Denied the Rainier Summit

[scot'teryx]

Attempted the summit this Monday night/Tuesday morning. Left at 1130pm from Shurman and got to 12,400 with our 2 other rope teams and all turned back to high winds and spindrift. All other teams that we saw turned back as well except for a 2 person rope team that I think I saw head down from the summit. Not quite sure though, and tried to call the WR station today to see if anyone else summited. It was a freakin beautiful day to! Numerous times I was warned of a crevasee and hunkered down as the winds and spindrift covered our teams, then I would get up to see nothing but fresh snow. Pretty freaky for a newbie on the Emmons/Winthrop side. My wife does not weigh too much and she was called "The Human Kite". The interglacier is getting more and more broken up it seems, as the main snowbridge after the first ridge seems to be less stable than when I went to Steamboat Prow a few weeks before. The right side of the snow bridge is less than 6 inches in depth with the left side a little better, but a few smaller crevasses after it (going up) make it a squabble on the rope. Camp Shurman was cool, and the Ranger hung out with us and let us use his telescope and told stories (His name was Don?, and his girlfriend is a BABE)Emmons Flats was abandoned though! After we were told it was full, what a shitty reservation system. Anyway, the corridor and the rest of that long freakin traverse were in good condition it seemed, but we never made it far enough to see anymore above 12,4K. Noticed a guy around emmons flats on a 2 person rope team that had poles only, and the girl on the end had the rope tied around her neck (3 times!) Freakin weirdos! So I guess we are heading up the DC route now in the middle of August to take advantage of the easy way up, and leave Emmons for next year. Thanks for listening

Scott H