Posted: 2/10/2005 2:53:29 PM EDT
| Anyone here climb Mt. Rainier? I'm thinking about doing it this summer. Any recommendations on what Guides, place to rent gear, hotels for before and after, etc.... Thanks |
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The most important question is have you climbed before? Climbing that sucker is on my short list of things to do before I die, but I have to do alot of exercise, training, and other climbs first. The shortest hiking route is 16 miles round trip and involves a 9,000 foot vertical climb. Contact: Mount Rainier National Park Tahoma Woods, Star Route Ashford, WA 98304-9751 E-mail Address: [email protected] 360-569-2211 www.nps.gov/mora/ 
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Made 2 attempts back in 1981. The first one we went up on a very nice sunny day in July. It turned out to be the record high temperature on the top (45 degrees IRC). While coming down the mountain at Camp Muir, another guided team was going up. When they came down the following day, they saw parts of the bodies of the climbers that died the summer before coming out of the ice. I and my teammate were the first ones to climb Mt. Ranier from the Boeing Alpine Society class of 1981. The second attempt never made it out of the parking lot since someone left a climbing rope at home (not me, BTW). Tomorrow, I'll see if I can post the Boeing Alpine Society POC for you. They have a class in the spring to learn how to climb mountains, at least they did back in 1981. Since you live in FL, they won't be able to help you train or guide you but they will probably know of some good guides or guiding companies All the ones I used to know is +15 years old. If you make it to the top, make sure to got to the actual top, not just the false top, which is about 100 feet lower. You may want to take some aspirin since you're from essentially sea level and Mt. Ranier is 14,440. The beer will taste especially good when you get back down, trust me. Start running! ETA: Found it, they're outside the Boeing firewall: boealps.u.m6.net/ Try them, they'll help you. Thanks, |
| I've been training for this. I did some mountain climbing when I was stationed in Vicenza Italy. Being from FL I do not have any mountains to train on, so I'm Hiking as much and as long as I can. Every week I'm adding more weight. I also get on the Treadmill with my ruck. This is besides my regular weight lifting and running. I'll be ready for it. |
You're doing all the right things considering you're in FL. When we trained for Mt. Ranier et al, we used to climb Mt. Si just outside Seattle with 80 lbs of water jugs in our pack (and then dump it at the top). 3-4 miles and 3000 foot elevation gain in the afternoon after work, woowee! Watch for altitude sickness (FL vs. Mt Ranier) Good luck, I hope you make it. Merlin |
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Made it to 13,500 feet before the weather turned to shit. It's not a good idea to be on the hill in a white out/thunderstorm. It is a very hard 48 hours to do the climb, staging at Sherman or Muir, but if you're in decent shape and have some good stamina you'll make it. My brother always get's sick when we would try to climb Baker or Ranier. It could be the altitude, but I think it's because you're almost running a marathon to get up there. Lot of work, but worth it. I guess I need to try it again, but my last try was when I was 16 and I know I would need to do some training. The view is spectacular, but the weather can change quicker than you can imagine! |