Guiding, recent weather, and the 4th of July

We haven't discussed guiding operations on Mt Rainier in a while, but the local paper interviewed the guide service owners and operators last week. They (the TNT) shared their thoughts on the 2007 operation to date. But little of this information should come as any big surprise to readers of this blog... and I would note that there are a few errors (minor) and omissions (political) in the article. But hey, this blog is about climbing conditions, current Rainier related gossip, access, and things you can do to avoid climbing accidents!

Speaking of which, climbing rangers recently spent more time on the Kautz Route. They would have done something on another route, but the weather has been quite tough lately. And while we're talking about the weather, hasn't it been reliably terrible over the past few weekends? Rain, snow, high winds and cold temps have been dominating the upper mountain with regularity everytime Saturday night rolls around. Even Ted (our ever faithful high camp maintenance guy who cleans the outhouses) finally broke down and complained that the weather has been rotten! I (and many climbers) agree.

Are you into fireworks? The city of Tacoma isn't, and I suppose you should know that the National Park's aren't either (no big surprise there). Therefore, you'll have to celebrate the liberation of the USA on county property if you want to light a few sparklers or ignite things that go "boom." That said, some of the best firework displays are to be enjoyed from the summit (or high camps) of Mt Rainier. One year, I hung out at Liberty Cap (appropriately named) for the 4th of July festivities. The firework displays across the Puget Sound were totally, totally awesome. Bring your bivy gear, (and cell phone, nudge, wink) sit back and enjoy the awesome view (if the weather cooperates).

Good Leads This Weekend

I sport led my first 5.10 this weekend, and tacked on two 5.9+s as well. While I've trad led 5.9 in the Gunks before, and possibly elsewhere (Pawtuckaway?, Crow Hill?, Acadia? North Conway?, Switzerland? - I can't remember exactly), today was the first day that I've led 5.10 outside. I've led 5.11 inside before (though how clean is still up for debate) and am not afraid of hard 5.10s in the gym

Adirondacks - Sunday: Rain and The Rest of the Trip

We awoke to dry skies on Sunday, and that perculated our hopes enough that we felt we stood a good chance of beating the weather and getting a good, day-two of climbing in. The desired destination was Washbowl Cliff in Keene Valley, which was essentially across the street from where we parked the day before at Beer Walls.Screw it, there's just too damn much to write. It rained. We climbed a bit

Updated Route Condtions for Mount Rainier

I added some thorough updates to our route condition page. Dan Aylward, Chad Kellogg and Tim Matsui climbed Ptarmigan Ridge last week. Meanwhile, climbing rangers Paul Charlton and Tom "house of" Payne climbed Liberty Ridge, Kautz Glacier and Little Tahoma (all in in one week!!) It seems that the upper mountain is holding together nicely for some of the more technical routes.

Photo by Tim Matsui, Dan Aylward leads into some rock bands low on Ptarmigan Ridge.

Missing hiker found (sad) and climbing stats

There is sad news in the park this week. The lost hiker, Jeff Graves, wasn't found alive after three days of intensive searching. A helicopter crew located him (TNT 6/21) at the base of a cliffband north (climbers left) of the main Eagle Peak trail (TNT 6/20). This comes as a setback to the NPS staff, as Jeff's mother was (and remains) a dedicated volunteer with the park.

It seems that Jeff probably lost his way while descending (TNT 6/21) the trail on Saturday and ended up falling off a cliff during cold, wet and cloudy conditions. Getting lost in such conditions (i.e. lost on the snow in the forest) isn't that uncommon either. It's very easy to lose the foot path when there is still snow covering the trail and that snow is old and dirty. This generally occurs when there is a tree canopy with lots of debris, dirt, moss and other things to cover up footprints and make things hard to follow while descending...

As for climbing specific information, the 2007 climbing season has an interesting start. There were 2,017 climbers between Jan 1 and June 20th in 2006. This year, we've had 2,033 climbers during the same period AND a higher success rate. Both facts are worth noting, because the park was virtually closed for four months.

The solstice is around the corner and summer is near. I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to contribute to my cell phone question. I would definitely welcome more comments, as I know there is a lot of interest, as there are in your summit trip reports. Send them along if you've got 'em.