2007 Year in Review

We thought you devoted readers of the Mount Rainier Climbing blog would enjoy reading a 2007 Year in Review. We know, this should have been posted in December, but I was busy. Anyway, better late than never, right?

So, without further ado, my talented assistant Rebecca Agiewich and I present: Mount Rainier 2007: a blogosphere perspective of climbing on Mount Rainier.

January and February

CLOSED! Basically, every major road in the park was wiped out (to some degree) by the epic rainfall (18 inches in 36 hours) and subsequent flooding of November 2006. Fixing that sort of damage completely was too much for a meager NPS budget to handle, which created quite the buzz about how it was all going to get cleaned up. So much so that acclaimed cartoon satirist, David Horsey, poked fun at the park’s desperate financial situation. Despite Horsey’s pointed jab at government priorities and politics, Congressman Norm Dicks came to the rescue by reallocating 36 million dollars for flood repairs from the Department of Transportation and the Department of the Interior. NICE eh?

As for mountain climbing? Very little happened early in the year because of the difficult access.

The Tacoma News Tribune reported extensively on the damage. They even took time to poke a little lighthearted fun at me. The fact, however, remained: little changed in February and climbers weren’t scaling the peak. Therefore, this blog devoted more time to the flood recovery (i.e. a specific “Flood Blog” and photo gallery) than to climbing. Things were so slow around here that I took a trip to South America for an ascent of Aconcagua. Recommendations? Visit Mendoza, it’s wonderful.

March

This month started off sadly. A devoted married couple drowned in Ipsut creek while on a backpacking trip. Frances "Annette" Blakeley slipped while crossing a log over Ipsut Creek. Her husband Robert tried to rescue her by immediately diving in. Tragically, both were swept up in the torrent and caught in a “strainer” (log-jam).

On the lighthearted side of things, former Mount Rainier climbing ranger Mimi Allin was noticed by the Seattle Times for her work as the Poetess of Green Lake. See what sort of career opportunities exist post-climbing-ranger employment?

The Seattle Times judged the National Park Inn in Longmire “one of the most exclusive hotels in the world”. Such distinction!… Well that was the case for a little while, but that was because the inn stayed open even as park roads remained closed. Those visitors were shuttled into Longmire via a back Forest Service road and were allowed to "enjoy indoor plumbing in the park's largely unpeopled wilderness."

April

Road re-construction continued at a feverish pace as preparations commenced for the park to “re-open.” During that time, the Mount Rainier community mourned the loss of former climbing ranger Lara Kellogg. She fell while descending Mt. Wake in Ruth Gorge of the Alaska Range. Her death was a significant loss for the local climbing community as she was a wonderful person and significant social hub.

Meanwhile, outdoor writer extraordinaire Greg Johnston wrote about his experiences climbing Mount Rainier for the Seattle PI, which included witnessing a rescue at Camp Muir. He also wrote an article about changes at the park from due to the flooding.

Most notable of Greg’s articles, however, was the piece about the historic change in the guiding concessions on Mount Rainier. This, perhaps, was some of the biggest mountaineering news on Rainier in the past decade. For the first time in over 30 years, RMI would be sharing their exclusive guiding concession privileges. Into the scene entered Alpine Ascents and International Mountain Guides. Now prospective climbers have three guide services to choose from for mountaineering services. All routinely offer summit climbs and other expedition experiences on the mountain and beyond, truly connecting Mount Rainier to the international mountaineering circuit.

We also posted the 2006 "Mountaineering Report" in April. It includes a variety of interesting statistics such as the overall success rate for 2006 (63%) and the amount of human waste carried down from the mountain (four and a half tons). As an aside, we’re working on the 2007 report, so hang tight!

May

And with great fanfare, the primary road into the park re-opened on May 5th. More interesting for you upper mountain lovers, ski sicko Sky Sjue and partner Christophe Martine made what is probably the first ski descent of the Fuhrer Thumb. Thanks Sky for your continued cool reports from the upper glaciers. Everyone loves them.

Meanwhile, more sad news came out of Alaska when mountain climber Mizuki Takahashi and Brian Massey -- well-known climbers in the Seattle area who both loved to climb Rainier-- died while on Mount McKinley. They fell on the upper reaches of the West Rib route.

June

911 is not a climbing information service. Amid a flurry of climbing activity, a number of climbers dialed those sacred three digits when they probably shouldn't have. Because of it, they received a lecture about when and how to use the “emergency service.” We also used the blog to remind some climbers about the importance of not leaving sick or slow-moving partners behind.

