Mt Rainier 2023

I’m not exactly sure when I started thinking about climbing Mount Rainier, but I think it was probably around 1997 when I was living in Portland, Maine and getting into outdoor adventures like snowboarding and hiking in the Whites. I came across a some literature for a NOLS course than included hiking Mount Rainier, and I suddenly became obsessed with the idea of climbing mountains and getting into mountaineering. For many reasons I had to put off that idea until the summer of 2023 when I and my good friends Miguel and Carlos attempted to summit Mount Rainier.

 

The decision to climb Rainier came in December of 2022 and we spent the rest of that winter and spring preparing for this trip we had planned for late May. None of us had any real crevasse or glacier travel experience, but Miguel and Carlos had climbed the highest peaks in Mexico where they grew up in Mexico City. I had done a lot of hiking, snowboarding and gym rock climbing, so most this would be very new.

 

After a lot of training, studying, attending classes, and more studying and training, we set our dates and arrived at Paradise on June 4. When we arrive at the Ranger station to check in, we noticed a poster that advised of a climber who hadn’t been seen in several days since attempting the summit via the Ingraham Glacier direct route; this was a bit unnerving as we started out on our first big mountain.

 

We settled into the Paradise Inn hotel, packed and repacked our gear and prepared to leave early the following morning. We woke at around 5:00am and the day proved to be exceptionally beautiful, clear skies and warm temperatures. We started out at 5:30 from Paradise, listening to the grouses in the woods with their thumping sounds. We caught some beautiful light for photography as the rising sun hit Mount Rainier. We approached the base of the snowfield and assessed the conditions. At this point in the season after not a lot of snow and some extremely warm temperatures, the snowfield was heavily sun cupped and mushy. The sun beat down fairly heavily, and we slogged up the snowfield arriving at Camp Muir around 2:30.

 

As we got to Camp Muir, the snow had receded and much of the ground was exposed. There was still plenty of snow in the alleyway for us to pitch our tent. Miguel and I set up the tent and settled in for the night. Carlos decided the public shelter had enough room and would be more comfortable vs the tent so he stayed there.

 

I had trouble sleeping that night because I woke up several times feeling like I couldn’t breathe and gasping for air. I was able to slow my breathing down catch my breath and move on but when I woke in the morning, I asked Miguel and he said he had a similar experience. It was at that point while examining the tent we realized we hadn’t opened the vents and we’re likely choking on the carbon dioxide hat built up. Note for future expeditions: always vent the tent!

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Another gorgeous sunny day and we decided to stay at Camp Muir for the day and take off from Camp Muir that evening as opposed to going up to Ingraham Flats, which was our original plan. (See our post about 2024; would’ve been a good idea). We spent the day planning for the summit, practicing crevasse rescue, short roping and getting more comfortable with all the stuff we knew we would need to do over the next couple days to get to the summit.

In mid-afternoon, we saw SAR team come up to Camp Muir and then head up to the Cleaver. A few hours later a helicopter appeared and hovered below the summit, above the I graham Galcier for a period. After a little while, the helicopter, which now had a stretcher attached to a cable below flew off the mountain and headed to the valley. After that, the SAR team came back down to camp in the early evening, and we heard after speaking with a couple other climbers that they had found the body of the missing climber that we saw the poster for on the day we arrived. Again, a bit unnerving. We boiled water for dinner and went to bed around five or six with alarm set to go off at 11 PM.

 

We woke to calm, clear, and cool night. We boiled water, ate a breakfast of freeze dried granola and berries, and put on our gear leaving at roughly 12:30 AM. We struck out on our own following the wands through the Bowling alley, past the Ice Box and up through Cathedral rocks crossing over onto the Ingraham Glacier. The wind picked up and the temperature got a bit cooler, so we stopped at the Flats to add additional layers. We were passed by a guided group going up, and we followed behind them to the base of the Cleaver.

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We started ascending the Cleaver, which was almost entirely clear of snow, which meant a lot of difficult footwork of crampons on rock. Carlos led the way spotting the wands the guide companies had set up and kept us moving all the way up to the top of the Cleaver, which took a good two hours to complete. The light began to increase and we started following the switchbacks up through the glacier until the sun rose and we were bathed in warm sunlight.

 

Looking back, I remember when the Park Ranger checked in with us at Camp Muir the night of our summit attempt. Since it was our first ascent, he said we should be aware of a few things including that at about 13,000 feet a lot of people throw in the towel often due to the altitude. It was at this same point, right arounf 13K, that I began to feel it would be too difficult for me to continue and get back down the Cleaver without falling or injuring myself. A combination of the altitude, the lack of sleep the prior night, and the heat did me in. It was quite warm and I was really overheated. I told Miguel and Carlos I didn’t feel like I could continue safely. Both agreed without hesitation that we should stop and although we debated continuing for another 45 minutes and did in fact continue climbing for maybe 15, at that point I said I really couldn’t continue and was concerned. I might jeopardize their safety as well. We all agreed to turn around putting me at the front of the rope and we began to work our way down back down to the top of the Cleaver.

 

At that point, I felt great about all we had attained and everything I had learned even on this first trip, but was physically wiped out and was not looking forward to descending the Cleaver with crampons on rock. We got the top of the Cleaver, change layers, drank water, and then began the descent to Camp Muir. Challenging and difficult footwork but nonetheless we’re able to get down without incident. We then continued down through Cathedral rocks, past the Icebox, the Bowling Alley and back to Camp Muir where I was relieved that we had returned safely and even a certain degree of satisfaction that we had climbed as high as we had.

 

After resting for roughly 2 hours and eating, we repacked all of our gear and began the trek down the slushy, sun cup filled Muir snowfield. Personally, this part of the trip was agony. I really struggled with my pack and my shoulders. As we navigating down through the forest we walked towards the parking lot, we ended up off trail a bit and were blocked just meters from the hotel and had to walk several minutes around the fence into the parking lot. What a drag. We finally got into the hotel, showered, drank beers, congratulated ourselves and replayed all that we had learned on the way down. I suffered a pretty bad burn on my on my lips, causing it to swell significantly, giving me the classic clown lip. We woke the following morning in Paradise and drove to Seattle to spend the day poking around until we flew home that evening.

 

When I returned home, I immediately began to feel the pains of not having made it to the summit after as much planning and time as we spent invested. It was strange because initially I was felt nothing but happy about everything we had done and learned, but somehow, now that a few days had passed, I knew we had to go back. I reached out to Miguel and Carlos and said next summer we have to go back and finish Mount Rainier. They’re both agreed without hesitation. See the trip report from May 2024 about our next attempt.

 

What we learned:

1. Always vent the tent!

2. We brought WAY too much food that was too heavy and bulky

3. For me personally being very fair skinned, I need to keep everything covered in full sun

4. Too much comfort gear like air mattresses, camp shoes, and food

5. Pacing is everything. Needed to better acclimatized and rested for the summit push.