[TR] Mt Rainier - Ingraham Direct 5/12/2012

[wetslide]

Trip: Mt Rainier - Ingraham Direct

 

Date: 5/12/2012

 

Trip Report:

So Luke D. asked me about climbing Rainier this last weekend. The forecast looked great. Turned out I was the only one who had summited Rainier previously. I was happy to do the ID again as it is a very enjoyable route. He had invited his roommate Hannah and her boyfriend Dave, as well as Mike, Luke's friend.

Anyway, we left Seattle on Friday around 6 am. He got to the park, got permits, and so on and so forth. We hiked up to Muir. Luke, Mike and I got there in a few hours (not sure exactly how long), while Hannah and Dave arrived 2 1/2 hours later. By then, we had long finished dinner and hydrated.

We had debated about summiting on Sunday, but with the warming weather and the agony of waiting in a good weather window, we decided to make a Saturday summit. On summit morning we left the hut around 2 am. After 1 3/4 hours of slow movement, we found that Hannah and Dave were scared of the terrain, questioning their own experience level, and tired. After much group discussion it was decided we would send them back from Ingraham Flats. They agreed and headed down. After we cut them loose the three of us sailed up the peak. We met up with two bros coming off of Gib Ledges. "Hey assholes!" I think is how they greeted us. They had some trouble with cold hands and slow movement that they worked out, and they summited with us. The route is in pretty good conditions, but on the way down we were a little unnerved one particular bridge crossing. We saw a group of two females, one of whom seemed to break through the bridge in front of us. They managed to get out though. The summit was glorious- we took some pics and headed down. All in all a great trip with good partners.

 

Gear Notes:

Crevasse rescue gear, a picket, screw, helmet, 30 meter 8.5 rope.

 

Approach Notes:

drive to paradise and follow the crowds to Muir. Follow the boot path to the summit.

[Water]

thanks for the conditions report. Looks like big R has been in good shape for a lot of people with this weather. the person who seemed to punch through a crevasse, was this along the semi boot pack in or what?

 

btw, you did an awesome job watermarking your logo with pics of rainier

[wetslide]

Thanks for the compliment Water. When she punched through it was over a crevasse bridge.

[Cobra_Commander]

 

That is the best MSR fuel bottle still-life I have ever seen. Great composition, really captured the tension with the windscreen and vignette.

[KyleMiller]

I was the solo climber with the Splitboard.

 

Route was in good shape with minimal sketchiness but that could be changing in the next week or two. Furher Finger rode awesome all the way to the bridge.

[Freightrainer]

Peter and I were #3 and #4 to summit via the I-D at about 7:30AM and the route was in great shape. Kyle - Glad to hear you had a nice ride down the Fuhrer! The ski from Muir was great as well!

[wetslide]

Freight were you that group coming down as we passed around 13,900 feet? Congrats on the summit.

[JoshK]

Great watermarking on the photos. Tiny, subtle and not the least bit distracting from the actual photo. Strangely, I find myself suddenly drawn to becoming a long-haul trucker so I can make frequent use of a CB radio.