[TR] Mount Rainier - D.C. Attempt 8/17/2008

[jmo]

Trip: Mount Rainier - D.C. Attempt

 

Date: 8/17/2008

 

Trip Report:

Went up to Camp Muir yesterday and the DC this morning. Turned around just below the top of the cleaver due to a lightning storm on the other side. In retrospect we could have kept going since the weather blew over, but it was a good decision at the time. To make up for it we did some crevasse training on the way down.

 

Many of the wands are gone, but the bootpack was pretty obvious across the Cowlitz and Ingraham. On the Cowlitz it ran between two medium sized crevasses and across a few smaller ones. We had some trouble routfinding on the first part of the cleaver.

 

 

 

Gear Notes:

Usual Glacier stuff

 

Approach Notes:

Just about everything below pebble creek has melted out, and the wildflowers are in bloom. Having to take the trails made the trip from Paradise to pebble creek much longer than on snow in June. Much of the Muir snowfield has melted out, and there are large patches of ice to the climber's left between 8-9k. Also the last few hundred meters to Camp Muir are running water and water ice. I wouldn't do it without crampons.

[HikerGirl98]

I agree about the first part of the DC route - it's hard to find. I did a summit Aug 3 and we got off trail for a while so that was loads of fun but at least I didn't get sick this time. I'm always looking for climbing partners so if you have a free weekend, let me know. I'd love to get back up there.

[pink ice]

Sorry to hear about the miss on summit. Any pics of the storm and the mt?

[jmo]

I'll post some pics as soon as I figure out how to post them.

[pc313]

Next time!!

[BundledUpSurfer]

I summited on Sat, Aug 16.

 

FYI: When you hit the rocky part of the clever pay more attention to the wands than the well-worn trail. I made the mistake of following several rope teams on a well-worn trail until I turned around and just followed the RMI wands. That route made the most of what little snow is left and avoided unnecessary scree.

 

Btw: made the summit in a straight 8-hour push and plan to post a report when I get the pictures. I think the Super Sherpa made the same climb on the same day in about half the time. Of course I live and work in Seattle and he's acclimatized to, oh, say 20,0000 feet.

 

[danhelmstadter]

Thanks for the TR, will be great to see the pics.

 

Are you talking about Lhakpa Gelu? I wonder if he was trying to set the speed record.

 

EDIT -- Just checked out the whole shpeal, too bad about his leg cramps.

Edited August 19, 2008 by danhelmstadter

[jewels421]

We waited out the weather on 8/17 and ended up making the summit. But, it was an iffy decision since it was tough to tell what was happening weather-wise from where we were on the Cleaver. We were very close to turning around, but after about 40 minutes things cleared up. Turning around was a solid choice...

 

Agree with everything else you said -- just below Muir is dicey without crampons, lots of folks were off route on the cleaver, etc.

 

Above the cleaver the route was very obvious. There was one ladder in place across a crevasse at some point (maybe around 13,000 ft). I think the weather turned colder last week, so hopefully the route will hold since it's pretty nice right now. I haven't sorted through the pictures yet, but will try to post some when I do...