US Senate Honors Search and Rescue Personnel

May 27th-Memorial Day Weekend

Winter still rules at Mt Rainier!!

We hope to see folks on the mountain psyched to climb and camp but please be prepared! GPS, map and compass, cell phone and a completed wilderness permit are all great tools that allow both climbers and rescuers a greater safety margin when the weather turns poor. Pack your Gore-tex and skis and have a good time with great winter conditions this weekend.


On Friday May 14, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Resolution 526, which honors the men and women who perform Search and Rescue (SAR) throughout the United States. The Resolution specifically acknowledges the role that professionals and volunteers provide to our country, and sets aside the week of May 16 to May 22, 2010 as National Search and Rescue week. Also, it encourages the people of the United States to observe and hold ceremonies and activities that promote awareness and appreciation of the role SAR personnel provide for their communities.

The Mount Rainier climbing community had a hand in making this possible, as our former Mountaineering and SAR Program Manager, Mike Gauthier, was one of the driving forces behind the Resolution. As you may recall, Mike left Mount Rainier to work in the US Senate last year. While at Mount Rainier, he participated in over 200 SAR incidents and had this to say about the Resolution, “This is a very personal story for me as my friends and fellow rangers, Sean Ryan and Phil Otis, died during a mountain rescue high on Mt. Rainier in 1995. Finding them on the glacier that day changed the trajectory of my life and career, and steeled my resolve to change the way we worked as climbing rangers. Being able to help with this resolution is part of my commitment to honor and remember them and their spirit.”

Mike and Central Mountain Rescue Volunteer Marty Lentsch have aspirations to eventually create a National Museum and Memorial for SAR. Said Mike, “some of the hardest, most valuable and rewarding moments of my time as a park ranger have been during search and rescue missions. I worked with many incredible people who gave their time and energy, sometimes risking their lives, in order to help others in emergencies. At Mount Rainier, the volunteers from the Mountain Rescue Association were very notable because they trained and prepared on their own in order to help the climbing, hiking, skiing and outdoor recreation community. So it is very appropriate that the US Senate, through our good friend Senator Maria Cantwell, acknowledge and set aside a week to recognize the work they, and the professionals from local, state and federal agencies, do in order to help people throughout the nation.”

Please pass this good news along and look for more information on how you can help. It will take time to organize and achieve a National Museum and Memorial, but it would be a fitting honor for those who have lost their lives in the line of duty and also for those who unselfishly give so much to help others in need.

More can be found about Sean Ryan and Phil Otis through books, and here is a link to the text of the Senate Resolution. Photo by Mike Gauthier.

~ DG

Ski of Dreams

After spending 36 solid hours stuck in our tent at high camp, we were treated to fresh turns all the way back to Paradise.

Come Climb in the Sun!

Come take advantage of the upcoming week of good weather by climbing Mount Rainier! Check out some recent updates and photos of the Kautz, Fuhrer Finger and Thumb, and the Wilson Headwall. Everything is looking Fat! Should be fun...

Self registration is still in effect during the week, but the Climbing Information Center will be open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Photos will be up shortly...

Guide House Opening 2010

This weekend the Guide House will be open for climbing registration. If you come up on Saturday or Sunday to climb on the south side of the mountain, please register in person at the Guide House in Paradise. We'll be open 6:00 AM till 3:00 PM both days. If you're coming up outside of that time frame the self-registration box will still be in place in Paradise at the Old Station.

The Guide House will be open everyday starting May 29th. Check out the permits, registration, regulation link to the right for more info. Also, if you're planning to climb an east- or north-side route, look to that route's condition page for current access issues.

Climbing ranger staff has still been busy in pre-season trainings. Last Monday Mark Moore from the Northwest Avalanche Center, NWAC, came up to the park to talk meteorology with us. He gave a great presentation mostly regarding the weather around Mount Rainier. The NWAC website is a great resource for all climbers thinking about climbing a route on Mount Rainier. Please make use of all the excellent online weather resources available. Check out the weather link to the right for some starters. The image to the right is from the UW's MM5 model for this Friday at 17:00.

Spring Training

Arlington Ashby attends to a mock patient

The climbing ranger team has been busy this spring with a number of trainings. We kicked it off with a highly productive week of rope rescue instruction led by Leo Loyd of Rigging for Rescue. The following week we focused on EMS ( emergency medical services ) skills, with one day of instruction from Remote Medical International followed by a day of training with Pearce County Fire EMS. Returning lead climbing ranger Glenn Kessler who gave us a day of rescue training geared towards professional avalanche rescue. Tucked into this busy schedule was a highly enlightening half day presentation by Mike Moore of the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center on mountain weather. We are all looking forward to getting out of the classroom and climbing on the upper mountain with the first available weather window. Training is great but climbing is better.

DG

Climbing Reservations, Facts and Tips

Reservations for climbing and wilderness permits opened on March 15th. By April 1st, we had a stack of over 1000 forms to process. We're not complaining, and keep them coming, but know that we are processing these ASAP and it is likely that your confirmation letter is or will be in the mail shortly. If we are unable to make your reservation due to camps being full, you will receive a letter giving the reason and you will not be charged for climbing passes or the reservation fee. Some common problems that will slow processing of your request are: not attaching the supplemental form if you have already purchased climbing passes, leaving out dates or camps, illegible credit card numbers, or omitting your credit card's three-digit security code, now required on the new version of the form (if you have an old form, please enter the three-digit code after your card number).
If the dates of your trip can be flexible you will be more likely to get your requested camps. Also if you can be flexible with the requested campsites, it allows us to modify your itinerary to accommodate your trip. While desirable for requests made for trips during midweek, these two options help considerably on the weekends.

For forms and more Info go to:

http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/wilderness-reservation-information.htm

Rainier After the Storm!

After receiving nearly 8 ft. of snow over the past week at Paradise,

the mountain is looking particularly PHAT!

(View from the Tatoosh)