Gear choice for Rainier

[climbingbetty]

Hi there CCer's. Hoping to get your opinions on which gear I should bring for a Rainier trip next month. I'll be climbing the DC route over a 3-4 day period. I have experience (and gear for) ice climbing here in the Northeast, but this will be my first experience on a glaciated peak.

 

Since I'm not quite sure what to expect from conditions and since I've not had the opportunity to be on a route with so much elevation change (that is, change in climate from beginnng to end) I'm having a little trouble figuring out my personal gear for the trip.

 

My currently plan for my layering system is as follows:

- medium-weight wool top & bottoms

- fleece or heavier-weight synthetic (capilene) pants

- Nano puff shell for insulation up top

- hard shell pants (with full side zips) and jacket

- down jacket for at night and summit

- insulated leather boots

 

I'm pretty sure I will be warm enough with this set-up, but I'm afraid of being too warm. Specifically, the insulated leather boots on the trip up from the parking lot. Thoughts? fill in the polll!

[genepires]

you got enough gear for a emergency bivy. Personally, I would not bring the down jacket or fleece pants (or the heavier weight cap pants) for august.

[Julian]

Here's what I wore on Rainier 2 days ago:

 

upper body:

 

-Arc'teryx Ether t-shirt (this is my all-the-time N2S layer)

 

-OR Centrifuge jacket (wind-blocking front fleece with light fleece on the sides and back, worn above Camp Muir)

 

-Arc'teryx Atom SV insulated jacket (worn for climbing above 13k and for rest stops)

 

lower body:

 

-lightweight synthetic Land's End long underwear bottoms (above Camp Muir only)

 

-MEC Kinetic softshell pants (lightweight Schoeller Dryskin softshell - comfortable with long underwear in the night and on the summit push, comfortable alone in the hot weather between Muir and Paradise)

 

feet:

 

-Scarpa Freney XT boots

 

-light synthetic liner socks

 

-medium thickness wool socks (the ones they sell at Costco)

 

hands:

 

-REI all-season gloves (grippy palm with Polartec powerstretch hardface body)

 

-OR Arete gloves (over the REI gloves high on the mountain for additional insulation)

 

The system worked great other than my hands getting a bit cold above 13k. If I were to do it again I'd bring insulated mitts for the upper mountain instead of the OR waterproof gloves, wear shorts all the way to Muir, and add a very light synthetic long-sleeve shirt, or maybe an OR Radiant hoody. This climb showed me, yet again, that the Atom SV is my favorite piece of soft gear ever.

[ACK]

Check for PM.

[Luzak00]

Last week, I wore:

 

--Lightweight base layer top

--Arc'Teryx Gamma MX Jacket (Atom LT for stops)

--Arc'Teryx Gamma LT Pants

--La Sportiva Nepals

--REI All-Season Gloves (switched to Black Diamond Viraga gloves after the Cleaver)

 

I was plenty warm. Could have worn a hardshell on top instead, and the Trangos would have worked too (silver Trangos would be a good compromise).

[Water]

what i wore up on the 22nd, low temps were high 20's maybe, low 30's? Up high I think it was right above freezing but winds at 30-40mph steady gusting way higher? (enough to blow me over if not braced).

 

Wore this to the top:

-lightly insulated leather boots (Lowa Mnt Experts)

-Light socks to base camp. Thick socks to Summit

-Zip off soft-shell pants the entire time. No long underwear.

-Merino tshirt

-Marmot Driclime Jacket

-Hard Shell

 

also carried: nano puff pullover + mont bell thermawrap parka (hooded), marmot precip full zip pants. Put the nano on around camp, the thermawrap on at the summit and part of the way down.