My coworker Josh, his brother Jason, and a friend of theirs are attempting to climb Mount Rainier next week. I've been on a few hikes with Josh and his brother. Actually, now that I think about it, the majority of the 14ers I've been to the top of have either been with Josh and/or Jason. They both finished all of the 14ers in Colorado last year and are now extending their climbs outside the state.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Rainier as a climb, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
"Mountain climbing on Mount Rainier is difficult, involving traversing the largest glaciers in the U.S. south of Alaska. Most climbers require two to three days to reach the summit. Climbing teams demand experience in glacier travel, self-rescue, and wilderness travel. About 8,000 to 13,000 people attempt the climb each year, about 90% via routes from Camp Muir on the southeast flank. Most of the rest ascend Emmons Glacier via Camp Schurman on the northeast. About half of the attempts are successful, with weather and conditioning being the most common reasons for failure. About three mountaineering deaths each year occur due to rock and ice fall, avalanche, falls, and hypothermia associated with severe weather."
Really though, for very experienced climbers from Colorado, the only major unknown on Rainier is the glacier. We don't have glaciers like on Rainier here (on our 14ers). There shouldn't be much difference between the two other then the glacier crossing, time and vertical feet required to get to the top. Easy for me to say while I'm sitting in my comfy chair in front of the computer.
The main reason I'm making a post about this trip is that Josh will be carrying a SPOT beacon. The short of a SPOT beacon is that is a satellite-based transponder that shows its position via GPS coordinates. It comes in very handy if you need to be found...and/or if you want to be followed. For example, by friends and family on a trip up Mount Rainier.
For anyone who is interested in following this group up Mount Rainier, here is the link to follow them and Josh's brief description of the trip. As I type this message, they are currently just south of Provo, Utah on highway 6:
"On my upcoming trip up Mount Rainier I will be carrying a SPOT beacon. This beacon allows anyone to track my progress on the website below. Our plan is to drive to Washington Friday-Saturday. We will start hiking up the mountain on Sunday. We will ascend 5,000 feet and reach our base camp at Camp Schurman that day (9,500 ft elevation). Then very early Monday morning we will begin our attempt to reach the summit, another 5,000 vertical feet above camp. If all goes well we will then hike down to camp, pack up our gear and hike out to the car that evening. If conditions aren’t favorable on Monday, our summit attempt could be postponed until Tuesday or even possibly Wednesday."
SPOT Josh - Click Here