loss of a friend and husband, but I believe that the series of poor decisions were these:

In poor weather, I think they started too late in the day to make their goal and return with an acceptable margin of safety
The weather was bad and from my experience as they left the area of Pebble Creek I'm sure it became miserable and yet they persisted. Pebble Creek would have been a great place to turn around as that is the last area of shelter before getting onto the Muir snowfield.
With high winds in the valley, I expect that their entire trek on the Muir snowfield was cold, wet and miserable. They could have chosen to turn around at any point. You don't have to be very high on the mountain to die of hypothermia. Three years ago two men, who did have a tent and sleeping bags, died of hypothermia at 8500 feet in a similar storm in May.
They arrived at the relative safety of Camp Muir too late, in my opinion, to give themselves an adequate margin of time to descend in daylight, with bad weather. But still they chose to descend instead of asking for assistance of the people at Camp Muir in order to wait out the weather until the next day.
In what could have been less than 30 minutes after leaving Camp Muir they made the decision to bivouac in the snow without adequate equipment to spend a cold night in the snow. At this point they should have made the decision to return to Camp Muir to wait out the storm. It is reported that they were in whiteout conditions, but if they were adequately prepared, they would have had a map and compass. If they had a compass and and map they should have been able to navigate back to Camp Muir even in a whiteout.

A friend of mine from work signed up for a Mount Rainier climb with Rainier Mountaineering months ago. The date of his climb was to be last Friday and Saturday June 6 - 7. The weather on the day of their climb to Camp Muir, Friday, was not great and as they got above Pebble Creek the winds picked up and the visibility went down. Even though the group he was in had paid $850 per person for the guided climb, plus rental gear, the guides deemed the weather to be too bad to continue and they turned around at about 8300 feet. Everyone in the group was prepared very well and could have spent the night in a bivouac if necessary, but the guide service chose to "play it safe" and descend. No one knows what would have happened had they continued. But it is this very type of safe decisions that make the difference between a news sensation and a disappointed, but safe, group who can come back on another day.

The mantra of my climbing hero, Ed Viesturs, is always: "Getting to the top is optional. Coming back home safe is mandatory." This has been and continues to be my motto in the wilderness. I love mountains and I love to experience them, but I never underestimate how quickly a situation can become dangerous if you fail to give the mountain proper respect.

Ellinor Revisited - May 31, 2008

olallaskibum — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:18:00 GMT

A second climb of Mt. Ellinor on May 31 provided slighty different conditions than our first climb of the year. Being able to drive all the way to the lower trailhead made the hike in and out much faster. Having stable snow conditions without new snow in the previous week made it much easier to climb.

We left the church at about 4:20 AM and were at the trailhead about 5:45. Leaving early allowed us to have the mountain to ourselves until about 10:30. Beautiful day. Great workout.

I was very pleased with the performance of the boys on the climb. We broke the climb into sections of about 1000 feet of vertical. Each section was done in an excellent time. The most impressive to me was the segment that was "the chute". The Chute is a 1000 vertical foot couloir that begins at the 4500 foot level on the mountain. It starts out gently, but quickly gets steep. The final 100 vertical feet are in excess of 40 degrees. The chute had frozen overnight so the climbing was relatively easy on firm snow, but we still roped up to give those who needed it another chance to climb as part of a rope team. I lead the section and my team made the 1000 foot ascent in 45 minutes. The boys behind me did very well keeping the pace and managing the rope.

While in the saddle at the top of the chute, we had a brief rest before climbing to the summit. The summit had changed a great deal in the 6 weeks since the first climb. Where in early April the summit was covered in snow, now the summit rocks are completely exposed. Skiing conditions would have been wonderful, but I left my skis home bacuase of our intent to traverse to Mt. Washington.

After photos on the summit, we descended back to the saddle for self arrest training and practice setting up a crevasse rescue pulley. I think that everyone has learned these skills well.

With the training done, we struck out for the summit of Mt. Washington via a travers of the ridge between the mountains. About the time we just got started, clouds started to come and surround us. The traverse is rocky with VERY steep rock pinnacles. In the fog we got a bit disoriented and could not figure out where the summit of Mt. Washington was. About that time we decided to take the clouds as an omen and gave up our objective of the traverse to Mt. Washington. With that decision made, some of the clouds parted and we could see where we had gone wrong. We will have to leave Washington for another day.