While on the topic of emergencies, an actual tragedy struck off of the mountain yet in the park. Hiker Jeff Graves fell to his death when he became disoriented on Eagle Peak. Clouds and heavy snowpack were contributing factors to his getting off route.

Less dramatic, the door to the outhouse blew away over at Camp Schurman (three times). This made for a cold – yet scenic -- potty experience.

July

Bill Painter strikes again! Washington State’s famed 84-year old climber made yet another successful ascent via the Emmons Glacier route, resetting his own record as the oldest person to climb Mount Rainier.

Speaking of fame, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell visited Camp Muir and chatted up some of the climbing rangers. Imagine a sitting U.S. Senator getting the inside scoop on the park from a group of mountain climbers (I’m glad she didn’t call 911 for such questions!). Anyway, this wasn’t the last of Senator Cantwell, as she reappears in August for a summit climb.

The "no-rescue" streak (for the upper mountain) that began in 2006 ended in July when a climber broke his ankle practicing self-arrest at Camp Muir. Afterward, there were a few other minor incidents later in the summer, but it is worth noting that no significant accidents or injuries occurred in 2007. There were a number of great trip reports in June and July, so check out the archives.

August and September

Park superintendent Dave Uberauga and Deputy Superintendent Randy King made a successful summit attempt. Along the way, they caught up on the progress of hut repairs at Camp Muir and checked up on the new guiding operations. In this busy climbing month, lots of folks went up the Emmons/Winthrop Glacier route.

There was a flurry of helicopter activity around the upper mountain during a mock-rescue operation in late August. KOMO TV and other media types went along for the ride. Senator Maria Cantwell returned to the mountain for a summit climb -- a trip that was reported on by the Puget Sound Business Journal. She would have likely made the summit, but a longer route and team dynamics thwarted the attempt. Perhaps she’ll try again in 2008?

October, November and the end of 2007

There was a touching story about two “old-time” mountain rescuers who revisited the mountain. In September, they were flown around Camp Schurman on a special flight. Back in the early 60’s, they helped to build the Camp Schurman hut (read about it yourself.) Some climber/skiers did a trip on the Kautz Glacier and although they didn't meet their objective they posted a funny trip report with lots of photos.

As a video-game devotee, I was thrilled to discover Mount Rainier featured in the new X-Box 360 version of Halo 3. And then there were those two lost hikers on the Muir Snowfield, whose butts were saved by a Canadian climbing guide Phil Michael. Go Canada! Not so lucky was Pickles, the famed fox of Mount Rainier. Poor Pickles had to be euthanized after being hit by a car. Other November news can be found here.

December kicked the winter off with intense snowfall (198 inches) which then created long periods of exceptionally high avalanche hazard. That hazard caught hiker Kirk Reiser. Kirk and his best friend Troy Metcalf were descending to Paradise from when Kirk was caught and buried in an avalanche in Edith Creek. It was a terribly sad way to close out 2007.

New Visitor Center Sneak Peek

Being a "Mount Rainier VIP" (did you realize that volunteers are labeled "VIPs" because they are "Volunteers In Parks?") allowed me to recently take a private tour of the new Jackson Visitor Center and remodeled Paradise Inn.

Both are still under construction (which has consumed the Paradise upper lot for the last 2 summers) but thankfully, that construction is drawing to a close this year. The Paradise Inn will re-open in May and the new Jackson Visitor Center is scheduled to re-open this October.

Exploring the bowels of a major construction site was a fascinating and educational experience. The first notable surprise was how many people were actually involved in the project, and the variety of different tasks they were all doing.

Project safety manager Derek Burr (my tour guide) says there are about 30-40 people working on the visitor center site on any given day. The various specialists include (but are not limited to!):

• Heavy equipment operators
• Carpenters
• Pipe fitters
• Sprinkler pipe fitters
• Plumbers
• Electricians
• Sheet rock workers
• Earth workers
• HVAC technicians
• Iron workers
• Sheet metal workers

Another interesting fact about the visitor center construction site is that it features a "Dance Floor." Not your Saturday Night Fever variety, but a giant platform -- nicknamed the Dance Floor -- that is suspended 24 feet in the air. Above that false floor is another 24 more feet of scaffolding that enables workers access to the fifty-foot high pitched ceilings.

Burr notes that working on the high ceiling was one of the most challenging elements of the project. The Dance Floor was created because they couldn't fit a "lift" inside the doorway of the building.

Another cool feature of this project -- designed to address the weather challenges of Paradise -- is a scaffolding that extends beyond the roof-line by 10 feet. "That way that people can work on the outside of the building from the inside, without being killed by snow falling off the roof,” says Burr.

