Rainier: The climb, Part 1

“Patrick! You don’t want to tumble here”, says Jess, one of our guides, probably sensing that my footing was not great. It’s 3am on our summit day and we’ve already been climbing for 2 hours. The night is clear, thanks to a full moon, and windy but not overly cold. We are in the middle of the Ingraham glacier at about 12,000 feet in elevation, following a switchback pattern to ease the 45-degree slope of the headwall. I then looked down and realized that a misstep here could have very serious consequences, not only for me but for the 2 other members on my rope team. Welcome to Mount Rainier!
 
Two days earlier, we started the approach climb from Paradise (5,400 feet) to Camp Muir (10,080 feet), a 4,680 feet escalation that does not require any crampons or technical expertise. I was very excited to finally start my “climbing career”, but also anxious to see if I would like it and/or if I would be capable of getting to the summit. The first hour went by quickly but then we approached a somewhat steep slope on the Panorama face that leads to Panorama Point at 7,100 feet. I felt uneasy with the deep snow and the steepness of the face, in addition to a 40-pound backpack. Throughout this entire section, I was wondering if I was biting off more than I could chew. I breathed a sigh of relief when we arrived on top and took our first break. The view was absolutely incredible, which helped me relax a bit. After our 15-minute break, we started back up but this time on a gentler slope. I felt strong and confident as I could easily follow our guide Solveig’s pace and the other eight young clients in the group. Then, after a 6-hour approach and a final section up the Muir snowfield, we arrived at Camp Muir. There were several stone structures at either end of the saddle, one for the guides and clients and one for the public. These were very rustic accommodations, to say the least, but you can’t beat the view. From Camp Muir, you can see Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood and the Tatoosh Range. I almost had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. But soon after, reality set in as the guides told us to rehydrate and eat plenty in order to get ready for the summit day.
 
During our approach climb, Solveig asked us how we felt and if we wanted to go for the summit the next day. All nine of us replied, “Hell yeah!” Not only would the weather be perfect for a summit bid, but it would also decrease our total climb by two days, as we would go back and stay in Camp Muir directly after our summit attempt. We would then climb back down to Paradise on the last day. However, the other groups of nine clients were much more tired than us, and Brent, the leading guide, after checking the weather, decided to give them (and us) one rest day so that they have a better chance for the summit. Unfortunately, I don’t think there were enough guides to make two different summit attempts. If something went wrong, you would want to have a lot of manpower and dividing the guides into two groups would have been risky. I was a little disappointed but understood the reasoning. After the summit talk, we ate some more and prepared for the night. We were 18 people crammed in a bunkhouse, so you can imagine how interesting the night was.
 
The next morning, we went up to the first section of the upper climb, as a practice run. We put crampons on, roped up and traversed the Cowlitz Glacier, climbed the Cathedral Gap and stopped at the Flats on the Ingraham Glacier at 11,200 feet. It was a gorgeous morning, sunny with no wind. It took us only a little more than an hour, and I felt good physically. As we were eating snacks and hanging out before going back to Camp Muir, I kept finding myself feeling amazed by the expansive view we had on this glorious day and couldn’t quite believe where I was, especially being a complete novice just 4 days ago.  We were back at Camp Muir for lunch without any problems. In the afternoon, another client and I decided to move from the bunkhouse to a tent that was available to us. I wanted to have the full climbing experience, plus I probably wouldn’t sleep much anyway on the (short!) night before our summit attempt. Around 5pm, Brent and Solveig gave us the details of the summit climb and the route we would take. We were all listening carefully because, despite all of us being rookies, now we knew what was ahead of us and how serious of a mountain Mount Rainier really is. Several clients decided against doing the summit bid and others said they would try and see how they felt at the Ingraham Flats. Only nine or ten of us were fully committed to the climb. That evening, we went to bed around 5:30pm, anxiously awaiting the following day....