|
|
| Post Number: 1
|
toejam 
the high road is hard to find
Group: Members
Posts: 1461
Joined: Mar. 2002
|
 |
Posted on: Jul. 30 2012, 1:39 pm |
|
   |
I'm feeling sorry for this pathetic forum. The real mountaineers talk somewhere else, but they've showed up here often enough to let the rest of us know that we're not real mountaineers. At least that's my theory about why a lot of us regular guys are climbing lots of mountains but not posting on this forum.
So I've met some real mountaineers, and I'm not one of them. But I love to play with ropes, crampons & ice axe, and about once a year I'll take them to a real mountain (that's not real challenging) and have fun with them. The most fun thing I've tried is climbing Mt. Rainier. I still don't have any friends I'd trust roped to me on a glacier, so I've done Rainier with professional guides.
A wannabe mountaineer.
I’ve climbed Rainier with RMI on their standard Disappointment Cleaver route and Kautz route. On my last trip I soloed Mt. Hood by the easy route on a perfect morning and met a guy on top who guided for IMG. He said I should do my next Rainier climb with IMG and promised I would like their product better. I had no complaints about my climbs with RMI and considered them worth every penny. But I figured what the heck, and when I saw IMG offer a Fuhrer Finger climb, I signed up.
My Fuhrer Finger climb was the second week of July this year when the upper mountain was still blanketed with late-season snow. The other team members had all climbed 20,000' peaks (I’ve climbed a bunch of 14ers), and the guides were studs - one guides Everest and the other has a lot of experience in Yosemite. The weather was ridiculously perfect.
The coolest thing about this climb was that it wasn't hurried. The plan was 5 days on the mountain, so no long days required if the weather is good. It was more like a backpacking trip on the upper mountain (the 4-day Kautz climbs are similar in this respect). On day 3 we got to the top of the Finger by the middle of the morning. The original plan was to set up camp there, but the perfect conditions allowed us to radio for permission to camp in the summit crater. We got permission, so moseyed on to the top, taking a couple of long breaks on the way.
We got to the crater about 4:00 p.m. and had it all to ourselves. After summit pictures, we set up camp in the bottom of the crater in warm temperatures and a light wind. The milky way and aurora borealis that night were amazing. We were wakened by guides barking at their clients, so we slowly crawled out of our bags and made coffee.
IMG offered to put us up in big tents at the Ashford HQ that night if we opted to come off the mountain. We decided we’d had enough of the cramped 4-man tent, so we went back to Ashford, bought the guides pizza & beer, and hung out at HQ listening to the real mountaineers tell stories. The next morning the guides put on a rope clinic for us so they wouldn’t have to mow the grass. My pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/toejamh....ectlink
I have nothing bad to say about RMI, but I really liked the experience with IMG. IMG guides make breakfast & dinner for the clients and do training sessions every day, so that’s a difference. The cool route and good luck with conditions have a lot to do with how enjoyable the climb was. I spent two nights at Whittaker’s hotel and heard a bunch of older climbers talk about how they thought they were ready but didn’t make it to the top with RMI. IMG’s standard DC route is designed to lessen the push on summit day, so I’d recommend IMG for a middle-aged climber the first time on Rainier.
|
 |
|
|
| Post Number: 2
|
TigerFan
Group: Members
Posts: 2001
Joined: May 2010
|
 |
Posted on: Aug. 01 2012, 1:30 pm |
|
 |
Thanks for posting this! This is one of the top things on my bucket list (as is a winter Mt Washington climb.) I actually had wanted to do it with RMI this summer but got intimidated out of it after reading about how they often weed out the slow climbers... that would be too much like getting voted off the island... :\
--------------
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 3
|
SPeacock
Group: Members
Posts: 1976
Joined: May 2004
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 02 2012, 2:46 pm |
|
|
One other thing about IMG is that if you show great potential they will invite you along on other routes/mountains they have in their guide repertoire. This way you both get to 'audition' or at least make competent connections with others you can trust.
Good way to get a small foot in a large doorway.
Assuming you can afford the 'hobby'.
It is usually a safety concern pruning out those that could be a hazard later the next day -- or would make it less pleasant for the other clients who are ready. They are fairly specific and up front about their clients being VERY fit.
Better to be voted off rather than carried off  Besides, from a LOT of experience they have a pretty good idea of how one will perform over others. And it is a business after all.
--------------
Experience as well as wisdom, at times, is foolishly acquired.
To understand why details matter, you first need to notice them.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 4
|
toejam
the high road is hard to find
Group: Members
Posts: 1461
Joined: Mar. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 02 2012, 5:57 pm |
|
|
I have 3 friends who weeded themselves out on RMI climbs - the guides encouraged them to keep going but they bailed. I thought my RMI climbs were plenty slow, but my pal who is normally faster than me on backpacking trips couldn't keep it up. People may perform differently on a big climb and some are freaked out about being roped up.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 5
|
John
Group: Members
Posts: 807
Joined: Feb. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 21 2012, 12:56 am |
|
|
Toejam, maybe you perform better at altitude than your friends.
