On June 15th, ten days after a significant avalanche occurred on the Ingraham Glacier, we began our climb from Paradise Ranger Station to Camp Muir on Mount Rainier.
Everyday following the avalanche that involved eleven climbers (one is still missing) we closely monitored the weather and avalanche conditions. We called the Paradise Park Rangers and continuously discussed our options prior to our departure. During those discussions, we learned the ID (Ingraham Direct) route continued to be wind loaded and the avalanche danger was still considerably high. According to http://mountrainierconditions.blogspot.com, “If you take a look at the historical data and compare it to the current snowpack at Paradise, you'll quickly see that we're almost 140% of normal. We've observed that there is at lease a meter more snow than usual for this time of year (7.5 meters compared to 6.0 meters in the standard places). In all my time at Mt. Rainier, I can't think of when I've known of so many people really worried about the avalanche conditions in June to this extent.” However, the Paradise Park Rangers felt that when the weather/conditions stabilized the climbing would be fantastic. The only question was when this might happen and for how long. The day before our flight was scheduled to depart, a small climbing party made the summit. These were the first individuals to reach the top since the avalanche occurred. In the end, RT, Houck, and I all agreed that it was our time to go.
On Monday June 14th, Ryan, Jim, and I were catching a Southwest flight from Denver to Seattle in hopes of changing the image of my computer screen saver (I have had one picture or another of Mt Rainier for over a year. A motivational tactic that I stole from Ryan a few years back). Besides our flight being delayed and then sitting on the wrong side of the plane, the trip to Seattle was uneventful. You will understand the importance of side choice on a flight to Seattle a little later.
After picking up our rental, making a stop for white gas, and fueling ourselves, we were off to Cougar Rock Campground. This being my first time in Washington, I found the region to be a very green and beautiful place.....ahh crap, look, not much blue sky though! Once at Cougar Rock, we pitched a tent and headed up to Paradise Ranger Station. Although we were not able to get our climbing permit due to our delayed flight, we still wanted to check out Paradise. I was immediately aware that this mountain would be very different than climbing in the Colorado Rockies. For starters, the Mount Rainier's trailhead at Paradise began at an elevation of 5,400 ft. whereas Mount Elbert's (highest peak in Colorado Sawatch Range near Leadville) trailhead starts at 10,040 ft. Additionally, we noticed how big the snow drifts were in mid-June. After grabbing a bite to eat and a beer at the bar and grill behind RMI (Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.) Guide Service building, we headed back to camp to hit the sack.
One by one we began to creep out of the tent to go over last minute packing before heading to Paradise. We arrived to the Paradise Ranger Station to find a note indicating that they were out at one of the nearby weather stations until 7:45am. We killed some time by having a little breakfast, coffee, and tea at the Paradise Inn. With a quick sign in and fees paid at the Ranger Station, we were off. After a small detour right off the bat, the boot-packed trail was found and the three of us were heading up.
Having climbed on Rainier twice with one summit, Houck took the lead. Setting a good pace is important for the entire party. Houck did a fine job in carrying out this role. At times, Jim expressed concern that the pace might be too slow. He had sprained his ankle while training for the climb one week prior. RT and I found the pace to be.....well, nice. It seems like every time we hike in Colorado we end up trying to crush the mountain and speeding up the thing. We flew out here to enjoy the sights of this spectacular destination mountain. But, you guessed it. What sights? You know how I talked about picking the best side of the plane to sit on en route to Seattle. Well, this would have been the best time for us to actually see the mountain that we were climbing. Yep, except for a brief period (I'm talking a minute or two) on the way up and on the decent, we could never really see the mountain we were climbing. There was cloud cover and very little visibility all the way to Camp Muir (10,188ft).
At Camp Muir, we found two other independent climbing parties (parties climbing the mountain without a paid guide service) already in the Muir shelter. One party, a group of three, had made the summit early in the morning and were using the shelter to catch up on some sleep before heading down to Paradise. It was a great feeling when we heard that they had made the summit on a fairly clear morning with cool temperatures, but the wind reasonably at bay. The other party was made up of two friends from Minneapolis and they were going to go for a summit push at 2 am. It was around 5 pm when we spread out our sleeping bags and began melting snow to replenish our fluids for the evening. During our seemingly endless snow melting period, the snow fall intensified and the winds began to pick up. Shortly before hitting the sac, two guides from Exum Mountain Guides emerged from their tents and entered the shelter to begin making dinner for their two high paying clients from Texas. While making dinner, there was talk of the current conditions on the Ingraham Direct. They expressed concern about the weather to come and stated that the route was showing similar conditions to when the slab broke loose taking those eleven climbers down. Slowly, the hum of the stoves died out and all was quiet, except for one of the climbers that had already made the summit. He was asleep and snoring like a freight train from the time we got to Muir until he woke for their decent (over 16 hours in all). Oh, well he did wakeup one time when an IMG guide brought in some leftover hot food.
Around 4:30am I walked out of the shelter to go wiz and was surprised by the sight of two headlamps heading towards me through the heavy snow fall and blowing winds. After finishing my business, I noticed that the two lights were of our fellow bunk mates. They walked in still roped to each other with their crampons on and they looked like they had their asses handed to them. A few hours passed before the shelter began to stir again. This time, the stirring came from the three climbers that had already been to the summit preparing to head down to Paradise. I heard RT talking with the Minneapolis fellas and got the story of their early morning. They had roped up for glacier travel and began their climb across Cowlitz Glacier to Cathedral Rock. Once they were on the other side of the ridge line, towards Ingraham Flats, they were met by 70+ mph winds and whiteout conditions. It was at this time that they were met by a group from RMI that had also decided to abandon their push for the summit. All the parties involved had expressed that the risks were just too steep.
That morning, June 16th, a weather report was released that Mount Rainier was expected to see more of the same conditions. During our short time in the shelter, 8 -10 inches of fresh snow had fallen and the conditions were not looking in our favor. With the new weather report and the discussion amongst the other climbers, we decided that our best option was to head back with our tails between our legs. After a quick pull from Ryan’s flask, we were on our way down the mountain. The decent into Paradise was uneventful other than having one short glimpse of Mount Rainier at ~7,500 feet.
Mount Rainier 1 – Thomas, Houck, and Hampton 0…….we will be back!!
