Marmot Prince

It seems like most people posting here have never used both of the tools. I've used real shovels, and never used a snowclaw. I've read posts of people who used the snowclaws and responded favorably it. I can see how not having to leverage a huge scoop of snow is alot easier and by having two hands holding the snow closer to your centre of gravity, you can move more snow easier. I would be great to hear from people have used both.

I've done 6000 feet in a day to summit the 14ers in the sierras, and that's coming from sea level the previous day. It hurts but alot of things hurt when you go climbing mountains.

The idea is, I can probably make the 9000 foot climb in a day and camp at the summit. The problem with this plan is that I'll probably get to the top in the evening, and crossing glaciers later in the day. This doesn't seem to be normal if people are making 2 am starts, so I'm wondering if there is a serious flaw in a one day ascent that has me the glaciers past 5pm.

Useful thread, but I'm not as stupid as some other posters seem to assume, and advice like "Do not climb up into a storm." is not new news. On the other hand, again, why do you need to get up a 3am when a reasonably strong party can get to the summit and back to Muir in 6 hours?

Maybe if you knew there is literally an "application" to get a solo permit, you would have some business posting in this thread. Otherwise stop spraying my tread. I appreciate you reading my posts, but quite frankly your analysis sucks. 1. "Batura" ice climbing boots are not necessary to climb Rainier in summer conditions. Lighter mountaineering boots with a 3/4 shank are preferable. 2. I'm ice climbing and working on other technical skills, which HAVE NOTHING TO DO with the standard DC route on Rainer. 3. I never said I wanted to get by with "shit gear" and most soloists probably don't even bring a shovel. If started a thread on unicycles would you assume I would be planning ride one up there? 4. A 10pm to 2 am alpine start just doesn't make sense if you're climbing in good conditions. Maybe there is some freakish wind or some other weird glacier condition changing that isn't obvious. This whole paragraph makes me think either/both your knowledge of gear or analysis of people's motives is pretty bad. By the way, what business it is of yours if I'm buying ice screws? Fuck off. Lol. Anyone who can use google can answer basic questions about glacier travel and crevasse rescue. On the other hand, who can answer a question about the same topics solo. It's like being asked how you would belay safely while doing a multi pitch route solo. The question doesn't make sense. First you criticize me for throwing away Batura's, and don't have enough ice climbing experience. Do you even know what the DC route is? Based on your post, you're the one playing mountaineer without a clue. And now it looks like you're a shrink too. So where do you get your safety tips? Page 303 of Freedom of the Hills? Guess what, I've read that too. The bottom line is that I'm doing research months in advance for a possible solo attempt on Rainier. I've climbed higher peaks than Rainier solo, and traveled on alot of glaciers. By making this trip, I'm doing the same thing I've been doing for years. I have nothing to prove to you or need to prove to you. If you don't want to answer someone's questions that's fine, but you shouldn't shit on other people's threads.

Thanks for the tips.

It sounds like alot of parties start at 2 am or even 10 pm from Muir camp. This sounds pretty extreme considering they summit and get down before noon. In the Rockies you have to do this to dodge thunderstorms, but why do you have to do this on Rainier? Do the glaciers get out of condition so severely that even roped and guided travel is dangerous? Or do the guides just do this so that their herds had a good chance of summitting? EDIT: I have done this on some Sierra 14ers but I am not considering doing the whole route in one day and camping on the summit. I have altitude experience from the Sierras and some glacier experience in Canada, ie probably 40 hours on glaciers roped over the last 3 years. I would never consider a solo trip if it was not for the groomed, well travelled DC route. I would strongly avoid soloing glaciers but do solo some mellow glaciers, ie those that form at 3000' and are only a few km big. I've done alpine starts before, ie, 3 am. There are obvious reasons, depending on mountain and route, for doing these but are also often these are personal choice and part of an overall strategy of climbing so I'm looking for specific details on their appropriateness for Rainier.

Thanks, I must have slept in during the standard course to safely travel glaciers solo. Also I didn't bother to read the beginner's guide on solo crevasse extraction. Before I cancel my Rainier trip, I'm dying to know what you think the answer to these straight forward questions are for a solo mountaineer.

Can I use a no handle, two grip style plastic board to dig a snow cave or do you require a shovel? The product I'm referring to is this: http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/camp_xls_snow_shovel.html

How hard is it to get approved for soloing Rainer? I'm filling out the solo applications for Rainer...and I get these questions: Describe your technical method of crossing crevasses safely: Describe your method of self-rescue from a crevasse: Huh? Well there are conceivable ways to solo protect yourself, but involve travelling 3 times across the same area. Am I really expected to say this, what do the Rangers want to hear?

No climbing experience here, but I have $$$$ tools!: I got my cobras in from the factory, and the screws were pretty much impossible to turn with the included wrench. After stripping them a bit, I put the cobras in a vice and got a real wrench out and took out the screws. I then greased the threads and reinserted to a high tightness but still looser. Anyone can comment on the factory tightness and if I did anything wrong?

oops, found it in preferences, thanks

Any way I can view a longer list of threads? I'm finding myself scrolling alot.