[Shadow]

Summit or plummet! That was our battle cry for the summit training class that took place last Saturday. We went through all the paces of learning how to walk, breath, roping up, ice axe arrest, etc. and got a good taste of the "freeze and fry". The day started out cool and cloudy, changed to rainy and windy, then the sun came out for the last couple hours of our training. Sunday morning the day started out missing one member of the team that had decided not to make the attempt for the summit. Apparently he had come down with a bad cold overnight so now we were down to 7 people. The trip up to Muir started out in the clouds and a little on the cool side which actually made for great conditions to carry a fully loaded pack up. The sun could have made for really hot trip that was going to take about 6 hours with all the breaks we would take. RMI is very regimented about the breaks; walk 1 hour, take a 15 min break. At our first break we ended up losing another member of the team. After an hour of walking on snow (and the first time he'd ever seen snow that deep) he decided this just wasn't what he'd expected and reluctantly turned back. We were now down to 6. Onward we pressed to Muir and somewhere around 8000' it started snowing lightly but the cloud layer was thin enough that we broke out of the clouds at about 9000' and walked into Muir about 3 pm. After having some dinner and a little relaxing it was time to hit the bunk and try to get some rest before our wake up call at midnight-thirtyish. I finally fell asleep sometime after it got dark and the wake up call came just a few minutes before 1:00. "Time to wake up guys. We've got clear skies outside and need to be moving in 1 hour". This was it. Four months of training had come down to this moment and it was starting out under clear and starry skies and in the darkness what looked like a thick layer of clouds a couple thousand feet below. At 2 am we were roped up, headlamps on, and on the move towards Cathedral Gap. Once up through the Gap the winds started to pick up little and after about another half hour of walking the first signs of light were starting to show in the east. After we crossed the Ingraham Glacier we had to attach to some fixed rope lines but by now it was getting light enough that it was easy to see why the fixed lines were there! A steep drop into some really deep crevasses below. The portion up the Disappointment Cleaver was probably the trickiest part of the climb. A combination of ice, rock, more fixed ropes, and some ever increasing winds and blowing ice. At this point the sun still was below the horizon, the temperature had dropped considerably, and the ice blasting into the face made for some less than pleasant conditions but we kept pushing on. We made it to the top of the DC and were taking our second break of the day as the sun was breaking over the horizon. Views like this was why I was here.

Sunrise on the Disappointment Cleaver (Shadow)

Unfortunately at this point 2 more members of the team decided to turn back so now we were down to 4 of the original 8. The sun was a welcome sight and even with 4 layers under my parka, it still was a bit on the chilly side. Another hour and a half of climbing and another break the guide announced "1 more hour to the summit."

1 hour left to the summit

For that last hour of climbing the rest step had become my best friend and just after 8 am we made it to the crater rim.

at the crater rim

standing in the crater

A couple of us started to make our way across the crater towards Columbia Crest but the 6 degree temperature, soft snow, and strong winds made for some tough walking and about half way across decided to turn back. We spent a few more chilly moments at the rim before starting our descent at about 8:45 enjoying the views and warming temperatures.

looking down to Little Tahoma

coming down to the DC

Ingraham Glacier

Little Tahoma/Emmons Glacier from the top of the DC

Emmons Glacier

Gibraltar Rock

Ingraham Glacier

Ingraham Glacier

Ingraham flats

Camp Muir/St Helens from Cathedral Gap

Camp Muir/Mt Adams

All in all an unforgettable experience and couldn't have asked for better weather. Even though only half our team made it to the summit, RMI did a great job getting us up and down the mountain.

[raising3hikers]

Wow! Really cool TR Glad you had a good time, I hope to make it up there this year.

[bobbi]

congratulations for standing on the summit of rainier and best of all, to return and write a terrific TR. great pictures! what a wonderful experience. your training and confidence paid off!

[LizzyBob]

On your summit bid! Summiting Rainier is one of the high points of my life. I did it in August, though, and it sounds like a cake walk compared to your trip. Way to go! Very nice pictures

[wamtngal]

Way to go Shadow!!! Big congrats to you! I'm glad you had decent weather too.

[wildernessed]

Congrats ! Nice to see so many TR's of late. Trying to slide a high mountain trip in so far this year has been a challenge.

[y2says]

Nice report. That's one thing that I want to do is summit Rainer. That's why I'm getting into this hiking/camping thing. I'm giving myself a year or two to condition myself so I don't end up turning back.

[Slide Alder Slayer]

Outstanding!

[Quark]

Some of the best pics I've seen of Rainier climbs.... M Gauthier once said that the best views from Mt Rainier are those of what's right in front of you. He's right. The far-off views don't do much, but the close in ones like you presented here...nice. Congrats!

[Magellan]

Congratulations on the Big Tahoma! I'm glad to hear RMI get such nice reviews.

[goinbigg17]

Great trip and awesome pictures! Glad you made it to the top. This gives me even more stoke for making an attempt next year around this time.

[Bryan K]

Very nice job on getting to the summit Certainly something to be proud of

[Mark Griffith]

Fantastic photos. Congrats on getting to the top. That rest step is the KEY to getting to top of big mountains! It made all the difference on our trip up Adams this past weekend.