Mt. Rainier in December - feasible?

by **dskoon** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:15 pm

Vitaliy M wrote:
tazz wrote:EB, best post in this thread! Except, you let the cat out of the bag . No one is supposed to know about our special Feb. High. Shhh....

Maybe he just wants to lure everyone into going there during roughest time? Do the opposite, go in December jk : )

I think posts like these should be organized into "Best of.." category. We have too many threads with similar questions. Some get great responses, some are ignored. Posts like this shouldn't be lost in SP mess.

Threads with current conditions are one thing. Threads regarding "What do I bring to Denali/Rainier/Whitney/Tetons/Shasta blah blah blah" is a different story. There are at least ten of these with a variety of info from great to worst. Would be nice to organize it into BEST and maybe include it on Mountain page somewhere. So in order to save these threads from evolving one could be referred to this chunk of info.

Or, one could just go to the "Denali, Rainier, Hood, Shasta," etc. page, and do a bunch of research on their own.
Questions such as these seem inevitable. Same thing occurs on CascadeClimbers every year. It's all ok, though, as it makes for fun and informative reading.

by **JJBrunner** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:30 pm

AlpineAffinity wrote:
JJBrunner wrote:If you have to ask...

People who post this psuedo-elitist garbage can shove it. The forums should be a safe place to post any (well, okay most...) questions without catching uncalled for flak from people who aren't that impressive themselves. Sorry to hijack the thread, but for all you Mark Twight wannabes out there, I've nothing but disdain for you.

My two cents.

How did you interpret my post as "psuedo-elitist garbage"? I've never done Rainier, and I personally wouldn't feel ready right now to attempt it. I never said anything like that. But from my experience, having to ask about a serious mountain over the internet means you aren't ready. I've had failures that support that statement. So, basically, I'm the exact opposite as you took me to be in your post, and because of this, I believe my post has some credibility.

I believe SP members should be allowed to post their thoughts and opinions without catching uncalled flak from people who may or may not be impressive themselves.

I personally believe I won this arguement...

by **JJBrunner** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:52 pm

Well technically, I never said he couldn't do it. My statement was incomplete :lol:

. I would put a lot of concern over the fact that SP members considered his pace very slow under favorable conditions. It would seem like it's not the best idea for the OP to jump to doing Rainer in the winter. It's obviously a serious mountain, especially in the winter. Maybe it would have been a good idea for the OP to state more of his past experience and ask experienced SP members if they thought he was ready?

But the whole asking about a guide statement isn't really related...You would obviously know what is required to summit, you wouldn't have to ask that. You could ask specific things about guides but I think you would know if you have the ability to summit alone from past experience.

by **fatdad** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:11 pm

Sometimes the best advice is to encourage a cautious approach to someone whose experience hasn't been fully discerned rather than encouraging them to 'go for it' when they may not be ready for their stated goal. If some might disagree with that approach, they should merely say they disagree and state why, not engage in name calling.

People should be able to offer frank opinions without concern that they're going to be labelled an a-hole or some other choice words. You might criticize someone for their lack of courtesy, but if the OP doesn't want a variety of opinions, they shouldn't post in the first place.

Some of the best advice I've ever received was someone telling me I wasn't ready for a project and suggesting alternatives to build my skill and experience.

by **mvs** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:55 pm

ExcitableBoy's 2nd post about December versus later winter months is very valuable and hard won knowledge. December really is a bad time. How many times do you get a high pressure cold window in December? I remember one around Christmas time some years ago. I think it's kind of rare.

I attempted the Ingraham Direct in winter, February 2002. I remember being pleasantly surprised that the snow wasn't very deep, which is really nice but also tells you something about the wind up there. We made it to just below the crater rim while a storm/wind built up around us. The wands we'd placed saved our asses, because about 30 minutes into the descent the wind was roaring like a freight train and we were being sand-blasted by ice pellets. We could see about 15 feet in front of us. Just for perspective on the situation, I fell waist deep into a crevasse, and neither the guy on the rope in front nor the one in back could really notice or remark on the situation, everyone was in their own private swirl of ice pellets. Just getting back to Muir was a major accomplishment, I thought.

Anyway that was February, when a high pressure spell, which was all that made it possible, is a bit more likely.

