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Doug, The system I use on big alpine routes is this: I use Cobras with the lockdown leash. There is a tight sewn loop on the underside of these leashes- I tie a length of 3mm cord to each leash, and then use a utility carabiner to clip them to my backpack shoulder strap, up high. While climbing, the cords are pretty much out of the way, with the 3mm cord hanging from under your wrists- totally out of your way. The only thing that can be a pain is if you have a shoulder-gear sling for the rack (gets tangled, esp. with stoppers on the rack), hence I usually don't use a gear sling on alpine mixed climbs. When I reach the anchor, I immediately clip the biner into the anchor so the tools are secure but they are totally out of my system. The other nice thing is that by having the 3mm cord tied to my leashes instead of the bottom of the tools, when it gets to walking terrain, the cords don't have to be untied, and also, having them clipped up to your pack, the length is perfect so they don't trip you and/or get wound up in the climbing rope.

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However, the following scenario has been discussed: Suppose a party goes to attempt a remote route on Denali, such as the South Buttress, East Buttress, etc, and perhaps they have no plans to carry over, hence they would never set foot on the Kahiltna/West Buttress. On such routes, these parties likely won't see a single other party, climbing as they are in totally remote areas. Is it fair to tell them they can't climb because the other side of the mountain is crowded? I am fairly sure the NPS has at least considered this issue, but not sure if it plays in here...

I climbed Whitney in mid September one time, and slept on the summit- in the morning it was probably about 0 F. Colin and I climbed the Incredible Hulk in early September a few years ago; the base of the route is at about 9000 feet, I would guess it was about 15F when we started the route. Neither of us have ever been so cold while climbing. The party below us bailed because of it. The wind was the big problem. More or less, around 9000 feet in Sept. you should expect lows in the teens to 20's. High temps are usually comfortable enough once the sun gets up a little.

If the weather is good, your above plan would be excellent. Forbidden gets climbed into October some years- expect the glacier to be bare ice and the shrunds to be tricky. The High Sierra is often excellent in September and into early October- crowds are gone, t-storms are usually done for the season, weather is usually sunny. Just be prepared for brisk days and VERY cold nights above 8000 feet! Picking east and south facing routes will keep you happy.

On that note, Wind Rivers could also be good in early September. Early September might still be good for the Bugaboos, but any weather that does come in is likely to result in snow. If it's an Indian Summer, the Canadian Rockies can be good also- meaning dry and cold, resulting in less rockfall on the faces.

Clint, Get in touch with Paul at TAT, at he has flown in there a few times and knows a little about the area. Another person who might be able to help you out even more is Tony Martin, a pilot who flies for K2 in Talkeetna. I'm not sure if Tony is around at the moment, but call K2 and ask. (oops rereading your post, I bet the book you have is the one with Tony's name on it...) "The Otter" on AMF has also been in the Tordrillos also. Good luck!

What I find most interesting here is that the climber in question- Hannah- didn't even post a trip report about this and it's generating such a conflict. It's not like she went trolling for congratulations. The avalanche of compliments that have ensued, while well-intentioned, perhaps deserved, are also being made into space, so to speak. They were not solicited. While I understand these are people who know her and are just happy for her, I can also understand how some think this appears a bit sycophantic. The further questioning of her judgment and skills is even more off track. We've all soloed on glaciers at some point, nobody ever claimed it was safe. Having climbed both Nisqually Ice Cliff and Nisqually Cleaver, I can tell you the real danger of those routes is the icefall hazard in the cirque beneath them. I was much younger when I did those routes. I can say that today I tend to avoid routes like that, and Hannah probably will someday too. While I don't know this person, I'm not going to second guess her decisions and insights. Like the younger me, she must have had some instinct that told her the ice cliff wouldn't fire off that morning and the crevasse bridges were solid. Moreover, being up on Rainier alone, on any route, winter or summer, is a serious matter for serious people. Hannah seems to be the most serious person here. She's the one not talking. For that, she gets my congratulations.

Realize that statement is from a church that was responsible for the massacre of millions in the past 1000 years. All to protect the "sentiments" of believers. So it goes. The last thing believers of all faiths want is meddlers opining the possibility that the whole structure upon which they rest their lives might be based in fantasy.

What about the banana, and the...two cookies? Don't study too hard amigo.

One more thing: bring a good quiver of wands for this route. The last 5000 vertical feet of the ridge is featureless in a storm. Pax, very cool pictures.

