Pete04

Interesting.. thanks

Ice worms, huh? A few weeks ago on my way up Mt St Helens, I noticed a solo spider crawling around on the snow on at least two of my h2o breaks. Does anyone know if they live up there or did they just catch a ride up on a climber?

I'd recommend getting up to the Ingraham Flats camping area on Rainier. It will get you some glacier experience - crossing the Cowlitz - get you some exp dealing with scree - Cathedral Gap - and will give you a good descent - Muir to Paradise. I recommend this b/c there will prob be a pretty established route and many other ppl. This may make you feel safer, but I wouldn't head onto any glacier without being able to execute a rescue unassisted, though. Any snowfield will be just fine for practicing.

There's a great trip report on Turn's All Year regarding a recent Ingraham Direct ascent (Gib Chute descent). Ck that out for a route update.

I got mid-wk off next week and the forecast looks good (I'm sure I'm jinxing it right now). I'd like to do a multi-day ski trip or a ski descent of one of the volcanoes. I'm particular to Rainier because I've summited (no ski descent though), but I'm down for other suggestions. I had partners for a Rainier summit, but plans changed due to work, responsibilities, yada yada... Any interest?

Hopefully someone with more avalanche experience can explain a few things to me. So - these guys could "communicate through the snow" and it was their straps that kept them "handcuffed." The admittedly little I know about avalanches I've gotten from books and second-hand stories; but, my understanding is that if you're buried you are essentially entombed in ice - due to the burial and the warming (from friction) and subsequent immediate icing of the snow. How can you communicate through snow? Is there such thing as a gentle burial? It was a 7 foot burial but they only traveled 20 feet? It was always explained to me that it's foolish and ignorant to think you can dig yourself out. I hope this article does not perpetuate myths. Anyway, glad they're OK!

Second that re: Going Square.

ha - yea it does NOT sound fun, but for some reason we really want to do it. Who knows why?! What kept you from the top in previous attempts? Between these posts and some PMs looks like a group may be materializing...

Yea - we're expecting a very different mountain this winter than we experienced this summer. It seems like if you plugged in a ton of waypoints (like one every few hundred yards) into your GPS, wanded your route, and had a map with bearings pre-calculated for compass-only navigation you could be OK in low vis situations. No? Any other considerations for white-outs? It seems that whiteouts around Muir (or anywhere) cause many of the tragedies on the mtn. Is travel in a white-out situation possible (with above - or other - techniques)?

My buddy and I climbed Rainier this summer as a two person team. To up the ante, we were looking at giving it another shot this winter. Both of us are not wicked experienced (a couple summits between the two of us) but definitely aren't 100% newbies either i.e, we'd be looking for ppl of similar or higher experience than us (basically, we definitely can't be "guiding" anyone). Both of us are familiar with crevasse rescue and basic glacier travel and I have rudimentary avalanche knowledge (looking to greatly increase it this fall and early winter). Both of us are in solid physical shape. Does climbing a mountain in the middle of winter sound like fun to anyone else? Advice from others who may have climbed it in the winter would also be welcome (Rainier TRs from the winter months seem to be lacking on cc.com) - Pete

... speaking of the pickets on the DC around the Clever. Why is that the route? My buddy and I climbed the DC (no summit, though) a few weeks ago and I couldn't figure out why the route went around the clever instead of taking the steeper snow field that went up and over. Being that we were both pretty inexperienced, we just followed the bootpack like lemmings. It seemed like the steeper snowfield would've been safer (although prob physically harder) than the route around the cleaver above steep slopes and cliffs. Any thoughts?

Congrats on the engagement. Wedding on top of Denali?! What did Cadaver Gap and/or Ingraham Direct look like? I'm planning on trying that route June 10th-ish.