2004 Mountaineering Report

[Mike_Gauthier]

See attached link for 2004 Mount Rainier Mountaineering Summary.

 

http://www.nps.gov/mora/climb/Climb04.htm

 

I'll post the 2004 Mountaineering Accident Reports with analysis when done.

[sobo]

Hey Gator, I didn't see Joe P's name on the '04 ranger list. Was he in AK all season? Do you expect him back in '05?

 

Just curious...

[Stefan]

Interesting trend on number of climbers registered.

 

It notes a decreasing trend. I wonder if this has to do with fees imposed on the mountain.

 

I am not familiar with the climbing staff, but has the Park Service decreased the climbing staff due to amount of less people registering? Or will the Park Service maintain the same amount of staff with 20,000 registered climbers versus 8,000 registered climbers?

[Mike_Gauthier]

Sobo,

 

Joe hasn't worked here in quite a while, but you are correct, he did spend a LOT of time in the AK range last summer. I suspect that you'll be seeing his name QUITE a bit in the upcoming months, as he has some VERY cool projects in the works... ; )

 

Stefan,

 

The number of general park visitors have also been decreasing, and there has been no fee increase at the gate. Park visitation has slowly dropped for a while, but particularly after 9/11. I've checked around, and the numbers are also dropping at other big mountain areas that did NOT see a fee increase. Denali raised their fee to $200 this season; so we'll see if a $50 fee increase has any large affect there. Also, we saw an increase in climbers when the fee was first introduced (from 0-$15); a $15 increase didn't seem deter climbers then.

 

Some climbers may not visit (register?) b/c of the fee, but it's very important to note that the high years were probably a result of the increased hype around mountaineering that the entire sport experienced in the late 90's. The numbers we are seeing now are similar to the numbers we saw through the early to mid 90's.

 

I also think that the increased attention around the accidents/rescues/fatalities deterred some climbing teams. People did call to cancel trips, feeling that 2004 was a bad year.

 

Personally, I like climbers, and hope that more come to visit the park.

 

Yes, the size of the climbing staff would probably fluctuate if 20,000 climbers showed up. We are subject to market forces too.

 

[sobo]

Thanks Mike!

[Stefan]

Thanks Mike for the info. I did not know the park staff was fixed regardless of visitors.

 

Glad the rescue had a positive ending and it sounded like there was constant communication.