VW, Jedi's right. Despite most people's aversion to cornices, I have to highly recommend the south ridge for a number of reasons. Aside from unstable cornices, the objective hazards are low and the technical climbing found lower on the route is of exceptional quality on solid red granite. Although the Happy Cowboys is mentally taxing and very insecure, the position on the ridge is absolutely breathtaking and unforgettable. While the technical difficulties are generally moderate by modern standards, the route requires a full Alaskan alpine skill set, and the high commitment level more or less requires descending by another route (reversing the Cowboys would be extremely difficult and undesirable). I'm not saying I necessarily recommend it for one's first route in Alaska, but if it is inspiring to you, then Carpe Diem. It´s a good one. And I certainly echo Joe's sentiments about Mystic Jewel and Rattle and Hum. Not safe, and probably getting even moreso with these warming times of ours. The Corliss/Taylor has some objective hazards at the start from a hanging ice cliff but it is only for a short time. This route looks like a more sustained version of the south ridge, with double the amount of mixed climbing to reach the Happy Cowboys area. The south east spur is much harder due to overhanging rock followed by what is according to Benowitz a lot of cornices that are worse than the Cowboys, and on an inclined arete. VW I would also urge you to check out the southeast RIDGE (note the nomenclature). It's unrepeated (although a team came very close) last I checked, and the difficulties appear to be similar to the west or southwest ridges but the route is more remote. Joe and I attempted this years ago, although we retreated once on the ridge due to bottomless snow, we were able to find a much safer way onto the ridge than the FA party, accessing it lower down below a major summit in the ridge, via an 1800 foot snow/ice face and couloir system. Once on the ridge the difficulties are strictly snow climbing and some corniced sections- the difficulty of the latter probably varying from year to year but certainly not as bad as the south ridge. Good luck and happy hunting! Mark

Johnny Waterman climbed the south ridge in 1973 with three partners- Carman, Black and Rau (Rau did not summit). After the climb they determined that they actually did not reach the south summit but reached a small spire near it while in a whiteout. Waterman later made the first ascent, solo, of the southeast spur. Both of these routes, after considerable stretches of difficult climbing, join on the ridge crest and then share the "Happy Cowboy Pinnacles", a horror show of double corniced knife edged terrain. The south ridge was repeated in 1986 alpine style by two British climbers, then Forrest Murphy and I made the third ascent of this route in 2003. The southeast spur was repeated alpine style by Athens, Randall and Metcalf, and received its third and only other ascent in 1997 by Jeff Benowitz and Rick Studley. In 2001 a California team climbed a large, 4500 foot buttress in between the two routes and continued along the Happy Cowboys to reach the summit after 10 days. The southwest ridge mentioned above is often confused with the south ridge and southeast spur and is considerably easier than either. The southwest ridge begins from the Kahiltna whereas the latter two routes start on an arm of the Tokositna Glacier.

His partner sees it differently-

Late June. It was good then (2000), but take note that in the past several seasons it has been abnormally warm and many faces and gullies below 14,000 feet in the Alaska Range have started to show the results- lots of melt out, running water, and increased rockfall. This year the route saw many ascents from late May to mid June.

3 days from the bergschrund to the summit, approximately half of which was spent in bivouacs sleeping and eating. The weather was so good it made for a very chill, very enjoyable experience, with no sleep deprivation required. We actually started out for the route from Kahiltna basecamp, to which we had returned after acclimatizing on the w. buttress, and we left there with 3 1/2 days food and 5 fuel, and most importantly- under clear skies and a very good forecast. The 25 pounds did not include rope and rack, it was the dead weight on our backs as we began climbing the Japanese couloir. The packs felt very friendly, and also this weight did include the lightweight MSR snowshoes which we used (and appreciated having) up the NE fork the previous night. The crux as noted above was the second pitch above Cassin Ledge, in my opinion. Each of the two rock bands had a fairly definitive crux pitch but again, nothing on the route extended beyond 5.fun.

We never hauled on the route. Packs weighed about 25#/each at the start. Every pitch led easily with the packs, except maybe the one pictured in photo number 1 above- I considered leaving my pack before leading it but the terrain, as you can see, is blocky and would've been very catchy on the pack- as well, there was some loose rock here. Not much rock gear is needed- half set of stoppers and maybe 3-4 cams up to 2". No pitons. Most tech climbing takes screws, although both pitches pictured above were entirely rock pro only. again Sobo for the help

Sobo- Thanks, I am not very savvy with the photo posting codes. If I wanted the images to appear in the post, would I just re- edit my post and reference the URL of the attachment then, correct? Re: bivis...while there are some stretches absent of good bivi sites, when the sites appear they are plenty comfortable and require very little chopping or digging. Cassin Ledge is tight but flat and has a good anchor. At the top of the knife edge ridge at the hanging glacier is the best bivi on the route, a huge, flat, protected area where it is safe to unrope; we didn't camp here as it was only a few hours out of from Cassin Ledge. Between the first and second rock band are chopped bivi possibilities, but not very much work required.Some decent boulders and cliff features exist in the 2nd rock band that would offer some protection. Upon reaching the end of the technical difficulties at 16,700, there are infinite places to find a level site from here to the top, but indeed, nothing offering any decent protection from storms.