The glissade down the chute was lots of fun. We were back at the car and home well before we were expected.

The result was a wonderful day on the mountain with lots of good training and an knowledge that we will be on Rainier in just over a month.

"The Lord make his face shine upon thee..."

olallaskibum — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:22:00 GMT

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

Numbers 6: 24 - 26

After the outing of Friday and Saturday (April 25 - 26, 2008) I feel truly blessed by The Lord. For each of our three training outings we have been graced with exceptionally good weather. On our trip to Lena Lake, the weather cleared on Friday for the hike in and was beautiful on Saturday for our training. The Mt. Ellinor climb was done on a fantastically clear day that was the warmest day of the year so far.

The trip to Crystal Mountain was scheduled in our planning meeting in December. Last Sunday, as I was preparing for the events of the week to come, I took a careful look at the mountain forecast for Friday and Saturday. At that time, the forecast called for snow above 4000 feet on Friday, Friday night and Saturday. Monday evening it looked a bit better, but not much. By Wednesday the forecast called for partly sunny weather on Saturday. I drove to the mountain Friday night under a beautiful cloudless sky. We pitched our tents by the light of a galaxy of stars and Saturday we watched the sun rise in the east un-obscured by any hint of a cloud. I feel truly blessed, as though The Lord has seen our efforts and goals for these young men and has chosen to bless us with the best possible weather for our activities.

Becky and I left for Provo Utah on Wednesday morning to attend the BYU graduation for our oldest son. On our way out of town, I parked my Range Rover, loaded with all my gear, in one of the off airport parking lots. The plan called for me to fly back on Friday, after graduation, pick up Rover and head directly for the mountain. Everyone else was to be leaving from Port Orchard at 4:30 PM and would meet me at the mountain. As my flight did not land until 7:00 PM I expected that they would be well established before I arrived. My bag was the first one to be delivered to baggage claim and a Thrifty Airport Parking van pulled up to the curb just as I arrived at the pickup area. Timing was so smooth that I was on I-5 headed for the outing by 7:25.

Since Crystal Mountain had closed for the season on April 13, and Chinook Pass is still closed there is normally very little traffic on Hwy 410 from Greenwater to Crystal Mountain. Friday night I lost count of how many elk I saw along the road. There were several single animals and at least three groups of several animals each. This is normally a time of the year when I expect to see elk as I travel this road, but I was not prepared for how many I saw. I decided that I should cool my anticipation to get to the mountain and slow down so I could be sure not to hit any of these magnificent creatures. As I turned off Hwy 410 onto Crystal Mountain Blvd, I was greeted with a special treat. An enormous bull elk with a fantastic rack, was strolling casually across the road in front of me. There was not enough light for a photograph, but it was an image that my mind will never forget.

By the time I changed my clothes, got on all my gear and was ready to go, it was 9:30. Fifty five minutes later as I was approaching the terminus of the Quicksilver lift I saw lights in the ski patrol shack. It seems that the rest of the group had not been able to follow my instructions very well and had not found our intended camping spot. Together we found the frozen body of water known as Hen Skin lake and set up camp. We probably set up our tents on in an area that would be under water in the summer, but Friday night the water was under several feet of snow. I encouraged everyone to get to bed as soon as possible because I intended to get everyone up in time to see the sun rise from the summit of Silver King. It was cold on Friday night, somewhere in the high teens or very low twenties. In spite of the temperature I was quite cozy in my down sleeping bag. I did sleep with my water bottles as I did not want them to freeze overnight.

I need a louder alarm. The alarm on my altimeter/watch was set to go off at 3:00 AM and I never heard it. About 3:25 I grabbed my headlamp so I could see what time it was. When I determined the time I asked my tent mate, Steve Wrigley, if he was awake. When he answered in the affirmative, we both rolled into action. By 3:45 we had almost everyone making progress toward getting ready. It was almost 4:30 before we had everyone moving up the trail toward our goal for the day.

