Mt Ranier

[gobears870]

Might be a long shot bringing this up, but figured someone around here would have some experience and perspective.

For my 40th next year I want to do something epic. I was considering a bucket list hunt/fishing trip but now think I want to do a mountaineering school and summit. I’ve never done anything like this before.

Ranier is the one that pops up most, but I also see a lot of folks suggesting doing a warm-up like Mt Baker before taking on Ranier, even with a guide.

If anyone has done Ranier or other peaks out that way, would be interested in hearing what you think.

 

[wildwilderness]

First off it’s Rainier.

You should go for it. I wouldn’t worry about the technical side if you go guided. They will have it all figured out for you.

Elevation is the biggest unknown for folks. I would recommend doing an easy walk up or drive 14er in Colorado first and seeing how you respond to altitude. That will help the mental side of Rainier

 

[BrooksRanger]

I think you should do it. A few years back my friend and I decided that we wanted to do something fun after we returned from our deployment to the sand box. We tossed around a few ideas and ultimately decided Rainier would be a good fit in terms of something we could do with limited mountaineering experience, and enough of a challenge to be exciting. We went with one of the guiding companies and did the two night/three day trip. It went really well and even though we could have gone faster, we definitely enjoyed the experience and getting to know some other interesting people who were with our climbing group. It's a big mountain, and the views are pretty amazing. Go for it!

 

[bigbassin]

I haven’t done Rainier itself but have backpacked and climbed some of the smaller mountains in the park.

Hands down my favorite thing I’ve ever done, probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.

Do it.

 

[ColeyG]

I worked for one of the mtn guide services based in the Cascades for quite a while and slogged Baker, Rainier, and most of the volcanoes and popular peaks in the Cascades at least a handful of times.

You can't go wrong with a guided trip on either peak. Both peaks are in beautiful settings and make for a great intro to mountaineering and, hopefully, summit experience. There are a handful of companies that guide in each location and all are reputable and vetted through the agencies that oversee commercial activities and permitting in their areas of operation. All are quality with options for trip length and combinations of skills training and a summit climb.


The standard routes on both Baker and Rainier tend to be pretty busy during the normal climbing season, May through July-ish. Rainier tends to get the most attention because it is the tallest, so it draws the summiteer crowd. Those that are less interested in the experience and more interested in the glory that goes with the "biggest" or "tallest," which was never really my motivation for climbing things. Aesthetics and the overall experience, in my opinion, are the more worthy goals.


As such, my favorite Cascade volcano climb by far is Glacier Peak. Glacier is much more remote, far less frequently visited, and in the heart of the most beautiful and rugged part of the N Cascades. A truly epic experience.

The backpacking trip into the base of the climbing route(s) on Glacier Peak is a world-class experience in and of itself. Being more remote, it is a longer trip than Baker and/or Rainier would be. Most guide services that offer trips there run a 4-6 day itinerary.

Glacier Peak Climb and Skills Clinic | American Alpine Institute

This six-day introductory mountaineering course is for backpackers who want an introduction to glacier mountaineering.

www.alpineinstitute.com

Weather is obviously a huge factor on any trip like this. When the skies are blue and the wind is calm, time in the mountains is magical. When the weather is bad, it can be downright miserable if not deadly.

Best of luck and feel free to send me a PM with questions or for more info.

 

[Htm84]

Rainers fairly easy if you don’t have any mountaineering experience ( depending which route you take). The guide services mostly go up the DC or ingraham. I went and climbed it a few years ago in May. It’s kinda just a long walk up hill. Real hazards exist. No real technical climbing. Later in the year they use ladders and shit to bridge crevasses which is cool looking. Not much else to it. Guide services will go over roping up and how to get out of a crevasse and all that stuff.

 

[Geewhiz]

My brother has hiked rainier a few times. He hikes hood fairly often for excersize/training for rainier. After hearing what he has had to say about it and seeing pics it looks like its not for the faint of heart. Somewhere around 10k vertical. One of his times on hood he watched a guy lose balance, slide down a glacier and into a volcanic vent, and did not survive.

