Rainier Mountaineering

I have recently returned from Mt. Rainier in Washington where I spent 8 days on the mountain developing the necessary skills for climbing Denali in Alaska. It was a sweet climb and I made some great friends along the way. We chose to climb Rainier in March to simulate the weather we would encounter on Denali. The average temperature hung around 0 degrees for the entire week and the mountain saw somewhere between 5 and 10 feet of fresh powder during our stay. Avalanche conditions were atrocious and winds got up to 40mph during our climb from 6k to 10,200 at Camp Muir. Descent off the mountain was made difficult by white out storms that made it difficult to see the wands we had placed on our way up. Even with all these hardships, I had an awesome time. We covered all aspects of climbing Denali including but not limited to snow camping techniques, ropes+knots, hardware, ice climbing, rappelling, belaying, prussiking, fixed line travel, glacier travel, crevasse rescue, and mechanical advantage. I'm back for spring quarter at UCSC. I will be heading to Alaska in June to climb 'The Great One'. Can't wait!