Attached is another photo, this one looking down the crux rock pitch in the second rock band at 16,000'. Looks a little intimidating as you approach from below but is actually very straightforward with good protection. There is nothing truly difficult on the Cassin, there is just a lot of technical climbing stretched over a huge amount of terrain with all the attendant issues of Alaska climbing--- most of all, luck with the weather. Good luck!

Attached is a photo of the first rock crux- steep, and somewhat friable, but good protection. Felt like 5.8 with a pack, but probably more like 5.4

Jesse, The A Strain is a fine outing. While there is some heady climbing in places, the majority of it was surprisingly well protected and/or straightforward with good rock. A notable exception was the "Direct" chimney variation (Golovach Gash) we took instead of doing the traverses. This pitch was difficult and dangerously runout. Forrest led this and made a remarkable lead of it. The exit traverse pictured on the guidebook cover is also spicy but not nearly so much as the chimney. In between is a lot of climbing that is just plain fun. Go do it. Attached is a photo of Alberta nf in August, 2000.

The north face of Alberta has apparently not been climbed since 1993; the word is that the ice has drastically receded from the foot of the upper headwall making things much harder. A number of people have speculated this route may now be more feasible as a winter or spring outing instead. September might be good if it is cold and the faces are showing a lot of ice, but be sure of it because the trek in there is quite a hump. I climbed the A-Strain in mid September a few years ago. This was a good time to do it (that year, anyway) as nightime temperatures were well below freezing and during the day not much above. The risk you run is that snowfall is also possible which would make things much harder. An advantage of being there that late was that the summit cornice was much smaller than it is earlier in the summer. There is a good topo of the route in the Icefields visitor center.

Crampon: The entry level grade for "Park Ranger" as a climbing ranger is usually GS-05, which requires a 4 year college degree. At the time I worked there, there was no official medical training requirement, but this may have changed, and in any case it is strongly recommended (both by the park, and by me...) that you go for a WFR at minimum. Climbing rangers deal with some very advanced trauma incidents along with occasional altitude problems. Not only that, it's not uncommon to get involved in lower mountain incidents such as vehicle wrecks, visitors having heart/asthma issues, on and on. If you are really interested in emergency medicine, then go for the WEMT, and you will almost certainly get to use it. As for climbing qualifications, I think this is a gray area, but certainly prior Rainier experience and/or a demonstrated experience at altitude on other peaks should be considered a minimum. You'll need to have a climbing resume in order. Obviously, the ability to demonstrate proficient use with ice axe, crampons, and technical glacier travel skills including crevasse rescue is also expected, as is a high level of physical fitness. The park does provide high angle SAR training each year, so prior proficiency with complicated, technical roped rescue techniques is helpful but not expected. My experience is that there are rescuers who are short on climbing skills, and then there are climbers short on rescue skills. Generally, I would expect the latter will be favored in the hiring process.\ The rangers are issued all technical climbing gear: axes, crampons, boots, harnesses, helmets, hardware, screws, pickets, etc. Clothing issued also includes jackets, pants, capilene and gaitors. Also issued are backpacks, first aid kits, headlamps, shovels, beacons, you name it. It wasn't always like this! The rangers, but more importantly the public, have Mike Gauthier most of all to thank for getting the park to budget for these items a number of years back. When I started work at Rainier, the SAR cache was an abomination. The gear which was not already broken was at least 15 years old or more and long past its usefulness. Climbing rangers generally used (and abused) their own gear while on duty and while earning low wages. This has all changed. Typical summit climb packs for the rangers would be a basic 1st aid kit, all personal clothing plus extra warm layers (for victims), pickets, extra water, extra food and lots of webbing for rigging. Light enough to climb fast, but enough gear to initiate a rudimentary rescue and treat moderate injuries on the spot. Obviously it's not practical to be climbing around kitted out for a full trauma incident, that's when helicopters and extra ground support get involved. Hope this helps.

Don't forget, Joe, at 25 hours round trip you could also theoretically claim a "one day ascent". You know how long those Alaskan summer days can be. Otherwise, to quote Benny: "hmmm...25 hours. Sounds kinda like...2 days..." WORD my man.

At Rainier: Housing is not free. Seasonal quarters at Longmire run over $200/mo for a shared room. Also, as of a few years back there was no per diem stipend. You might want to recheck your references. While you are working (the 8 days that you are on, you can get housing there. I know one guy who is staying at the old visiter center in Paradise in a dorm room. As for the stipend, they do get it. Whatever though, not a big deal either way. Perhaps you are talking about volunteers, of which I don't know anything. I was a climbing ranger from 1995-1999, and have worked intermittently for Mike G. w/the climbing program during the winter on a few occasions since then. We always paid, and paid well, for our housing. In fact Chad Kellogg and I paid over $200/month to room together in a rodent-infested closet in the basement of the Jackson Visitor center one summer.And we never received any sort of stipend. Perhaps that has changed, but I'm in frequent contact with Mike and am friends with several of the current staff and haven't heard anything of it. VIP's may have a different situation though.