Mt. Rainier

[calgary]

Hey there, we're coming to have a go at Rainier this summer and we're thinking of trying the Fuhrer Finger/Thumb route. I was hoping that someone out there might have some more info on this route other than found on summit post.org. We're travelling from Canada so all we can do is check on line for reports etc.

Thanks in advance!

Sean

[Couloir]

Here is one TR. Do a search in this section for more info. And eventually others will chime in as well.

[Chad_A]

Hi, another gent and I were on that route in the spring of '04. We had gotten a ton of snow that winter, and then it stopped, and turned to summer, just like that.

 

What we found was that, going that early in the year, the approach was so much easier...on snow, the whole way, and the Nisqually was closed up enough, that we could have approached directly to the Turtle snowfield, without even using "The Fan".

 

Depending on snowpack, it'll prolly have good conditions through June, but I wouldn't count on it much past that; if the snowfall peters out, plan on early June, or maybe May. It's south facing, so it can melt out pretty quick. As with any other gully, they're a natural rockfall/avalanche funnel, as well; I think I remember a TR where a couple guys dodged falling serac debris.

 

 

Have fun and post a TR It's a good route that's not too difficult, gets you to the summit pretty directly, and gets you away from the crowds.

[TeleRoss]

Yeah Furher Finger is a good route. A fun alternative to starting at Paradise is to start at the Van Trump Park trail head.

[Fromage]

I attempted the Fuhrer Finger last winter. Several hundred feet above the Finger couloir my partner and I were hit by icefall. We thought we were far enough to the side of the Nisqually that we would be out of the fall line of tumbling seracs, but apparently we were wrong. We walked away after being bombarded with television-sized ice chunks, but a party below us got hammered in the couloir. I believe there are some graphic photos on this site of the effects the icefall had on that group. If I were to do this route again I would head left immediately after exiting the couloir and pick my line upwards by linking the cover of rock bands. It was a low snow year last winter, so conditions will certainly vary this season. There is an excellent camp site above the Wilson glacier at about 9,400 feet on a shoulder near a giant boulder. Have fun!

[pete_a]

Fuhrer Finger can let loose all sorts of ice and rock, even in the middle of the night when its cold (although its less likely to then). Got buzz-bombed by a huge rock in the middle of the hourglass a few years ago (mid-June).

 

Although this is probably not a popular way of climbing the route, when I've done it before, I've climbed it as a carry- over, packed really light bivy gear so I could just get up the route while it was cold, then enjoy a descent via the cattle path of Ingraham Direct (decending via the Kautz would be a less crowded option that may still provide less of an objective hazard than a midday descent through the FF.

 

or you could always try to time your descent so that you can catch corn snow in the couloir and get down via skis.