mr203

Thanks for all the advice! We are planning at least one day (possibly more) to acclimatize and will use that day to go over (again) 2 person crevasse rescue systems. I had considered the Emmons route as I would very much prefer a wilderness experience, but felt that a route with more people would be safer given this is our first time on a glacier. We do plan to be fully self sufficient and are training with that in mind, but it is nice to know others will be around if the shit really hits the fan. Is there much of a difference in the number of people on the DC vs. the Emmons? Will both routes have a well defined path? I believe reservations opened on 3/15. Anybody know how fast they fill up?

Hello All, I am planning to try the DC route on Rainier with my wife this summer. Late July or early August. We are from the east and are avid hikers/backpackers (winter and summer)/MTBers/rock climbers/ice climbers. We have also taken a glacier travel and crevasse rescue course. I feel confident regarding our abilities, but am curious if others feel the DC route is ok for our first glacier travel experience. The pros seem to be that the route is well traveled, potentially busy, (i.e. others around if we really need them though we have practiced 2-person rescue situations and plan to be self sufficient), and less technically demanding. The cons seem to be: unknown performance at altitude (although we have backpacked up to 11K and were fine) and inexperience. These seem manageable if we take a day to acclimatize and stick to an honest assessment of our abilities and turn around if we run into any trouble. Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations. Sorry if this duplicates other posts, I did try searching the forums, but didn't find what I was looking for.