Mt Rainier 2026 Early Planning

[Amoon]

I’m doing some early planning.

 

I want to summit Mt Rainier.   I’ve climbed a lot and summited Grand Teton and Granite Peak.  Mt Rainier introduces glacier travel, and I have no experience with that.  I’m hoping to find a climbing partner this year and summit it n 2026.

 

a bit about me:

- I’ll turn 45 years old this year.

- avid climber.   I plan on climbing Mt Whitney East Face route this summer.

- Avid whitewater rafter.

- I live in Utah (Glaciers are hard to find here).

- Current Wilderness First Responder.

I’ve considered taking a glacier travel course.   But it seems inadequate to simply take a course in Utah and then immediately fly to Seattle and go up the DC route.

 That leaves me hiring a guide (RMI?) which is expensive and time consuming because they will review a lot of things I already know well and I’ll be grouped with complete novices.  OR. Finding an experienced partner or group to join who can show me the ropes of glacier travel and I can rely on their judgement and teaching.

I don’t care which route we climb.  I’ll be relying on your judgement.

Thoughts?  Hopefully a person or group here would be willing to add me in.  Maybe we climb something together this year to get acquainted?  I already know all the rock climbing skills including building equalized anchors, proper belay with devices and munter, hauling systems (3:1, 5:1, etc).  I think the glacier travel aspects and judgement is where I lack.

Thanks,

Adam 

[DoStuff]

Rock climbing and whitewater rafting seem pretty irrelevant for Mt Rainier.  I assume you will be doing DC or Emmons route? 

What about your steep snow experience or ice experience?  Do you understand use of snow pickets and deadman anchors?  Understand managing the rope while on a rope team? Self arrest? Fortunately, the DC route generally doesn't require much judgement in travel, unless the route falls apart while you are on it.  With RMI, you MAY be roped together with novices, but you possibly will be roped together with similar people like yourself and you will be roped with GUIDES that handle things when they go wrong. 

If you can get out here and climb Mt Baker, that would help you a lot, IMO.      

 

[Amoon]

Thanks for the response and insight.  

This kind of highlights the wide range of information available on the internet.  Some people rate the DC route as quite basic (a long, cold, walk to the top with crampons on your boots and an ice axe held in your hand).  On the other end of the spectrum, there are people that make it out to be a harrowing journey requiring years of polished skill and a strong stomach for near death experiences.

i imagine it’s probably a lot like alpine climbs on other mountains and whitewater; If everything goes as planned (and you’re too inexperienced to know how lucky you got) it probably does seem simple.  However, I’ve seen enough stuff and lived through enough misadventures to understand the value of skills and experience on every backcountry outing.  When things don’t go perfect, a situation can progress towards a calamity very quickly if you don’t have skills and experience.

 

so, specific glacier travel skills and experience.  That’s what I lack.  And that’s what I’m not willing to go without.  Rope management I can do.  Anchors I can do.  Haul systems and rope ascending I can do.  But there’s a lot more skill and experience beyond that.  I want that real skill and experience to be present on climbs I’m apart of.  
 

id consider myself a good group member or climbing partner for someone who has those skills and experiences and therefore I can rely upon their judgement.   I’m a quick study and I know how to put in the work to be a great team member /partner.

 

fwiw, I’ve been in contact with RMI.  They recommended I take their skills seminar and consider going up the Klautz glacier route with them (all as one long week adventure with them).  Obviously, they have a system in place and a product to sell.  So I’m not surprised by their recommendation.  I’m sure it’s a fine way to go and the best option from their perspective.  I’ve also spoken with a guide school here in the Wasatch.  No glaciers here, just spring snow slope conditions.  They recommended I take their weekend course, and then do something like my baker or my hood before I try Rainier.  Again, that’s their perspective.

I’m interested in the combined perspective and recommendations found here.

Thanks again!