There are even more people working at the Paradise Inn-- 40-50, says Burr. The goal is to rehabilitate the 86-year old building so that it retains its rustic feel but can better withstand the ravages of time and weather.

To make the building stronger while keeping the historic atmosphere, many of the original beams, planks, and logs in the walls and floors were taken out, reinforced with concrete and steel, and then put back. The Inn has seen a lot of wear and tear over the years. Earthquakes and large snow-loads have made the floor uneven, pushed on the walls and created gaps and even some trenches throughout the structure.

One such trench in the corner of the dining room was so big that Burr wondered if “they were gonna dig up some skeletons?” Seriously though, an NPS archaeologist did examine the area and thankfully, no skeletons were found (Remember... Redrum...).

One big challenge for this type of construction project is to keep employees working at Paradise. "It's not an easy job," says Burr. To those of us who visit Paradise for those gorgeous views and hikes, it might be hard to imagine what could be so difficult about working there. (It beats a cubicle, doesn't it?) But the commute is quite long and many of the workers reside in temporary housing. And then of course, there is always the threat of crashing your truck on a slick icy road that is threatened by avalanches, or the joy of digging it out of the snow daily.

Burr, however, has enjoyed the job and his surroundings. "Some people don't even like to look at the view. But I take as many pictures as I can." Photos by Burr, Agiewich and NPS.

What happened to all of the winter climbers?

This winter has delivered some rather amazing weather and snow conditions. As we've noted, Mount Rainier has seen its fair share of extended snowstorms and extreme avalanche conditions. But lately, that trend hasn’t been the case. Over the past few weeks, the mountain has largely been blessed with beautiful days and clear nights. Swarms of visitors have been making the most of these sunny skies, warmer temps and rather calm weather. Ski and snowshoe trails lace the Paradise area and virtually every prominent vista has a few down-hill tracks below them.

Even the boot and ski track up to Camp Muir has been pretty deep on recent weekends. But what’s noticeable is the lack of boot and ski tracks venturing beyond Camp Muir. With only a few weeks left in March and the remaining days of winter rapidly slipping away, we’re wondering "What happened to all of winter climbers?"

During the last "normal" winter '05-'06 (loosely defined as Dec 1 March 31) 185 climbers attempted the summit on Mount Rainier. This winter ('07-'08) our climbing attendance has precipitously dropped to a lowly 42 attempts! One wonders, is this a trend? After reviewing the past six years (with the exception of last winter when the primary road was entirely closed), the next lowest attendance was '03-'04 when only 104 climbers attempted to summit. That number is more than double what we're seeing this year. So what gives?

Of the 42 climbers this winter, only 6 have been successful (a 14.3% success rate). That success rate falls within the historic average during the same time range (Dec 1 – March 30). The winter high on Mount Rainier was 23.3% during the '06-'07 season (oddly enough when the road was closed) and the low was 1.6% in '05-'06.

The big story, however, is the notable drop in the number of climbers attempting the summit. This data backs up the anecdotal observations of those who frequent the Park. They say that people are just not coming in as large numbers as they used to. With the exception of a few busy weekends this winter, the park has not seen the overall visitation that is normally expected.

Taking into account this season’s well publicized avalanche concerns, this is somewhat understandable. Let’s face it, December 2007 and most of 2008 have been a tough year for positive Rainier press… The winter started with one avalanche fatality and was promptly followed by numerous road closures and other warnings about how high and extreme avalanche conditions were. Certainly, the media picked up the tempo. There was plenty of coverage in every major newspaper including even the New York Times.

At the main visitor centers, the most common questions received relate to the weather and avalanche conditions. Many people are calling to check if "the Mountain" is even ‘OPEN’. YES, "the Mountain" is "OPEN" and by all accounts "the Mountain" is looking pretty darn good on these recent clear days.

So, here are those climbers stats for the past few winters. These cover December 1 - March 31. By the way, we normally consider winter attempts from Dec 21 to March 20 (or whatever the exact "winter" season is).

2007-2008 - 42 climbers - 6 summited
2006-2007 - 17 climbers - 4 summited
2005-2006 - 185 climbers - 3 summited
2004-2005 - 208 climbers - 32 summited
2003-2004 - 104 climbers - 4 summited
2002-2003 - 230 climbers - 36 summited
2001-2002 - 137 climbers - 14 summited

As a reminder, the uphill gate at Longmire closes nightly at 5:30 pm. The downhill gate closes the road at 7:00 pm. Generally, the Longmire gate re-opens every morning after the road has been cleared of snow. Sometimes that's as early as 8 am, but during storms, it can be as late as noon! Call the NPS general information line at (360) 569-2211 and select #1 for road and weather conditions. If you’re coming up to climb, check out the registration page too. Keep in mind that there is NO self registration this winter.

