Mt. Rainier Climb

Weather looking good for August 14 - 15

olallaskibum — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:20:35 GMT

The weather (on the mountain) looks very good for our climb dates. The forecast can be seen here

Rescheduled main event

olallaskibum — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:32:07 GMT

We have schduled a second attempt to climb the mountain for August 14 and 15. Pray for better weather.

Bike Ride

olallaskibum — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:43:54 GMT

To keep up our conditioning we will be going on a bike ride on Wednesday the week before we leave. Be at the church with your bike and prepared for about a 15 mile ride.

Pack Check and Gear Distribution

olallaskibum — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:39:32 GMT

The night before we start the adventure we will meet at the church to bring all the gear together, distribute loads and be ready for an early start on Wednesday.

Camp Muir Training Climb

olallaskibum — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:40:51 GMT

This will be our only chance we have to get up to Camp Muir before the main event. Everyone MUST participate.

Elden Altizer - Fireside

olallaskibum — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:21:48 GMT

Come meet the leader of our climb and see photos of his adventures on Denali, Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilamanjaro

Frontline - "Storm Over Everest"

olallaskibum — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:15:15 GMT

There is a really good documentary about the 1996 Mt. Everest climbing events. 1996 was the year a sudden storm caught three groups of climbers high on the mountain in early May. The 1996 season was the basis for the IMax movie "Everest" and Jon Krakour's book "Into Thin Air". David Breashears was making the Everest IMax movie and has made this new documentary about the 1996 season.

In real life few things are easily explained. The Everest disaster of 1996 also not easily explained. I watched the Frontline presentation online and was favorably impressed. I don't think David tries to do anything other than explain the details of what happened. There are lots of interviews from the participants. This is the most even-handed explanation I have heard of those events of 12 year ago.

In the closing commentary of the film David says the following:

"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."

This is really profound and worth remembering.

If you missed the Frontline broadcast, you can watch the entire thing online at:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/everest/

Mt. Ellinor and Mt. Washington

olallaskibum — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:33:55 GMT

We will leave early in the morning ~4:00 AM. Climb Mt. Ellinor then do a traverse over to the summit of Mt. Washington before returning back home. As we are 6 weeks past our last adventure on Ellinor, we should be able to get MUCH farther up the mountain in the car before we have to start climbing.

Main Event - Mt. Rainier Climb

olallaskibum — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:37:51 GMT

Weather looking good for April 25 - 26 outing

olallaskibum — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:45:33 GMT

When I first looked at the weather for this coming weekend, it did not look good. When I checkec again last night just before bed, I could see that it is starting to look very promising. Forecast is calling for partly cloudy with temps in the low 60's. Keep praying with faith and we will have good weather again for this outing as well.

We are going to spend more time on self arrest on Saturday as well as setting up rescue pully systems. I will also add some avalanche beacon training to the mix for a change of pace. We willl be carrying all 3 ropes to the camp site and I plan to have everyone roped up for the morning ascent of Silver King.

If you are a skier or snowboarder, bring your gear. There should be time to play in the snow as well.

I am leaving tomorrow morning for Utah, ans won't see you until Friday night at the camp site.

Getting to camp site

olallaskibum — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:43:33 GMT

The location we will be camping on April 25 is in the Silver Basin area of Crystal Mountain.

The red dashed line with a label of "Quicksilver Express" represents a future lift to replace the existing Quicksilver lift. The orientation of this map has North to the right and South to the left. Hen skin lake is the body of water shown just south-east of the top terminal of the Quicksilver lift.

When hiking continue on the snowcat track that goes south of the top of the lift. In a couple of hundred yards, there will be a fork in the track. Take the left fork that will cross a stream. You may not be able to see the stream, but the steep gully of the stream should be evident. After crossing over the stream, the lake is about 200 yards in the trees to the right. There will be snow everywhere but set up camp in the trees on the northwest part of the lake. There may be an area of the lake to the far southeast that is not covered with snow and ice. This is where a spring feeds the lake and would be a good location to draw water.

April 25 - 26 Outing - Crystal Mountain

olallaskibum — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:48:07 GMT

Crystal Mountain closed their winter operations last Sunday, April 13. We will be driving to the resort Friday evening and climbing to Hen Skin lake at an elevation of 5500 feet. This will be a 1000 vertical foot climb from the parking lot and we should be able to accomplish this in an hour. The lake sits on the edge of an area known as Silver Basin.

Early in the morning (early as in 3:00 AM) we will get up and climb to the top of Silver King, elevation 7012 feet. The goal will be to be on the summit in time to watch the sun come up over the horizon. I suggest that everyone bring their cameras, there is nothing quite like being up high and watching the sun rise. As an added bonus we will have an excellent view of Mount Rainier and the route we will be climbing in July, from the top of Silver King. We can leave most of our gear at camp, but I want to rope up for the climb for additional roped travel practice. We should be back at camp by 8:00 AM.

Because we won't be spending lots of time walking to find snow fields, we will be able to spend more time on the training we need to do. We will do additional practice on self arrest. Everyone will have a chance to set up a "Z" pulley cravasse rescue system. I will bring some avalanche beacons so everyone can practice using them. By 2:00 we should be headed back to the cars and we will be back in Port Orchard by 4:30. (This time for sure. There is no long approach hike for the climb and we will summit the peak early in the morning)

If any of the boys are feeling adventurous when they arrive at camp, there may be enough daylight to climb to the summit of the peak overlooking the lake before it gets too dark.

About Sunscreen

olallaskibum — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:22:26 GMT

Saturday's climb under warm and sunny conditions caused many to burn. My normal routine for protection from the sun is to do the following:

Wear a hat.
With my bald head this is a key element to keep my head from burning. It might be a little hot at times during the day, but it pays for itself many times over when I get home and don't have a burned head.
Wear long sleeves.
As a base layer I wear a long sleeve synthetic hiking/climbing shirt. The weave of the fabric allows for the passage of air which help to keep me cool. It works well under a top layer to keep me comfortable as the temperature goes down. It also prevents my arms from burning.
Light weight gloves.
Saturday I carried two pair of lightweight gloves. You will almost always have an ice axe in your hand the gloves help to prevent blisters from the axe and scrapes on icy snow. They also are very effective in keeping your hands from getting burned.
Sunscreen.
I carry and SPF 50 "stick". It goes on pretty waxey, but the protection lasts and keeps me from getting burned. The stick is easy to put into a pocket where it can be easily re-applied. The stick only weighs a couple of ounces. I last purchased this at Safeway but I have also purchased it at Albertsons. It is important to re-apply this as the day progresses.
Lip Balm.
Your lips can get burned too. this is the final piece to be comfotable on the day after the climb.

I hope that this is helpful for everyone