The DC on Rainier was the first climb I ever did. I studied and practiced everything in Freedom of the Hills on glacier travel and crevasse rescue and trained like a mother. Then I found someone with more experience than I who was willing to lead me up the hill. It would of been nice if I would have tried my crampons out ahead of time, poking holes in your new gaiters sucks! Granted if my leader was the one who fell in a hole I wouldn't of had a clue how to help him out, so practice is a good.