 

[hikenhunt]

If you're planning on getting a guide for Rainier, you don't need a mountaineering school. It is a good idea to see how your body responds to altitude beforehand as someone else suggested.

 

[Trogon]

Ive done ranier, hood, and shasta in the Cascades. Its a beautiful experience to be on the mountain, but you can get that hiking almost any big peak. Frankly, I thought it was a bit boring (but physically very challenging if you push it hard). The guide route is a packed trail with lots of other hikers on it. Certainly no solitude. There is no "climbing" just walking with crampons. I would much rather do a summer loop in the sierras and hit a few 14ers. Not sure what it costs to have a guide, but if we're talking thousands of dollars a hunt or fish trip sounds like more fun to me.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

I think most guides are booked a couple years out as well. Might wanna look into that part ASAP. If your birthday is this year or next.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Mt. Rainier is a great experience and it is fairly doable if you are in fairly decent shape. That being said, it's a glaciated BIG mountain and it's underestimated by alot of people. I've climbed it a few times as well as soloing it and I would suggest a guide service, especially if you don't have much mountaineering experience.
Definitely do it......you'll love it.

Randy

 

[Poser]

I did Rainier DIY back in the summer of 2000 with a couple of buddies. We had done Pico de Orizaba in Mexico a few months earlier. Inspired by climbing exploits, my father, with no climbing experience, flew out and did the guided route and summited. So long as you can hump uphill for hours on end, you’re good.

I’ve been thinking about going back out there in May or Junes one year and snowboarding Rainier, but that’s a slog of a day. We just don’t get that kind of vertical in CO since were already starting so high.

 

[98045]

Cascade volcanoes are awesome in every way. Rainier can be topped out by little kids and grandmothers if the weather is ideal and can turn back some tough dudes when the weather/conditions are tipped against you.
It would be wise to have mountaineering experience or to hire a guide service.
There are other good options too that are safer to do with little experience. Shasta, Adams and Glacier Peak all come to mind and Rach are beautiful.
Bonus points if you ski off the summit but that’s a whole other conversation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hikenhunt]

If you leave from Paradise, I've boarded down from Camp Muir many times and is much more doable and probably safer too. There aren't any glaciers on that section.

 

[ArmyAg97]

I knew there would be a post on this here. Looking to do this potentially for my 50. Thinking about the 9 day school and summit attempt on Baker and Rainier just for the experience/ time.

 

[Macintosh]

Looks like an old thread. It's been a long time, well over 20 years, since I've done those volcanoes, but have done a couple routes on rainier and on baker, plus some of the more rockaneering routes in NCNP and ONP. See Posts # 5 and 6 above, spot on. If you have any climbing experience the standard guide routes on both peaks are more hiking than climbing, the key difference being you are on a huge glacier complete with crevasses, etc, so while it's technically low angle and not "climbing" it is very, very different than what most people call a "hike". It's the glaciers that make it a pretty wild experience if you've never done that, and highly worthwhile. If you have the means and some fitness a 9 day could be cool, maybe see if they will do some instruction so you can do one of the non-standard routes, that's what will really blow your mind and get you away from the crowds a bit. Even the popular technical routes were crowded 25 years ago, so just dont go into it thinking you'll get a wilderness experience. Late summer can actually be really fun too, since many of the snow bridges will have melted out so it makes a lot of the routes a lot more technical and time consuming since you have to get across some crevassed sections crossing glaciers, some exposed ice rather than snow, etc--no ladders when I've ever been there, you just take the long way around, up over, down, through, etc, (although the standard guide routes may be fixed like that). Definitely go, it's a cool experience being on a glacier like that.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Done rainier once and Adams twice. Adams is easily doable without any mountaineering gear besides and axe and crampons.

Rainier is a great climb.