Just curious......why did the three guys bail?
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 6
|
2PawsRiver
Group: Members
Posts: 241
Joined: Jul. 2008
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 21 2012, 8:18 am |
|
|
I'm not much for guides, but it looks like a good time and great pictures thanks for making the available.
--------------
www.MarkandSharonLundin.com
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 7
|
EastieTrekker
Group: Members
Posts: 1467
Joined: Mar. 2012
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 21 2012, 10:13 am |
|
|
Thanks for the informative post and awesome photos, Toejam. This is on my to-do list.
--------------
I request all the possible consumer protection organizations, and fight with their injustice. 
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 8
|
vinovampire
Winter is Coming
Group: Members
Posts: 637
Joined: Dec. 2007
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 22 2012, 8:40 am |
|
|
Thanks for sharing you Mt Rainier pictures and stories. I really need to move "out west" for a few years so I can take advantage of these big mountains.
For any of you eastern Backpackers who are interested in climbing Mt Washington this winter, I'm going to post an call to anybody interested to climb Mt Washington or something similar this winter in the Northeast Forum.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 9
|
skik2000
Group: Members
Posts: 165
Joined: Apr. 2010
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 28 2012, 3:32 pm |
|
|
Nice photos. Rainier is a beast. I've climbed several mountains that you think would be more difficult but I always get my ass kicked on Rainier.
Here's a photo on the Liberty Ridge last year.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 10
|
|
|
| Post Number: 11
|
toejam
the high road is hard to find
Group: Members
Posts: 1461
Joined: Mar. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 28 2012, 3:58 pm |
|
|
Love the Liberty Ridge picuture. Wow!
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 12
|
John
Group: Members
Posts: 807
Joined: Feb. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Aug. 29 2012, 2:19 pm |
|
|
Thanks, Steve.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 13
|
boogie
Group: Members
Posts: 1509
Joined: Apr. 2007
|
|
Posted on: Sep. 28 2012, 8:11 am |
|
|
Loved the write up.
Pics are fantastic.
Professional guides don't make the climb any easier, just less stressful.
Congrats
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 14
|
|
|
| Post Number: 15
|
GottaGamble
Group: Members
Posts: 1260
Joined: Sep. 2009
|
|
Posted on: Oct. 12 2012, 6:47 pm |
|
|
nice pictures...
--------------
www.mybackpacking.blog.com
"A government big enough to give you everything
you want is strong enough to take everything you have."
Gerald Ford
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 16
|
City Man
Group: Members
Posts: 6490
Joined: Dec. 2007
|
|
Posted on: Nov. 08 2012, 10:45 pm |
|
|
Neither a mountaineer nor do I have the skills needed, though it does have my admiration for the adventure, thank you for a look at your voyage, way cool 
--------------
It never hurts to do good – Eek the Cat
The quest for adventure is a never ending pursuit, an all consuming way to live life, it is a deep feeling that will never go away, embrace that feeling and have fun with your adventures.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 17
|
leadbelly2550
Group: Members
Posts: 1042
Joined: Apr. 2009
|
|
Posted on: Dec. 21 2012, 11:46 am |
|
|
great description. thanks for sharing.
i'm likely going to be in the white mountains in the Northeast this winter. because we often come in via the backside and stay in buildings (eg randolph mountaineering club - heck of a lot easier to make dinner out of the wind), we usually end up on Jefferson, Adams, and Madison rather than Mt. Washington.
i think the best winter approach to Mt. Washington, if you're not taking the auto road, is from Hermit Lake & Lion's Head. It's not really mountaineering - no glacier/crevasse concerns, for example, and no real need to wear a harness or use protection on most of the trails. more snowshoeing or snow travel with crampons.
But, you do need to know how to use an ice axe to self-arrest and as an anchor, and how to spot and avoid avalanche risk. you also need layers and gear capable of handling the kind of cold and wind normally confined to alpine mountaineering. you definitely need technical skills and gear if you're going to climb the ice chutes in Huntington's Ravine.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 18
|
hbfa
Group: Members
Posts: 7073
Joined: Feb. 2002
|
|
Posted on: Dec. 31 2012, 8:54 pm |
|
|
Just saw this TR now,
Thanks for the good info and pics, Toejam.
|
|
|
|
| Post Number: 19
|
Reminiscence
Group: Members
Posts: 3532
Joined: Sep. 2007
|
|
Posted on: Mar. 13 2013, 10:09 pm |
|
|
I've done the Kautz, and loved it. Certainly a fantastic peak and route.
--------------
When you are out West
Please, at my behest
Since you are Nature's guest
Do something to help the rest:
Dismantle a fire ring;
Take a stone and give a swing.
You may find that it will bring
A lift of goodness 'neath your wing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
