Bug

Uhh. What's up Salty?

Black tower is at the top of the ridge where the red line veers descender's right at elevation 7500.

That's why I took my girlfriend down loose scree on slab a couple weeks ago. It's the "Scree Test". If she passes, you move on to the "Bushwhacking Test". And so forth. Very few old girlfriends return my calls. But great pics. Goats spend 90% of their life within a 1 mile square area. So they know every hold on every route they do. I once tried to follow a nanny and kid in the Sawtooths and ended up asking for a rope. 5.9 slab above a 600 foot drop. They scampered across it like it was a playground.

Looking at the left side that fell off reminds me of the guys who were on Triple Couloirs during the last earthquake. They had just clipped into rock anchors above the second gulley when it hit. The ice they had just stepped off of peeled and fell. Anyway,...... Nice post John.

Yes. I am always amazed when I stand on the mountain and look up. What a thing to have in our back yard! Imagine being 11 and looking up at that. Imagine all the doubts and fears and just finally realizing you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into. She will probably not even want to leave camp. But I will get her roped up and moving, conditions permitting, and take one step at a time. If she does not get more comfortable, we turn around. BUT IF WE MAKE IT, well just think about it. Olivia went to the IMAX two years ago and watched the Everest movie. Ever since then, she has been talking about WHEN she will climb it. I told her she will have to climb a few smaller mountains first. She looked up at me with those big brown eyes and replied "You mean, like Rainier?". And she has been asking to climb it ever since.

Robson looked massively intimidating. Nice slide show Colin.

Too much to read. But great pics. So you cornered a goat? I was on that route once and I swear the goat ahead of me was dropping rocks on purpose.

Or beer. I drink that too.

Why are those goats on the run?

Now we are looking at Baker too. Maybe just go up to Camp Schurman and play in a crevasse. At any rate, for those of you who are a bit more conservative, the safety factor is a day-to-day, moment-to-moment thing. Why you were on the steeps while the seracs were calving is beyond me. No insult intended. I ALWAYS get off the slopes by 1PM and that is in June. Right now, I probably wouldn't even get out of camp unless temps dropped to 35 or less at night. Check the statistics on Rainier accidents. Most of them happen after 2PM. Soft snow is a problem for a few reasons. I avoid it. Throw in a kid or two and I get even more conservative. But that conservativism is tempered with a few years of experience. I know how to squeeze in a climb and keep it within my safety standards. It doesn't do much good to talk about what I know because the only ones who really get it already know it. The rest have to get out and learn it by practice. So I can understand both sides of the opinion scale in this thread.

ReClimb.

Thanks alot. Now I'll never sell my #5. Good TR. Great pics! Thanks.

Yikes! That area above the cleaver does look like chop.

That knife edge ridge to the east has one route that I know of. It is out toward the south end of the ridge and goes up a crack system on the west side. It finishes through a 10A roof with a hand crack. "We hymned and hawed about hiking up there but decided to head back - shoulda continued on I guess." Up in the trees on the east side of Nez Pierce there was sometimes a little snow to melt. Otherwise you have to hump a couple gallons up there with you. I am digging for my old Torre guide. I'll post it when I find it.

It is getting pretty thin snow-wise up there - http://www.mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com/ I am changing my plans to the North ridge of Adams (probably). You are welcome to come along. The more the merrier. Especially when kids are involved. PM me for what few details I have. We are tentatively looking at Aug 30- Sept 1. Maybe through Sept 3.

Cheers! Don't worry. I don't need any encouragement. While I was surprised by the direction this thread took, I am used to the attitude that kids can't do difficult climbing and hate hard work no matter what. That would be my x. Kids are tougher and more inspired than our generation gives them credit for. They absorb our limiting attitude and assume its consequences. Tragic. My Grandmother was 12 when both of her parents were killed. She and her 5 siblings managed well enough. It was most likely hell compared to my life but our society would assume they would have died from neglect. I push my kids past their expressed limits often. More often than not, they later talk about those experiences as their biggest accomplishments. I'm not talking about hanging by their finger tips over an abyss or walking 27 miles in a day. But they can do a lot more if you present the problem as something they CAN do. And always have a treat at the other end.

Blackfoot Dome. The route runs from the right shoulder. There are some moderate to easy routes on the buttres top left in the pic.

Turn right at the black tower.

By the way, THANK YOU ALL for your concern for my daughter.

Thanks but you are crossing posts here. I only have two daughters and a step son. And for the record, Olivia has been relentless in her begging me to take her this summer. As for safety, I need another competent adult for sure, but I know my daughter and I am sure that when we are climbing Rainier, if anyone falls into a crevasse, she will be a strong contributer to the arresting of the fall and the extraction process. Kids range widely in their tolerrance for drudgery and its rewards. Olivia, Meredith and I went up Tinkham Pk last week via a bushwhack route. Olivia was like a puppy in a bark park. Meredith was just a little slower. When Drew was that age, I did not even consider taking him into the mountains. My only real concern is altitude sickness. Thus the 5 days. Because of the lateness of the season, a one day ascent from Muir is going to be a slush fest for anyone. The AM window for firm snow is narrow at best and so, I want to camp on the summit, weather permitting, and descend fresh and on firm snow. To wrap it up, I take adults up Rainier almost every year and back off whenever they want to. Sometimes we summit, sometimes we don't. I certainly will not push Olivia any harder. I want her to continue to beg me to take her climbing.

Its the new "Metro-sexual" climbing thing. You don't have to be macho to be cool.

I used to solo the R&D route every spring to get my zen jumpstarted. This year I lead it with gear and thought I was going to fall at one point. What can I say? My focus was on the girl in the team below us.

Your focus is weak grasshopper.

Why do you support bolting?

I wonder what they would think about a few bolts.