Alpine Start Impossible?

[j3422j]

Lurked for a while, first post:

 

Is impossible to get a good Alpine Start for the standard DC/IF route on Rainier (~2AM)? Some stuff I have read on the blog/NPS site indicate the Gate does not open until later -- 6AM-8AM (and that one cannot self-register in summer, which is ... annoying). So starting the hike to Muir is impossible until the gates open, eliminating a good Alpine start? (during June/July/august)

 

I've been to Rainier a few times, but always as a follower, and never had to worry about such details. Now, I have some traveling constraints I am also trying to accommodate.

 

Thanks for any insight you all can provide.

[Mike_Gauthier]

The climbing registration at Paradise opens at 6 am on Sat, 7 am all other days (which is much earlier than many other ranger stations aroung the US.)

 

There is no gate to worry about (unless you're trying to get through a road that is closed due to the flood). The road is open 24/7 now that it's summer. You can also get a permit the day before your trip and sleep in a campground and start early.

 

Alpine starts generally refer to the time you leave for the summit, which for most folks means a high camp like Muir, Schurman, etc. Many teams prefer to hike to high camp during the day (99%), especially since the majority reasons to leave early (alpine start) don't really apply (such as avoiding the late day heat on glaciers, etc.)

 

Good luck

[j3422j]

Great, thanks for the info ... and the book.

 

I was wondering if it has ever been tossed around to make self-registration available in summer? Perhaps along the same lines as the solo climb request? (i.e. requiring a pre-requisite amount of mountaineering experience, subject to pre-screening and approval, as with the solo requests)

 

Thanks again for all the hard work you guys have done up there! (this season especially)

[Mike_Gauthier]

I was wondering if it has ever been tossed around to make self-registration available in summer? Perhaps along the same lines as the solo climb request? (i.e. requiring a pre-requisite amount of mountaineering experience, subject to pre-screening and approval, as with the solo requests)

 

Thanks again for all the hard work you guys have done up there! (this season especially)

 

Trust me, I understand the demand for easy/simple/logical registration! That said, there are limits for most of the high camps and alpine zones on Mt Rainier. If we allowed self registration during the summer, there would be no way to control how many people went to a wide variety of places. And that really could lead to mayheim on the mountain.

 

This may not seem like a big deal to someone who drops in once or twice a year, but it actually is... I recall days when there would be 250 plus people camped at Emmons Flats alone (for example)... Yeah, the glacier/snow can handle that (sort of) but it's not much fun to have so many folks on the same route, using the one restroom and generally scratching out a place whereever they can find one. Not to mention, those folks hike through a wide variety of fragile alpine areas... and not everyone is that cool about where they take a break, walk, pee, poop, camp, etc, etc...

 

You can always get a reservation if you "really" need one (most folks don't if they climb mid week.) Or if you "REALLY" need help, call the NPS climbing rangers. They do all they can to help climbers with their climbing trips on Rainier.

 

Have fun on your climb. Thanks for posting the questions, I'm sure other folks were wondering too.

 

Mike