Silver Basin is a very large bowl on the east side of a peak known as Silver King. Silver Basin is in an area known as the "South Backcountry" of Crystal Mountain resort. During the ski season the ski patrol does avalanche control work in the area and there is a backcountry gate that permits access to the area. It is absolutely my favorite area of the mountain to ski. The traffic to Silver Basin is limited by the 25 minute hike necessary to reach it from the top of the High Campbell lift. It is an area that my children have come to love as well, but occasionally it has taken extra encouragement.

Our objective was to be at the summit of 7012 foot Silver King in time to watch the sun come up. I knew that with a 4:30 start that we were likely not going to make it, but I still wanted to try. We made good progress along the cat track toward the base of the main bowl. There had been several inches of new snow early in the week and our path alternated between a breakable crust and soft powder. We stopped and divided our group into three rope teams just before the climb becomes steep. The only reason to make this climb while roped together is to provide lots of practice in roped travel. There are no crevasses on the slope and it was not overly icy. The face we climbed is steep but not technically difficult. While we were roped together at an elevation of about 6200 feet, we saw the snow around us turn a pale pink. Facing east we could see the first rays of the sun coming over the ridge on the other side of the bowl. There is nothing quite like watching the sunrise in the mountains.

By 6:45 we were on the top of the ridge and took a short water and food break before the climbing the final 300 feet to the summit. At 7:45 we were all on the summit for photos and views that can only be seen from our location at the time. Mount Rainier appeared to be close enough to reach out and touch. To the south Mount Adams was very clear. To the southwest, Mount St Helens was blanketed in white as it has not been for a couple of years. The sky was too hazy to see Mount Baker to the north, but Mount Stewart and Glacier Peak were clearly visible.

After enjoying the view and taking lots of photos we shared a particularly sweet moment together. All 10 of us gathered in a circle and I offered a prayer thanking The Lord for his blessing of a beautiful clear day to enjoy the glory of his creation and our chance to view it.

After 30 minutes on the summit, we again tied into the rope and began our descent. At the ridge of the bowl we spent an hour practicing how to use an avalanche beacon before descending the bowl and getting back to our camp site.

While nearly everyone took a nap in the warm sun at camp, I put on my skis and followed a skin track to the crest of the ridge east of the lake we were camped on. From the ridge I thoroughly enjoyed a ski descent of a steep slope covered in a foot of fluffy powder show. My children think that I sound like the audio of a cheap movie when I get to ski deep powder. I think that the leaders and young men who heard me from camp might agree.

Everyone enjoyed our outing. The knowing grins that I saw in church this morning speak worlds about our goal for the summer and the training events we are participating in, leading up to it.

I'm in love with Ellinor

olallaskibum — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:39:00 GMT

Not another woman, just the mountain on the south end of the Olyimpics in Washington State.

So often Mount Ellinor has behaved like a coy school girl for me. She beckons you with her beauty, but then when you try to get to know her, she shows a wall (usually of fog and clouds). Yesterday was the 7th time I have stood on the summit but only the second time I could see anything. The views from any of the mountains in the eastern front of the Olympics are stunning by any measure. On a clear day you can see nearly all of Puget Sound, all 5 of the major Cascade volcanoes and views of the Olympics themselves that are only seen by those willing to pay the price. Mt. Ellinor also adds the additional view of looking directly down on Lake Cushman.

The guide books say that you should be able to drive to 2500 - 3000 feet this time of year. The snowfall in Washington this winter has been substantially above normal. We had to park the Range Rover at 1900 feet. With the lower trailhead at nearly 3000 feet, this meant a long hike on the road before we started any serious climbing. We had an early start and left that cars just as it was begining to get light.

The climb was exhausting becuase the new snow in the early part of the week had been turned to a foot of slush. We were constantsly breaking through up to our knees or deeper. But the fantastic weather made all the hard work worth the effort. Everyone made it to the top of the chute where we perfomed self arrest training. Nearly every carried on to the summit to enjoy the thirll of the view and the descent.

I climbed in my randonee boots and carried my skies to the top of the chute. I skined to the summit as skied from there nearly all the way to the car.

The length of our trek for the day was about 13 miles. We gained and lost 4400 vertical feet. Everyone was tired, some more than others, but all had a huge grin remembering the rewards of the day.