Thanks to Monica Magari for her help with crafting much of this post! Photo of Eben Reckord heading towards the upper Nisqually Icefall by Ben Kurdt.

Paradise and a Scarlet Macaw

As hoped, the road to Paradise opened on Sunday. A predictable onslaught of tourists and backcountry skiers (and even a few climbers) overflowed the parking lot and packed the adjacent slopes this weekend. In all, over 975 cars entered the park on Sunday alone, with an average of 3-4 people stowed aboard each vehicle. The result - "Paradise" was crowded. But that was fine, because every soul that I encountered had a huge smile on their face and were immensely thankful to finally see the sun and mountain again. That's what two months of clouds, snow and rain can do to anyone. The News Tribune pumped up the crowd with a lengthy discussion of the re-opening in their Saturday paper. They even took the time to mention my house, which I honestly feared would collapse under the snow-load (BTW, I have since shoveled my roof).

For climbers, there are no summit reports to immediately share. Three hardy souls ventured up the Tahoma Glacier towards Sunset Amphitheater to ski the couloir (seen left). They didn't reach the summit (due to warm temps) but one member (Sky Sjue) shared a sunset image (above) for our pleasure.

Camp Muir is a windblown place where notably less snow has fallen (or stayed). By all reports, the Cowlitz and Nisqually Glaciers are scoured, there are numerous bare rocks at Camp Muir, and the huts are easily accessible. Either it isn't snowing much or the wind is blowing it all off.

I have often noted that Mount Rainier gets its precipitation in 3-4,000 foot bands. What I mean is, there is always snow somewhere. The question is, where does it stick? For now, the snow is sticking between 2,500 feet and 6,500 feet. So the Muir Snowfield is OK, but at Camp Muir and above, the snowpack seems pretty darn thin. This is particularly the case when measured against the snow-loads at Longmire and Paradise.

My good friend Bruce Barcottt has a new book. So what's his connection to Mount Rainier? Bruce wrote Measure of a Mountain, Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier , a necessary read for Rainier afficionados. He has since leveraged his journalistic talent into a big-shot writing career with Outside, Harpers, Mother Jones, NY Times Magazine and Sports Illustrated. Anyway, his new book The Last Flight of the Macaw was positively reviewed by the New York Times last Sunday. For those in the local Seattle crowd, we are fortunate, because Bruce will have a reading at Elliot Bay Books on Feb. 29th and Third Place Books on March 1st. Check it out.

Hope - Paradise may open on Sunday

Here is the updated situation on the road to Paradise, infused with a fresh supply of images for your consumption. As it stands today (Valentines Day) the NPS hopes that public access to Paradise will be restored by Sunday. The Deputy Superintendent, Randy King (i.e. bigwig), had this to say,

"The park's road crew has made amazing progress in the difficult snow removal job on the Longmire to Paradise Road and in the Paradise area proper this week. And other maintenance crews are busy shoveling and removing snow from buildings, accessways, water systems, hydrants, etc. - a hard job to say the least! Today the utilities crew discovered the water system was not recovering. The earliest possible results from the [health department] test would be on Saturday and we cannot open [the road] to the public until we have a good water sample. So, at this point, the earliest we can possibly reopen will be on Sunday, pending a good water sample result."

In the meantime, here are some pictures for you. This is what happens when the road isn't plowed for a few days during a winter storm. No way would you get into the Paradise Old Station on a day like this. Breaking into the second story window isn't an option! Many old-time climbers may recall that this was where you'd self register for winter trips.

Getting into the Jackson Visitor Center poses similiar problems.
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"Redrum"... Is that the Paradise Inn or the hotel from The Shining. Do I see Jack Nickolson in one of those windows?

More seriously, we're now trying to figure out how much snow actually fell at Paradise during the past week. Unfortunately for record purposes, no one was able to measure the daily snow total during that time. The "new" snowfall recorded on Tuesday, when a ranger finally got up there after a week, was over 55 inches, but that doesn't account for compaction, heating, rain, etc. When last recorded on Feb. 7th, Paradise had 559 inches for the winter. There were 7 new inches last night, giving a total near 621 inches for the 2007/08 winter. That number is about average for a normal YEAR total. So considering that we're only halfway through the snow year, Mount Rainier may be on track for a big one. Personally, I hope so, as I love to spring ski in June and July... Though it might have a negative affect on Slush Cup. NPS photos

Life in Longmire

It certainly is snowy here at Longmire. Check out the image of my government issue house. It's almost a snowcave, and those are some serious icicles too. Don't mess with them.