 

 

[mthorman]

Here are a couple of thoughts.  Conditions dictate a lot about the difficulty of a route as is the case with alpine climbing.  Also with a mountain like Rainier you get a LOT of people climbing it because it is big, tallest in WA, and can easily be seen from major metropolitan areas.  With that comes a lot of inexperience and people who have never done something hard.  If you have never done something hard even the easy DC will feel crazy hard.

A route like the DC when done in high season with good weather is literally like walking on a trail.  There are wands every 100 feet, a trail the whole way with couple of crevasses to step across or ladders to walk (depending on the season).  From a technical climbing perspective for a technical climber it is easy.  But as you have identified glacier travel is about more than technical skills.  There are several places on the DC where you do NOT want to stop for a break due to serac fall.  There are really good spots to rest so that you can move efficiently and quickly through certain areas.  There are weather factors and temperature to keep in mind especially with regards to current time on the mountain and decent.  There are good time marks that let you know how the pace is.  All of these things are the skills/knowledge I think you are referencing.  

A ton of people go up every year and don't consider half of the other things beyond technical ability...and they do it no problem.  But as you noted, sometimes as a novice it is hard to know whether you made the right decisions or you got lucky.  Honestly I think a lot of climbers in many different types of climbing land on both sides of that line.  I know when I was a new trad climber, new ice climber, new mountaineer, I definitely did things that with experience I would have done differently.  I think that is why everyone wants a mentor.  A good mentor will allow a person to build their experience and make those decisions but are a back stop to ensure there isn't anything unsafe happening.

The advantage of a guide is that they bring all those extra skills to ensure that there isn't something unsafe happening.  And they are there if anything unexpected happens or something goes wrong.  Many people can get through a climb as long as everything goes right, but any accident and they are lost or slow to sort things out.  The downside to a guide is that most of the time you aren't in a learning environment.  They are there to get you up the mountain not necessarily teach you all the non technical knowledge skills.  As a client if you make a good connection with a guide you can ask questions to foster that discussion but that isn't always possible.  Every guide is different but I have seen my fair share that are doing a good job getting the job done but want nothing to do with teaching or instructing. 

So back to the question at hand.  I would recommend that you get some glacier travel or even mock glacier travel experience prior to attempting Rainier.  Go with someone who will teach the skills and is willing to share knowledge.  Be very comfortable with roped glacier travel, moving as a team, snow anchors, and crevasse rescue systems.  After that most climbers are already used to making risk assessment decisions.  Find someone who has done the intended route before and ask him/her all the specifics about logistics, breaks, and the technical knowledge.  Then find a group of similar minded people at your level or above and go have fun.  If you are unsure exactly where to stop, follow a guided team.  They know all the exact spots and just mimic what they do.  

Personally I don't know that I buy into the advice to do Baker first.  Sure you will be more prepared on Rainier, but if you climbed Rainier once you would also be more prepared the 2nd time.  The 1st time you do something is usually the most dangerous as there is a learning curve and the unknown.  Now instead of sorting it out on Rainier you are sorting it out on Baker.  Is that safer?  I don't know, I think it is just different.  Many people view Mt. Baker as safer because there aren't nearly as many open crevasses.  In fact many parties on a busy May or June weekend will be unroped on the Easton Glacier or even Coleman Deming Glacier.   The thought is that it is well filled in and there aren't crevasses.  While there are definitely fewer crevasses on Baker as compared to Rainier I would argue that it only takes 1 crevasse to make a very bad day.  And I think it is safer to be roped together using proper glacier team travel than just soloing up a glacier particularly for novice mountaineers who haven't developed a good eye for reading glaciers and where crevasses are likely to be.  Baker might be shorter than Rainier overall elevation but the summit day for either mountain is similar elevation gain (~4000ft) give or take a couple hundred feet. 

Anyway sorry for the long ramble.  Hopefully it is helpful.  For what it is worth I am more than happy to discuss more specifics questions or whatever if you have any.....just PM me. I do think you are on the right track and asking good questions/weighing different options.  Enjoy the journey.....it is a fun process!

[Amoon]

Thank you for that insight.  I really appreciate it!