Bare Bones

Route: AI2-3 Grade II-III; Ice, Alpine, 9000 ft*

Ascent via the Kautz Route. Carry over and descent via the DC.

*According to Mountain Project/Summit Post

Length: Two days with an overnight at Camp Hazard at 11,200’

Dates: July 24-25th, 2020

Climbing Gear:

Here’s my regular PSA that just because someone on the internet used a certain rack (or lack thereof) does not mean it’s the right rack for you.

• Air Tech Light Crampons (yes, they’re aluminum and light. Aluminum is known for bouncing off hard ice, so either be very comfortable reusing axe pick holes for feet or bring something steel)

• Grivel Ghost Evo Axe with trigger (great to have one of these for the approach since it’s also aluminum & therefore light/a good plunge-stepping and self-arresting tool, but I was glad I brought the tech machine as a second ‘real’ tool)

• Carbon Tech Machine

• 4x screws ranging from 13-17cm

• 5 draws; 2x double-lengths

• 60m Beal Opera 8.5mm dry-treated rope

• 1 picket (not used, but I’m told real Cascades climbers always bring one 🤷‍♀️)

The Details

Deb and I left the parking lot around 9:30am ish. Who doesn’t like to start up a route in a complete ping-pong ball whiteout?

There are two main approaches, we crossed the Nisqually Glacier on a flat traverse at 6,300 feet to the base of a large gully called The Fan. It wasn’t really ‘in’ per say, and there was a lot of rockfall everywhere, so we moved fast and up this gully to reach the bench at 7,400’. I think other parties have been taking the Wilson Glacier approach because I saw no bootpack at all the whole way (only some goat tracks), even in very narrow snow constrictions.

Eventually we broke out of the cloud soup to blue skies and a view of Rainier.

We slogged pretty uneventfully up to our camp at 11,200’ and were very lucky to have running water up there, meaning that I was carrying a lot of extra fuel. Better safe than sorry. We left the parking lot ~9:30 am-ish and were up at camp before 5pm. For the whiteout navigation in the morning, and us taking it slow, it was a good pace.

Altitude and I don’t mix very well. Above 11k, my appetite disappears entirely. I had a packet of miso and 15cal of electrolytes mixed with hot water for dinner and that was all I could stomach for the evening. Not great if you’re planning to go up and over a giant mountain the next morning.

After ramen (which would prove to be the only food I ate for pretty much the rest of the day not counting 1 clifshot blok and 6 dates), we packed up our tent, sleeping bags, pads, stove, fuel, and everything else. We were coming down the other side of Rainier via a different route, so no chance at leaving our gear behind to grab it later.

At 5:30am we set off and rapped down the rock step. We didn’t really need headlamps at this point. I love non-super-alpine starts. The sleep definitely helped me feel fresh for the technical ice pitches.

Soloing the bottom ice steps that aren’t really ice steps and more frozen giant waves. Super fun ‘ice scrambling’.

No pics of the actual ice climbing section above the lower half since I was focused on climbing with my aluminum crampons + 1 aluminum tool/tech machine combo and the 35lb pack on my back, and my partner was focused on not getting pelted with ice and was being a vigilant belayer.

Up and over and down the DC route, which is a popular ascent and was marked with wands and had a very nice bootpack (the first of our trip). We cruised down, excited to drop some altitude and have the increased hydrostatic pressure get more oxygen into our bloodstreams.

We had great weather on day 2, hardly any wind and the crevasse navigation was relatively simple. It was definitely a long walk to get on some ice, but the camping views and being the only ones on-route were worth it.

Did I mention that this was Deb’s FIRST CAMPING TRIP EVER?! Aren’t you glad you read till the bottom of this trip report to find out? Deb is a fantastic car2car partner and is wicked fast, competent and also excited about ice climbing. But this was literally her first time sleeping in a tent outside. Ever. Or carrying a heavy pack with more than a day’s worth of anything. I’m not joking. She was a total champ and only asked me once how to inflate/deflate a sleeping pad or stuff a sleeping bag. If you get the chance to climb with Deb, she’s great, although you’ll probably have better luck getting her on a day c2c trip than anything overnight. I don’t think this trip convinced her that overnighting is for her :)