Tom_Sjolseth Posted May 12, 2013 Posted May 12, 2013 Trip: Mt. Rainier - Fuhrer Finger - Daytrip w/ Ski Descent Date: 5/11/2013 Trip Report: Juya and I linked up yesterday for a perfectly planned and executed day trip up Mt. Rainier. I have made numerous attempts at a single day push on Mt. Rainier (always Winter or Spring), but have never succeeded until yesterday. We left the Paradise parking lot at 2:30AM and enjoyed skinning in calm, partly cloudy conditions. By sunrise, after only one minor routefinding issue in the dark, we were at the base of the Fuhrer Finger, where two teams were already climbing. Booting up the Finger was sort of a pain in the soft snow.. most of the time we were postholing, only occasionally could we crampon on the surface (I didn't even put crampons on until 12,000'). After catching up with the lower team, I realized I knew one of them - Doug Hutchinson. Small world. Juya and I joined forces with Doug and his partner Paresh for the remainder of the journey to the summit. Around 12,000', we ran into the higher party who were just beginning their descent after deciding to turn around. They informed us that their tracks ended in a maze of crevasses and they weren't sure if there was a way through. After about 45 minutes of fuddling we found a route through on a sketchy snow bridge among teetering seracs. Continuing on, the final 2500' was a bit slower-paced, but eventually we made the summit, 9 hours and 45 minutes after leaving the car. A lenticular cloud enveloped us and winds were steady at about 50MPH. Visibility was low and waning. After a few photos, we put on our skis and headed down. The skiing through the finger was phenomenal.. near-perfect corn all the way down to the Wilson Glacier. After saying goodbye to Doug and Paresh, we parted ways and made our way slowly back to the full parking lot in the baking sun, arriving at 3:30. Thanks to Juya for being a great and strong partner. This was her second time in three days climbing Fuhrer Finger (she was stopped at 12,500' on Thursday after her partner fatigued) and her acclimatization was apparent! Trip Stats: 9600' Gain 11 Miles 9:45 Car-to-Summit 15 Minutes Summit Time 3 Hours Descent (with routefinding snafu) 13 Hours RT Photos: Summit Video: [video:vimeo] Quote
sepultura Posted May 13, 2013 Posted May 13, 2013 Cool Tom! Way to get after it. Looks like a great ski! Quote
jakedouglas Posted May 13, 2013 Posted May 13, 2013 I think we chatted with you briefly in the overnight parking lot as we were gearing up to skin to Muir in the evening. Glad to hear you made it - congrats. Quote
Doug_Hutchinson Posted May 13, 2013 Posted May 13, 2013 Great to ski with you Tom and Juya! You hauled freakin' ass! I think Juya may want to consider challenging Greg Hill's vert record next year. No mention of the diving camera catch at altitude? Not quite at the level of Schoening's belay but it was nice to put those years of playing first base to use... PS - we were able to ski to the bridge but assume there will be some walking from now on and probably won't be worth it by next weekend. Quote
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