If you have to do it, watch the weather religiously, and buy a ticket if and only if you have a 4 day clear/cold forecast. Figure that you are throwing the money away, and maybe the stars will align

.

by **mvs** » Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:36 pm

1000Pks wrote:Given a well trodded climbers path and a day or two for good weather, I see no good reason that a strong novice would not be able to do Rainier in December, but then I am not personally familiar with the mountain at that time of year, or any time of year. Denali is done in a day by some, and it is also done in mid winter.

It would be more icing on the cake for me to do such myself, given that many locals have said that people like me (meant racially, 1970's) could never do what I have done, surpassing them (local enviro club). With good luck and proper preparation, it seems reasonable that this poster could do this, however unlikely, but with clear weather as has happened in winter, and a strong will with some assistance, I would not deem this impossible. A local peak that some said that I would never do, I did on my first try in midwinter, a claim which they still (in the local enviro club) hold improbable or a complete lie, and by them, justifying similar!

It sounds like about 4 intriguing stories in your post 1000Pks, really! But you can probably understand why, in a wet environment so prone to hypothermia, extreme caution is urged. My first visit to Washington State was for a job interview in November. I was blithely sure I could go on a big hike. I had a hilarious time somewhere near the Carbon River entrance at Mount Rainier, slipping and sliding through a verglassed clearcut, completely soaked and shivering. Up there, it's all about the weather. 30 year olds talk about it and sound like crotchety old farts...can't be helped.

by **lcarreau** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 1:17 am

Vitaliy M wrote:
Which peak are you talking about?

by **SKI** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 3:58 am

Rainierrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

by **EastKing** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:00 am

tazz wrote:EB, best post in this thread! Except, you let the cat out of the bag . No one is supposed to know about our special Feb. High. Shhh....

Good to see you back Tazz. You were very missed on this site.

The cat is out of the bag and Josh, Jimbopo and are now going to do this in February for practice on Josh's Denali attempt in July. :twisted:

I will only though go if the conditions are perfect and I can get the days off from my two jobs!!!

by **lcarreau** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:42 am

tazz wrote:This is what it will be like this week. Just add this week and more, likely thru dec and jan...

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=46.84516443029276&lon=-121.7889404296875&site=sew&smap=1&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text

http://www.nwac.us/

Nuf said.

by **BigMitch** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:42 am

Why don't you do the winter climb with a guide service like International Mountain Guides? They quote less than a 20% chance of reaching the summit, but you will learn a great deal about big mountains in winter.

by **lcarreau** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 3:27 am

So, it's already December. Did the OP ever decide whether or not to attempt Rainier in winter ???

by **ExcitableBoy** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 6:28 pm

lcarreau wrote:So, it's already December. Did the OP ever decide whether or not to attempt Rainier in winter ???

Ummm, It's not winter yet. Give it two more weeks.

by **saxybrian** » Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:25 am

I did Rainier this April (2010) and we had a decent weather window when we flew out. Low avy conditions and good weather. Within a day, a pressure system moved in, a storm from Alaska picked up speed and was due to be on the mountain the night we got to Rainier. We left Paradise late (1:30pm) and by 4pm we were in 70mph+ wind sustained with gust reaching almost 90mph. We had a complete white out, no wands on the trail up or any boot pack due to wind scorn on the route up. We got to 10,100 feet on the muir snow field and couldn't find camp Muir. We had to pitch a tent and the next day when we woke up in the 50mph wind found out we were a 10 min walk from Muir (That was after decending 5 minutes the previous night.

Rainier in winter has some cool aspects (Different routes being in) but is also a lot more tricky to do. I plan on another Winter trip in 2011 but I plan on waiting on a good weather window and booking the flight the day before. I'm still scared of doing a winter ascent and still think I may even wait until May to do my trip on this Mountain.

We're looking at Gib Ledges or maybe Gib Chute, however I know the chute is freaken so prone to Avy danger so I do want to stay off it as much as possible.

I guess what I'm saying, is even if you have a decent weather window, shit can happen. I had some pretty nasty frost nip on my cheek to with only 10 mins exposure.

by **lcarreau** » Thu Dec 09, 2010 4:25 pm

ExcitibleBoy wrote:
lcarreau wrote:So, it's already December. Did the OP ever decide whether or not to attempt Rainier in winter ???

Ummm, It's not winter yet. Give it two more weeks.

Excuse me. It's DEFINITELY winter where I am ..

Mt. Rainier in December - feasible?

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