A couple friends and myself are planning on going to Mt. Rainier next July for a guided trip using the DC route. We're all from NY and we have one summer trip to Colorado 14ers under our belt, hence the need for a guide service. Of the three guide services IMG, RMI and Alpine Ascents, does anyone have any experiences or recommendations? We are leaning towards IMG and AA because of the second night at 11,000 feet. I've read that RMI gets you up & down and the experience isn't always great. We also like that IMG & AA does their mountaineering school at 10-11,000 ft on an actual glacier versus RMI doing their school at 6-6,600 ft.

Our plan is to be in Washington for 8-9 days and schedule Rainier towards the end of the trip to maximize time to acclimatize. We want to get a couple climbs in before our trip up Rainier. Can anyone recommend any climbs that don't include being roped together that we can do before Rainier? Something that the three of us can do with a guide. We have all the proper winter gear.

Thanks in advance.

Washington State gets so much precipitation, that anything that most things high enough to acclimatize well on will be necessitate a rope, since they're covered in glaciers. Mount Adams in a notable exception to this - a bit above 12,000 feet it has a completely glacier-free route up the south side. This is a hike, likely mostly on snow in July, but should never exceed 25 or 30 degrees. There's a good camping spot around 9,000 feet called the "Lunch Counter" which would be a good place to get a bit of acclimatization. Mount Stuart, east of the crest, via Cascadian Couloir offers a 9,400 foot summit with no glaciers, and only a bit of scrambling (and perhaps a lot of moderate snow, depending on how much snow there is next July).

Mt. Adams is a good suggestion, however, look into the non-technical north ridge route as well as the south spur route. North side routes puts you in closer proximity to Mt Rainier and the Puget Sound basin. Stuart is also a very good suggestion.

Did you know there's an unfair possibility that your plans could be spoiled by the weather ???

My brother and I started out on Mount Adams. Our first trip up South Spur was spoiled by the weather, but we made it on the SECOND try.

Persistence always COUNTS in mountaineering.

I've been turned around by weather before, so no surprises there. From what I have read and discussed with guides services, mid- July through August has the most stable weather. Hopefully that will help our chances of getting to the top.

Mt. Adams was on our list of places to help acclimatize.

Any other peaks? Anything about the guide services?

mambwe wrote:I've been turned around by weather before, so no surprises there. From what I have read and discussed with guides services, mid- July through August has the most stable weather. Hopefully that will help our chances of getting to the top.

Mt. Adams was on our list of places to help acclimatize.

Any other peaks? Anything about the guide services?

Of the guide services you mentionedm I would recommend AAI, but aslo look into Chris Simmons (currently at Pro Ski in North Bend, Washington). http://climbskirun.blogspot.com/. He should be able to set up a custom itinerary. He is a great guy and a great guide.

July 5th through Septemember is typically really good weather, this year not withstanding.

Unfortunately, in the near vicinity of Adams/Rainier, there are not a lot of other high mountains. Hood is nearby but usually too rockfall prone that time of the year. Maybe take a look at the Oregon Volcanoe like the Sisters, Broken Top, Jefferson.

My opinion, do an accimatization climb (Adams/Stuart/hike to Camp Muir) and spend a night or two, then descend, relax, go rockclimbing, or whatever so you are fresh for Rainier. You don't want to get sunburned/dehydrated/depleted before the main event.

I participated in the glacier skills seminar with IMG in August of 2010. I spent 6 nights on the glacier and had plenty of time to acclimatize. I thought they did an excellent job. I would recommend using them.

I am from Tennessee and live at an elevation of 680 feet. I arrived in Seattle 1 day early and spent time at the Paradise Lodge and driving around the park prior to the trip. I did not have any issues with elevation.

The way that I acclimatized was I went up to Camp Muir at a little over 10,000 feet in elevation, then came back down again.

It seemed to help me quite a bit, and most definitely kept me in shape at that time.

IMG and AAI will generally be more 'personal' than RMI - smaller groups, smaller shuttle vans, etc.

And that extra day or 2 would definitely make a difference. Maybe not in whether you get to the summit or not, but in your overall enjoyment of the climb and the mountain. if you're going to fly in from out of state and spend a bunch of money to be on the mountain, you might as well enjoy it. That old 2-day (more like 1.5 day) RMI summit climb must have been in a pain in the ass.

I have climbed it before with a days rest at Camp Muir after coming from sea level.
Day1: Hike from Paradise to camp Muir
Day2: rest all day and leave for summit following evening (11PM)
Day3; reach summit and descend all the way to the car after a short nap at Camp Muir

you're not going to acclimatize in 8 days. You need to spend like 2 weeks above 10k to even start building red blood cells. The largest thing on Rainier is your physical shape and your mental attitude.

Just be prepared to get your butt kicked. Make sure you're in the best shape you've ever been in. I cannot stress this enough. I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH. I know everyone says it, but your trip will be so much more enjobable if you don't get tired and feel like giving up after teh first few hours of hiking.

The glacier school at 6k vs 11k isn't that big of a deal. You'll just get more tired at 11k vs 6k. You'll get the same training, except they may or may not do some crevasse rescue in a real crevasse (that's the only thing that may make it worth it)

Just remember, have a great positive attitude, do some hikes, keep your butt going on your workouts, and do some long / slow ones when you train. Try to go for 4-6 hours at a time some days and maybe 1-2 8-10 hour hikes.

Your trip to Muir should be pretty uneventful. This is where the guides decide who goes/doesn't go. So give it your all, don't get fried during this point either. If you struggle to Muir, you can bet that's where you'll be sleeping the entire night w/o going to the summit. If you go to fast to Muir and burn out, you'll get turned around on way to summit.

Remember to smile and keep a great attitude, when you get breaks, eat, drink as much as you can. Hydration and food is one of the best pieces of advice anyone can give.

ALso remember that not everything is fun about mountaineering, but there's some great aspects about it and it's very rewarding! And remember to have some fun!

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What he said. Get in the best shape you can. Strength and endurance. Eat and drink as much as you can, rest when you can. An extra day at 11K might just wear you down more, so don't be so sure that's the best option. If you do have that day, eat and drink, bring your most favorite junk foods, you may lose your appetite, so bring something you will be most likely to eat.

I've been to 14k in Colorado with no ill affects. Although they were only day hikes. Getting ready to do the presidential traverse in the white mountains in sept/oct as a day hike. So that will definitely be a 12 hour day. Also, have a few other winter hikes in the whites planned. We're all in pretty good shape currently, but are pushing it into high gear to get more endurance before our trip. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure the only thing that turns me back is bad weather.

My own hypothesis is that if one is fit enough, they can 'outrun' altitude sickness on 14k peaks to a certain extent.

ExcitableBoy wrote:My own hypothesis is that if one is fit enough, they can 'outrun' altitude sickness on 14k peaks to a certain extent.

it does seem to be that the only altitude sickness incidents you hear about on 14ers happen after several days at altitude.