Mount Rainier has been on my objective list for a long time. In 2009, I made an attempt at the Kautz Glacier route with Paul and Rob Cooney; it was an ill-fated expedition beset by bad weather, rainy glaciers, and flooding snow caves. That would be just one in a line of failed attempts by Paul and Rob, but after that first trip I had turned my sights elsewhere.
A few months ago, my friend and occasional climbing partner Derek messaged me saying he'd be done with his second year of med school and his Step 1 boards in the last week of June, and wanted to do something big. The Ptarmigan Ridge on Mt. Rainier sounded like the perfect objective for us. Soon, Paul caught wind of it and joined up, and then Dad's summer plans fell through and he asked to come along. Our plan had solidified: 2-3 days climbing the Emmons Glacier route to the summit of Mt. Rainier to acclimate and familiarize ourselves with the descent, then 1-2 days of resting back in Seattle, then another 2-3 days climbing the more technical Ptarmigan Ridge. We met in Colorado on July 4th weekend, and all jumped on the same plane to Seattle.
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Mt. Rainier from the plane into Seattle
photo: Derek Nye |
We originally planned to do the Emmons Glacier route as a way to acclimate and familiarize ourselves with the descent (an ascent of Ptarmigan ridge usually descends the Emmons Glacier). When we arrived, we found ourselves with an absolutely perfect weather forecast, but conditions that were likely too warm for an ascent of Ptarmigan Ridge. We spoke to the rangers at the White River Ranger Station, who told us that no party had been successful attempting Ptarmigan Ridge yet this season. We were not likely to be the first. Nevertheless, we were confident we'd at least be able to summit via the Emmons Glacier, and set off the next morning.
7/7/14
The Emmons Glacier route starts as a beautiful, well-maintained trail through magnificent old growth forest. It gradually climbs around 2000 vertical over three miles to Glacier Basin, a backcountry camp at treeline with spectacular views and wildflower meadows. From there, it climbs sharply up the small Interglacier to high camp at Camp Schurman (9500'). The entire upper mountain is visible from here.
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| White River Campground trailhead (4400') |
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| There are some huge trees in this forest |
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| Glacier Basin (6400') |
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| Starting up the Interglacier; the summit just peaking over the ridge 8000' above us (7000') |
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Roped up climbing on the Interglacier |
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| Dad at the top of the Interglacier, with the upper mountain looming beyond (9200') |
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| Camp Schurman (9500') |
We set up camp at the beautiful Camp Schurman, after having climbed just over 5000' up from the trailhead. We spent some time melting snow for water and cooking dinner, then got to bed as early as we could. Our plan was to wake up at midnight and be on the move by 1am the next morning. We wanted to be up and down to Camp Schurman before the sun had a chance to really soften up the snow and make moving on the glacier difficult.
7/8/14
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Sunrise on the upper Emmons Glacier (12,200') |
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| Interesting crevasse (12,800') |
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| Sucking air (13,400') |
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| Crossing the bergshrund (13,900') |
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| Summit cone (14,000') |
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| Summit Selfie! (14,411') |
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| Brewing water in the summit crater |
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Descending into the abyss |
We left Camp Schurman about 1:30am on July 8th and reached the summit around 9:45am. We moved quickly up the lower section of the glacier but slowed down once above 12,000 feet due to the altitude. The conditions on the summit were so nice that we spent a little over an hour resting and melting water before heading down. Unfortunately the descent took us a little longer than we had planned, and we reached the lower slopes of the Emmons Glacier later in the afternoon, after the sun had turned the surface snow into slop. We finally reached Camp Schurman again in the late afternoon, and decided to spend an additional night there rather than descend another 5000' back to the car.
7/9/14
After a bit of food and a long night of sleep at Camp Schurman, we got a leisurely start around 9 am after waiting for the Interglacier to soften up. We got a great glissade down the Interglacier and lost about 3400' in 45 minutes or so. After that, we had an easy hike back down the Glacier Basin trail to the car.
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| Camp Schurman the next morning. Those tiny black specks high on the glacier are other climbers |
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| Glissading down the Interglacier |
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| Victory! |
One of the notable things about this ascent was that everything went according to plan. We had no upsets, no gear malfunctions, no weather surprises, and no route changes. Its very rare when you can pull something off like that in the mountains, and it's a very satisfying feeling. I'm bummed about the condition of Ptarmigan Ridge, but as I type this we're planning to head north to Mount Baker for another technical ridge climb, the North Ridge.