Life is pretty mellow up at Mt. Rainier during the winter. It's great getting out out of Seattle a few days a week to come here. The routine so far has been: hang out in the office (i.e. scheme ways to improve the blog and seek grants for an artist in residence program), go out skiing with climbing ranger Chris Olson (i.e. risk my life following a great skier through steep treed terrain), then hang out at Mike's house (who could be a smashing restaurateur: grilled chops and salmon, mojitos, and lemon drops). Rough life, I know.

Since Chris is pretty much a professional skier and will turn his boards down anything in any conditions, hanging out with him has been an adventure so far. During our first day out a few weeks ago (when the sun last revealed itself), we skied bulletproof ice from Panorama Point to Paradise. The saving grace was crystal clear skies, letting us see almost every big peak in Washington and Oregon. (Right: Chris at Panorama Point).

Once, we skied partway up the Eagle Peak trail then came down in the dark through the trees. It was like being on a roller coaster where you couldn't see the next twist or turn until you came right up on it. Or, as Chris put it in his ski report, it "felt like a bobsled run in the dark." Of course, he wrote that after skiing the trail by himself and blazing down it at about 50 mph. Anyway, we skied it the next day together and came down at a more leisurely pace but it still felt fast to me!

The ski up through the old growth forest was beautiful, with fluffy snow everywhere. Piled in soft pillows all around us, hanging from the trees, falling from the sky. I felt like I was living in a Christmas carol. (Left: Chris leads the way up the "bobsled run")

I was also thinking what a great trail this was for snowshoers, when Chris pointed out how easy it would be to get lost if you didn't know exactly where the trail was. (He was amazed that the trail was still visible through all the recent snow). I realized that he was right and suddenly got a little less complacent about it - especially when he reminded me that a hiker died on this trail last June.

Then again, if anyone knows his way around here, it's probably Chris. The problem is, if you follow him up something, you also have to follow him down.

Boom, LOUD... Road closed...

The bombing operation referred to last week went by without a hitch (i.e. no one was blown up). However, it didn't solve all of the threats to the road. Unlike a typical ski patrol operation where they mitigate the hazard regularly, the snowpack above the road to Paradise grew so large that it required larger amounts of bomb making material to blast the heck out of the slopes. Good thing too, because those bombs released a substantial amount of snow that was more than ready to slide... And as for the entire day, avalanche control with the use of bombs made for a really unique NPS experience!

The explosive activity took place in an area called "Washington Cascades." That's about 1.5 miles below Paradise and just above the "Canyon Wye" (where you turn right to visit Stevens Canyon, Box Canyon, and Ohanapecosh.) As you can see to the right, Chris Olson is strapping some blasting caps to a 50 lb. bag of ammonium nitrate. This is something of a new operation for most of us (not so new to Chris). Anyway, this explosive was lowered on a plastic sled (the type your kids slide upon) into avalanche terrain where they were ignited with a "shock tube." All in all, it was impressive and really effective. Last Friday, those bombs released a number of large slides in "Washington Cascades." The slides buried the road with debris and took care of the looming avalanche hazard that threatened the road crew operators.

At this time, the road to Paradise remains closed. But that's largely due to the frequent and thunderous slides that have occurred lower on the road (i.e. well below Paradise). The rain and warmer temps activated a number of avalanche slopes. In one area, the "Christine Hairpin", located just below the Comet Falls trailhead, a slide covered both lanes of the road with over 20 feet of deposition! As far as we recall, nobody has seen this sort of debris at Christine Hairpin in the almost 20 years. Above the Glacier Bridge, there are four other significant slide paths in what we call "Glacier Hill". Slides in that area also produced similar piles of wet, heavy snow. The NPS road crew is now scratching, digging, and plowing away at the massive mounds, but it's considered that the road to Paradise may not open for another 4-7 days. As you can see in this image to the left, the road is gone/buried. Nobody has ventured above Ricksecker Point, roughly 5 miles below Paradise since Monday. Hopefully, we will be able to ski up to Paradise tomorrow, dig out the telemetry site, and see what's going on.

When thinking about the avalanche threat, we are somewhat fortunate. Warm weather has started to consolidate the snowpack and things appear a little safer this week. There is some rain in the forecast for the next 24 hours, but probably not enough to produce the large slides that observed so far. The NWAC has dropped the hazard level from Extreme to Considerable/Moderate (below 7000 feet). Stay tuned, we'll keep you up to date on what's shaking. For now, don't rely on being able to visit Paradise over the President's Day weekend. Top image by Stefan Lofgren, second by Chris Olson "The snowcovered road above Glacier Bridge."