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Date |
Ascent Time |
Descent Time |
| 1st Time |
31 May 00 |
4.5 days |
1.5 days |
You can see all 130 pictures from my trip in my photo slide show
I also have four maps that you can view:
- Map 1 - Landscape view of NE side of the mountain, showing Camp Schurman and Liberty Ridge. B/W 819 x 503 Photo - 124kb
- Map 2 - Landscape view of NW side of the mountain, Liberty Ridge and Liberty Wall. B/W 820 x 506 Photo - 150kb
- Map 3 - Landscape view of Liberty Ridge. B/W 513 x 783 Photo - 128kb
- Map 4 - Arial view of mountain. Red line shows our route and X's indicate campsites. Color 700 x 504 Photo - 127kb
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I had been climbing in the Canadian Rockies for the past three years, and I had finally decided to
climb a major peak in the US. When I set my goals for the year 2000, one of those goals was to climb
Mt. Rainier. At 14,411 feet, it's the third highest peak in the continental US (only 80 feet below
the highest peak). There are 39 "major" routes on Rainier, with Liberty Ridge being one of the more serious.
Our team formed completely over the Internet. I found an engineer from Detroit (Richard) who had posted
a notice on the Calgary Mountaineering Club's website, looking for a partner for Liberty Ridge. From
there, he looked up on Mt. Rainier's website and found another partner... a sculptor from Philadelphia (Stuart).
Evidently, he had several years of climbing experience in the Cascades, so we thought he could be a man
with local knowledge. The guy from Philadelphia found a Navy Seal from Washington DC (Jim) that wanted to
climb the route, so that was our fourth. We talked over email for 2-3 months, and then we finally
met for the first time in Enumclaw, WA the night before the climb.
The plan was to meet Friday night at the hotel, go for a big dinner and start early Saturday morning.
Saturday, we would hike around the mountain from White River Campground, through Glacier Basin, up
over St. Elmo's Pass, across the Winthrop Glacier, over Curtis Ridge, and onto the Carbon Glacier (8,400').
The next day, we would get up to Thumb Rock on Liberty ridge (10,700'). On monday, we would push over
Liberty Cap (14,110') and go over to the true summit (14,441), then descend the Emmons Glacier to
Camp Sherman (8,900'). Tuesday, we would come out to the campground at 4,000'. Everybody would bring
food for one extra day in case of whiteouts. Funny how things never work out as planned.
I was the first to arrive at the hotel, getting there around 1600. Around 2100 Friday night, Richard
calls to say that he is still in Detroit because his flight was cancelled. As it turned out, he
didn't get into Enumclaw until 0230. Needless to say, we didn't get our Alpine start. He got up
around 1000, and we sorted group gear, weighed packs, etc. Ate a big lunch and finally got to the Rangers
Station to check in. The news wasn't good. So far that year, every team trying Liberty Ridge had been
turned back. Nonetheless, we pressed on.
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Once at the campground, we put on our boots, gaitors, and finally our 60-65 lb packs. We left the White
River Campground at 1440. Here is our group shot showing us before the climb. As seen in the picture, from left to right, Stuart from Philadelphia,
Jim from Washington DC, Richard from Detroit, and yours truly from Calgary.
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We got to Glacier Basin about three hours later. We weren't exactly tired, but we didn't think we had enough
day light left to make it to the Carbon Glacier. We decided to set up camp, get a good sleep, and start fresh
the next day. Stuart and Richard shared a tent and Jim (by default) became my tent-mate for the trip. My
Bibler I-Tent is quite small and cozy. Due to the small size of the tent, Jim and I were quick to
established a no-spooning rule. We set up our tents, melted water, filled water bottles, etc.
When all was said and done, I took a rest in my snow-lined lounge chair. Life was good. Weather that night was
partly cloudy with lows around 5°C (41°F). In the distant left corner of this picture, you can see
another tent. They said they were attempting Liberty Ridge, but we never saw them again. Hmmmm.
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DAY 2:
On day two, we got up at 0530, made breakfast, coffee, broke camp, etc. We left camp at 0730 and started
the long slog up St. Elmo's Pass (7500 feet). Crossing St. Elmo's Pass wasn't technical, it was just a lot
longer than it looked.
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Once over the notch seen in the picture above, we dropped down about 300 feet onto the Winthrop Glacier. This was our first view
of the massive cravasses that Mt. Rainier has, but little did we know, the big ones were yet to come. Crossing the
Winthrop was rather easy. There wasn't much elevation gained, and most of the cravasses were just walked around.
In the picture, we see Jim leading and Stuart roped-in in second place.
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While crossing the Winthrop, we had encountered several groups heading the other way. They were all groups
who had been up to Thumb Rock but were turning back due to weather. Some of the teams had been up there for
quite some time, and were just out of food. Surprisingly, we even passed a soloist who had turned back. After
we crossed the Winthrop Glacier, we found ourselves at Curtis Ridge (7,000 feet). We thought it was a fine place to
take a rest. From left to right, we see Richard, myself, and Stuart.
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After our rest break, we dropped down onto the Carbon Glacier. I had read other accounts where teams
were too high on Curtis Ridge and couldn't get down the cliff onto the Carbon, but we didn't have a problem
at all. The cravasses on The Carbon Glacier were amazing. I've seen many cravasses in the Canadian Icefields, but
nothing would compare to these. Due to the number of people who had turned back that day, the
route through the cravasses was clear. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't. It was starting to snow and rain,
and visibility was starting to decrease significantly. In the picture, we see Jim leading with Stuart still
in second.
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After the first part of the Carbon Glacier, the cravasses started to settle down. We went up to around
7,600 feet on the Carbon and then came across some bomb-proof tent shelters built by previous teams. It was 1330,
and we didn't think we would make it to Thumb Rock (the next possible tent site), so we stopped for the day.
About an hour later, a two man team from Denver came up behind us and set up their camp right next to us. They had
started from the campground early that morning. As it would turn out, the Denver Team (Mike and Rob) would be
valuable friends to us on Day 5.
As with the first camp, I dug out a snow-lined lounge chair and relaxed with a mug of tea. Now this is how
to enjoy the mountain. That night, the weather continued to deteriorate. The rain/snow mix turned to
snow, and it really started coming down. Temperatures that night dropped to -10°C (14°F).
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CONTINUE TO DAY 3
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