My latest mountaineering adventure was climbing Mt. Rainier via the demanding Liberty Ridge route. Helen, Chad and Paul joined me in a 12 hour car ride from Salt Lake City to our starting point at Ipsut Creek (2300 ft). We began hiking the next morning on a well traveled trail until we hit snow level (5400 ft). At that point we changed out of our comfy approach shoes into our plastic boots. Helen had been kind enough to carry our boots up to this point so we could make good time. After the switch was made, she headed back to the car, and ultimately to the other side of the mountain, to meet us at our decent destination. Chad, Paul and myself continued up a gentle ridgeline to 7200 ft. We then put on our harnesses and roped up to cross the Carbon Glacier to the base of Liberty Ridge. Shortly after we began our trek across the glacier, Chad began to feel a bit woozy, presumably from the altitude. We pushed on, albeit slower than anticipated. Around 9000 ft., a huge icefall thousands of feet above us released an avalanche. Much to our dismay, we were directly in its path. After a short-lived and futile sprint, we simply stopped and prepared to meet our maker; except the avalanche mercifully stopped 600 feet in front of us. Life and the climb goes on!
We made camp on the glacier west of the ridge (9200 ft) being careful to avoid crevasses, rock fall from the ridge, and avalanches from far above. Chad was not in very good shape, perhaps a bit dehydrated in addition to altitude sickness, so he went to sleep as soon as the tent was erected. We were awakened once that night when an icefall avalanche, that rivaled in size the previous one, cascaded down the very same gully. We woke up early the next morning to start climbing past the worst rock fall section of the ridge when it was still relatively frozen. We still experienced a bit of minor rock fall, however. Needless to say, we kept our helmets on during the entire ridge section of the climb. After reaching Thumb Rock (10700 ft), the angle of the climb increased dramatically. Unfortunately, Chad was feeling miserable at this point, so our progress slowed to little better than a snails pace. This was fine with Paul, who is new to climbing on ice, and thus couldn't go much faster anyway. The next 3000 feet of climbing were truly classic: slope angle varying from 40 to 60 degrees; good snow and ice conditions to place protection (pickets and ice screws) when necessary; awesome scenery; good weather; and well protected from the dreadful icefall avalanches occurring constantly to either side of us.
Despite our slow pace, we were making good progress, until we got back on the Liberty Cap glacier and arrived at the bergschrund (13600 ft). Because of the abnormally low snow fall this past winter, this section was punctuated by a series of short but steep ice climbs (80 degrees to vertical) that had to be surmounted. We switched from simul-climbing mode to a traditional belay, as I led up the crux of the climb. A short way up, I realized that Paul completely lacked the skills necessary to get past the vertical section. We agreed that I would set an anchor at the top of the vertical section, and Chad and Paul would use their ascenders on the fixed line to aid climb the tricky section. This worked well for Chad, who, despite his pitiful state, managed to negotiate the obstacle in a timely manner. Paul, however, was a different story. His lack of climbing experience really came through at this point. He couldn't get his Tibloc ascenders to work properly– The lip over the vertical section stumped him. After an hour and a half of trying he gave up. In the meantime the weather had deteriorated, and Chad and I were COLD! We decided that I would down-climb to save Paul (Chad was in no shape to do so). Upon reaching Paul (who was convinced we had left him to die), I took his pack and lowered an additional sling, so he could get purchase and begin ascending again. It worked! But we were very tired and it was getting late (8pm). Initially, the plan was to summit that day and camp at the far side of the crater (14000 ft), where we could begin our descent the next morning. This was not feasible, given our state of exhaustion. Not to mention, we were completely out of water at this point, as well. Luckily, we found a bivy spot that was well constructed (of snow) and sheltered from the wind. We managed to melt a few quarts of water and eat some food before collapsing to sleep. Chad was in a world of hurt…The outside temperature dropped to about 5 degrees F, but we remained warm in my trusty Bibler tent.
The next morning, we were excited that we were still alive, and that we would be descending of the mountain. We figured about 6 hours down the easy and well-marked Ingraham Glacier/Paradise route. Boy, were we in for a surprise! The wind was blowing a constant 80mph with gusts to 100mph (no joke!). What should have taken 30 minutes to gain the summit from our camp took 2 ½ hours. Despite the relatively low angle of the climbing, we all thought we were going to die. Paul actually slipped and fell. We were roped up, but I didn’t have a piece of protection in at that point (there was only a couple of inches of ice covering rock, thus making it nearly impossible to protect). The climbing gods were with us again, and I managed to hold his fall on my own. Poor Paul also lost a glove at this point (he did have a back up liner, though). Finally, we struggled the final bit to gain the lip of the crater and the summit (14400 ft). Chad looked like death at this point…
We descended as quickly as possible, only to come across another problem as we entered the lower cloud level just above camp Muir (10200 ft) - White Out conditions! Although the wind at this point was blowing around 60mph, there was snow and thick clouds thrown into the mix. After resting and eating at the public stone hut at Camp Muir, I recalibrated my altimeter, set the compass bearing, and departed into the unknown. The path was just barely visible, but we reset the compass at the appropriate elevation, just in case… Around 6500 feet, it began clearing and the wind died down. Finally, at 4:30 pm, we arrived at Paradise (5500 ft). Helen dutifully pulled up in the Saturn as we stumbled into the parking lot. We took showers, signed out with the rangers, and ate dinner at the lodge. What a trip!