Rainier ascent via Emmons-Winthrop

Rainier ascent via Emmons-Winthrop

Aug. 8-10, 2009 (Saturday thru Monday)

Eric Meier, Seth Meier, Cihan (the Living Legend) Akcay, (Pistol) Pete Norgaard, Ralph Swanson, Kaitlin Murdock

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/remierice/20090809RainierEmmonsWinthrop#

Seth flew in Friday night late as hell as usual. We started out with the game plan of departing early on Saturday morning and going for a summit and return to vehicles on Sunday. We did manage to leave *relatively* early, but the Sunday return to vehicle was not to be. The mountain is too damned rough this time of year for that. We got out of Seattle at about 9 AM (early, huh?). Got on the trail by about 12:30. The wildflowers were gorgeous down low in Glacier Basin.

Seth, G and I were a little behind Pistolé, Ralph, and Kaitlin. We caught up to ‘em just before we hit the Inter Glacier. (It is called “Inter” because it’s between the Emmons and Winthrop Glaciers.) The Inter is a big mess right now. It’s like a mostly melted ice cube sitting in a big tray and collecting a helluva lot of rock and dirt.

Climbing it required crampons and a lot of care to avoid slipping which would mean a very unpleasant ride down the rough ice/rock surface. The thought of climbing down was rather unpleasant. In the early summer, it’s cake: the whole basin is filled with a big snowfield and you just glissade down. We made the top of the Inter at about 6 pm. At Camp Curtiss, we traversed down onto the Emmons with no trouble. (There is a fairly clear trail.) On the Emmons:

Made camp at 8:30 as dark fell. Upper camp was full on this busy Saturday night and we had to clamber down to the snow below the exposed solid-ground campsites and join a couple of guided groups. Chill set in as we dug out spots, threw up tents and melted drinking water. I believe Jupiter was the beautiful object in the sunset.

The guided groups didn’t appreciate us crashing into camp. Some curses could not be contained as we fought across a little mote between the rock and snow/ice. Somebody told us to quiet down (they were getting to sleep in prep for early departure). This is common courtesy at such a camp and they didn’t even need to tell us. They arose at 2 AM (an hour before our planned wakeup time) and started raising hell and talking like they were drinking beer in their back yards.

We were up and at ‘em at 3 AM and actually hit the trial at 5, all roped up. There was the red team: me, Seth and Ci (pronounced “G”). There was the green team: Pistol Pete, Ralph and Kaitlin. (Our ropes were roughly red and green.) My buddy Reid two of his pals had started a couple of hours ahead of us. We stayed in touch with radios. It was nice to have them ahead to tell us about any route difficulties. G as we got started:

We enjoyed the sunrise on the way up to 11.5k,. So beautiful. Venus was shining bright. I caught this shot (Anita's favorite) just as the sun rose.

Mt Stuart and Glacier Peak showed themselves in the distance. By 11.5k, Ralph and Kaitlin, who had not really trained for this trip since they were roped into it on short notice, were pretty worked and decided to hang it up. It was also at this point that Pete and I started throwing our gear into deep crevasses. I donated my fairly new (et un peu chèr) sunglasses to the crevasse gods and Pete contributed his helmet to make me feel better about myself (real slick; the good news was that rockfall was not really a concern on the upper mountain). Fortunately, I had a pair of ski goggles to use as a backup. Here's a shot of the upper mountain from about 11.5k about a half-hour after sunset:

Pete roped into the red team and on we went. At this point, the route goes up “the Corridor” and then turns right beneath gnarly crevasses. We took a break at about 12.5k to melt water. It took what seemed to be an eternity to melt enough to get going again. But good to be hydrated. It was toasty that afternoon and we were sweating heavily. On the way to Liberty Saddle at 13.5k, the route weaved this way and that around broken snow bridges. No technical climbing was required at all on the route. After reaching the saddle, the walk to the top is simple. As usual, you just put one foot in front of the other, taking one full breath per step and just resign yourself to the grueling task. Eventually you end up with a pretty nice view.

Descent was decent. Hard on the knees/ankles. Seth was raring to haul ass and I had to hold him back a little. We got back at sundown with a half hour to spare before pitch dark. Slept well and felt great the next morning. We found a way to descend without touching the Inter Glacier. We asked around at camp and found that you can just descend the ridge upon which Mount Ruth sits. It worked out nicely.