Alpinism Home

A Mt Rainier National Park Climbing Ranger took this picture of me, Kim, Matt, and Steve at Camp Schurman

Mt Rainier (14411 ft)

Emmons Glacier Route

July 26-28, 2002

Matt, Steve, Kim and I climbed Mt Rainier this weekend via the Emmons Glacier...and got pummeled by strong winds on the way down....

Friday, Arrived at 8300' camp on Interglacier around 9:30pm

Saturday, Arrived at 10100' camp on Emmons glacier around 3:30pm

Sunday, Left camp at 12:30am, reached summit at 7:15am

Route conditions on the Emmons were excellent. We had to traverse left under the bergschrund and join the DC route which probably added an hour to our time. About 12,500' we ran into some wet clouds that quickly coated our packs, jackets, and ice axes with a few millimeters of ice. This coupled with the ever increasing winds made things pretty chilly when we stopped. But as long as we kept moving we were fine. From the beginning we all worked together really well on the rope travel and found a nice moderate pace that kept us moving. I think we only stopped 4-5 times on the entire way up, and the longest of these breaks was about 10 minutes.

Entering the crater rim we met very strong winds that nearly knocked us over. Once inside the crater the winds were much less.

Visibility at the summit was zero as clouds were constantly blowing through.

Here are some of Steve's photos!

After parking at the White River camp site Matt Mussallem and Steve Tate hiked 3.5 miles to the Glacier Basin camp site - nice meadow here and basically the end of the trees and shade. In the background you can see the snow field that leads up to the Inter Glacier and on the left had side you can see the base of Mount Ruth. Inter Glacier campsite - about 8600ft. More of Little Tahoma and Emmons Glacier Emmons-Winthrop route from 'Summit Guide to the Cascade Volcanos by Jeff Smoot'
Emmons Glacier campsite - about 10000ft. Looking back at Camp Schurman (9510ft/2899m) and Steamboat Prow. Matt, Peter and Kim are in this picture as I am currently leading on rope. Inter Glacier campsite - about 8600ft. This picture was taken in the morning looking in a SW direction. Matt and Peter are in the picture with Russell cliff and Mount Rainier in the background.
Top of Mount Rainier - Columbia Crest. After fighting freezing rain and blasting winds, we make it to the top. Unfortunately, it is very cloudy/foggy and we can't see very far. Nevertheless Steve is very happy to make it to the top! Top of Mount Rainier - Columbia Crest. Matt also is overjoyed to conquer the mountain once again. Another one looking down the Emmons Glacier - here you can see all the way down the glacier - on the right side is Goat Island Mountian. Matt and a climber from another rope team are in this picture. I think this was taken at about 12000ft

Here are some of the photos Kim and I took

Kim climbing on the Inter glacier The nearly full moon allowed us to travel without our headlamps for most of the ascent. Kim and I hiked in Friday night and met Matt and Steve on the Interglacier. Matt and Steve had hiked in early that day and had our tent platform all ready for us!
Saturday morning we climbed up the rest of the Interglacier and dropped down the left side of Steamboat Prow to Camp Schurman. The ever-eroding Little Tahoma Steve and Matt carved platforms out for our tents from the side of the mountain.
Here we are stopping for a break after making the long traverse to the left underneath the bergschrund that guards the summit. Below us is Gibralter Rock. Steve and Matt in the crater rim, just below the summit Kim braving a smile while clapping her hands to stay warm in the cold tempertures on the summit.

Break down of mileage and elevation gain

Day 1: White River Campground to Camp Curtis 4.7 miles, 4330' elevation gain.

Day 2: Camp Curtis to High Camp 1.02 miles, 1685' gain -415' loss= +1270' gain.

Day 3: High Camp to Summit 1.57 miles, 4311' elevation gain.

by Peter Chapman, 2002