Home > Trip Reports > July 5-9,2012, Circumountaineering Mt. Rainier

July 5-9,2012, Circumountaineering Mt. Rainier

7/5/12
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
50781
17
Posted by Telepathetic on 7/12/12 1:02am
Hi,
We arrived back safe and sound from our 34 mile, 15,500 ft elevation gain, 5 day  odyssey circumountaineering Mt. Rainier.

Find the multimedia version here

Below is my write-up. Others in our group may add theirs. 

Happy venturing,
David Burdick
Brian Larson
Jeffery Holder
James Hamaker

Day 1
Paradise Parking lot to Muir:
1:00 to 6:00 pm
Beautiful day, campsite outstanding with brilliant views.
Distance 3.56 miles, elevation gain 3363 ft 
________________________________________
Day 2
Paradise Glacier to Winthrop Glacier:
7:00 am to 8:30 PM
Another beautiful day, lots of crevasses to navigate. During a zip of backpacks and skis over a climb down, we lost a ski down a crevasse James eventually rescued.
Distance 7.57 miles, elevation gain 3619 ft 
________________________________________
Day 3
Winthrop to North Mowich Glacier:
7:00 am to 6:00 pm
Lots of skiing, albeit tied to four other skiers via rope, 2000 ft elevation loss, went well but required route finding. Snow was not icy but good to ski  on. Decided to take the lower route and avoid crevasse challenges that have plagued us last two days.  That lead us to a .75 mile walk siding the rocky scree sloop of the Ptarmigan Ridge 
Distance 7.2 miles, elevation gain 1869 ft   
________________________________________
Day 4
North Mowich to Success Divide:
6:00am to 7:00pm
Early start, climbed up to a beautiful flat glacier (Puyallup) and continued to climb to 10,000 ft to cross the Puyallup Cleaver. During the climb, topical avalanches were being set off all around, from a combination of snow fall and mountain goats.  James missed being swept down by one by feet.  At the crux of the cross, it was deemed too dangerous to cross due to warmed snow, steep angle, and deep bergschrund below.  As we contemplated waiting a few hours, a large avalanche swept down the area close to where we were considering skiing.  David requested an alternative route, not worth the risk.  The rest conceded.  On the way down to find a lower route, Brian got caught in one and swept down several hundred feet of elevation gain, missing David by half a second.  Found a sweet camping spot on a glacier near a running stream of water and active glacier with continuous rock fall 200 ft away. Thunderstorms swept through that evening with amazing lightning and winds.  David's tent blew out stakes. Request for help quickly answered. 
Distance 9.45 miles, elevation gain 4962 ft 
________________________________________
Day 5:
Success Divide to Paradise Parking lot.
7:30 am to 2:00
Distance: 6.35 miles, 1616 elevation gain, 3992 ft decent.
After a challenging night of little rest, woke to clear skies and promise of making the car. Past our planned out date, we cobbled together food we had for a breakfast and headed out.  Started with 144 oz of white gas, still had 44 oz after the fortune of finding running water.  Got to car at 2:30, but Brian thought he lost his camera a mile or two back and James and him went to look for it. Found it on top of car during their absence.

*fixed the URL - Marcus*
a few pictures -if I am lucky

Impressive tour, guys.
Most likely one that will be permanently etched in your memory for the rest of your life.

Great trip!  I fixed the URL for you video -- good stuff, thanks for sharing it.

Great tour !

man, T P.    maybe put Shasta on your list. * there's not as many crevasses to lose your ski in !

Bravo, bravo! 

This TR made my day, this is the mountain travel I dream about.  Thanks for sharing.

This has  been done rarely . It's not about the skiing but about accessing unbelievable terrain on skis . You might have seen James Hammakers inquiry for partners here. First he had to find partners ,and partners who were not only competent but flexible in thier timing and availability.That would be hard enough but then they had do the deed and return safely.
I'm liking the smile on their faces. Good Job !

Sweet. THanks for the map!

How was the lightning storm on Sunday? Any interesting stories?

http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=25350.0

Nice write-up, great slide show, that is a big trip. I tip my hat.

Waliking the false floor of a crevasse in order to find an errant ski, David's wholsome food vs our Mountain House, a billy goat setting off most of the avalances, David gently rousting us out of bed early every morning with hot water, Brian getting swept up in a tumble, an hour long lightning storm, tackling a wind blown pyramid full of gear. . .  lots of stories, but how to tell them?


Gear note:  With these soft conditions my Karhu Lookouts (scales) rarely needed skins, so I could realy cruise across the gentle W side.

Wow!  Surprised this isn't getting more press.  Well done, very inspiring.

Wow!  Surprised this isn't getting more press. 


Yeah it looks like they did just for their own enjoyment. We might have to sue to get a presentation and all the facts

I'm planning on a presentation to Nordic club in Portland, possibly Mazamas.  Invitation always helps
David

Awesome trip and adventure. Here are a few pictures, possibly of your tracks, taken from Steamboat Prow on July 7th. I could see your nice line across the Emmons, with a little routefinding across the rock ridge in the middle of the glacier. I could also see the place where it looked like you retraced your steps a bit just after Camp Schurmann. There are two figures in the 3rd photo, but it may be a climbing party headed in the same direction to climb something on the north side.

Click on the URL to a map of the actual trip.


Click on the mountain icons to see a picture.
Click on the buckets to see a linked video
Zoom and pan the map.  You can see the crevasses if you zoom in.
The tents were our campsites.

Map is public on ArcGIS Online.  Other maps can be seen in the Skiing, Kayaking Group.

[Map of Actual Mount Rainier High Orbit

Dave's put up a great summary slideshow of his trip -- thread here:

Circumnavigation Slideshow

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july-5-9-2012-circumountaineering-mt-rainier
Telepathetic
2012-07-12 08:02:41