TR - Mt. Rainier - August 16-18

[Solesides]

It's been an awesome few months climbing and making turns up and down the Cascade Volcanic Arc. Shasta in June, Baker in July...Rainier in August - trying, maybe desperately, to keep summer snow dreams alive.

Spent a night at the Glacier Basin trailhead and started in on the approach to the Schurman high camp below the Emmons Glacier.









Towards Mt. Baker



Next day, sans skis, two rope teams started in about an hour and a half before we did.



At this point, early in the climb, surrounded by massive penitentes, we began questioning the logic and wisdom of making turns above 11,000'.



When in doubt, go higher..a bit of warming ought to help smooth things out.



Though littered with sizable openings and puckering snow bridge crossings, the route was in great shape.



When we returned from this trip, I noticed a pretty stark gap in my photos from the day. From the above photo until the summit push, I didn't take a single shot. 3,000' of high crevasse danger and steep cramponing will do that. Definitely some tense moments in the middle section of this route, again, questioning whether skis in such snow conditions were really a good idea.

Around 2pm, topping out above the crater rim.



Short down climb to 14,200' before stepping into skis..



Although temps stayed cool and a steady breeze meant the snow never really did warm, we found some chalky styrofoam for the first 2,000' feet.



Then back to the land of penitentes.





After this roll, skiing unroped was really not an option.



Back to crampons and a down-carry to about 11,500' before skiing the remaining 1,800' back to camp.





Originally we had intended to descend the entire 10,000' back to the trailhead, though reconsidered when we arrived at Schurman Camp around 6 pm. Attempting an exit that night would have been a slog; instead we stayed put, inhaling food and water before a bivy under the stars.



Next day, a few softish turns before cresting over into the inter-glacier.



Nice corn out..











Thanks for looking!

[PNWbrit]

Two thumbs up.

Well done.

(It's Camp Schurman and Emmons G.)

[smuggs]

deffenately looked gnarly. strong summer effort!

[Imz]

Nice work! Wish you'd had a chance to make more turns...

[Solesides]

Two thumbs up.

Well done.

(It's Camp Schurman and Emmons G.)

Ay, thanks for that!

[jbski]

Good stuff! Love that mountain.

[chaka]

awesome work! fond memories of that route, exactly the same timframe as your group except 6 years ago. you had the better weather draw though, we arrived at Schurman with 50+mph winds, and left two days later in a blizzard. Glad we had clear summit weather tho, would not want to navigate those bridges, crevasses in crap visibility. thanks for sharing.

[theshredder]

That mountain and all those other sick volcanoes you guys have down there are freagin rad. Nice work. I gotta get down there and check that out one day. That one where someone's skiing along beside the crevasse gives me the willies.

[benk]

nice TR! I skied Adams and South Sister the past two weekends and will be heading up the Emmons Friday and Saturday (no skis). Good route info in here. Thanks!

[Meathelmet]

Oh goddammit. Summer turns at its finest! Nothing better than a wilderness,skis,buddy and a high alpine peak.

Thanks for taking the time to share the stoke.


Edit : And it always funneh to see the old Havocs... Used mine first as touring rig,then as a park ski,got demoted to rockskis and now they have their fourth life as my telemark skis...
They just wont break.

[wolfelot]

Two thumbs up!

[adimmen]

Very nice and it's interesting to see that mountain change with the seasons

[dceptikon]

Looked like a good time. Nice work!

[WK Monoskier]

I like the ski boots left in skis trick for quick packaging. Very cool photos indeed.

[skifishbum]

quality
bump
thanks

[melotime]

good times, well done!

[Solesides]

Appreciate the kind words, all!

Oh goddammit. Summer turns at its finest! Nothing better than a wilderness,skis,buddy and a high alpine peak.

Thanks for taking the time to share the stoke.


Edit : And it always funneh to see the old Havocs... Used mine first as touring rig,then as a park ski,got demoted to rockskis and now they have their fourth life as my telemark skis...
They just wont break.

Those Havocs are definitely classic workhorses! Though sounds like she's going to dump them at the end of the season..

[shafty85]

Great summer session. Looks like a blast.

[Gerome]

That's awesome. My buddy and I did the same trip the day before and had the same results, staying a second night after summiting. The ski tracks on looker's right are ours. It's a good reconnaissance mission. Now I want to go back in April or May when there's some great snow. The ranger there told us that the glacier gets an insane snow base and that you can ski the Emmons glacier for miles. He skinned to the summit, starting near the road closure near Alpental or Crystal, which would be an insane approach.

[Solesides]

That's awesome. My buddy and I did the same trip the day before and had the same results, staying a second night after summiting. The ski tracks on looker's right are ours. It's a good reconnaissance mission. Now I want to go back in April or May when there's some great snow. The ranger there told us that the glacier gets an insane snow base and that you can ski the Emmons glacier for miles. He skinned to the summit, starting near the road closure near Alpental or Crystal, which would be an insane approach.

Right on, was admiring those tracks on the way in and out! Likewise can't wait to go back in June. And David, the climbing ranger - total beast..the day we showed up, he came bouncing off the glacier with three park service friends having summited in three hours with a less than six hour return. No doubt he routinely does that approach on skis, even with the closure. All I can say is that I hope to be kicking like that when I'm in my mid 40s..

[winterwren]

Thanks for the TR!

[Vets]

Wow! What an amazing variety of snow conditions and awesome beauty.

[SchralphMacchio]

Strong work! Looks like you guys did a pretty good job managing safety and exposure on that route! Would you have considered whippet poles for the smooth low angle stuff above the penitentes & crevassed terrain or was it soft/grippy enough that you felt good about arresting a fall?

I like this photo - AWESOME sidelight enhancing the great texture of the terrain, really nice exposure, colors etc

[vivid2012]

wow, so gorgeous pics. Love them.

[Gerome]

Strong work! Looks like you guys did a pretty good job managing safety and exposure on that route! Would you have considered whippet poles for the smooth low angle stuff above the penitentes & crevassed terrain or was it soft/grippy enough that you felt good about arresting a fall?

Alex, I can't talk for Solesides since my buddy and I descended even later than their descent at about 5pm, but the upper section was about the most firm, highest consequence low angle skiing I've done. I had whippets and was pretty confident that anything more than a fall onto my butt would result in a 1000 foot slide to a crevasse. We skied as slowly as possible, even in the styrofoam off the summit, but at least that's still much faster than walking with crampons.

Solesides, an internet search for the climbing ranger David Gottlieb leads to some really amazing mountaineering stories.