Nate's Account of the Rainier Climb: The five of us started out from Paradise. It was a grueling hike to base camp. We paced ourselves. Which means we split up quite a bit. Curt was the first to arrive, followed by Dan a half hour later, than myself a half hour behind Dan. Tim and Jennifer followed. Once I arrived to base camp (Muir) Curt and Dan were setting up. I started to help right away with melting snow for filtration. We would need quite a bit of water for the Summit and for the night. Hydration is very important! I took out my liner booty from my double boots to let some moisture evaporate, with help from the remaining sunlight. After enough water was filtered. Dan and I ate. We ate quite a bit. Curt made some tuna noodle stuff. We had MRE's. Then we hit the hay. The anticipation made falling asleep difficult. I noticed my pulse was very rapid and I was not doing anything but trying to fall asleep. I even mentioned it to Dan. To see if his was also. I was very thirsty. I drank while trying to sleeping. It really helped though. Dan had his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth from being so dehydrated. Just as it seemed I fell asleep it was time to suit up. We had a good 3 hours of sleep. We were headed for the summit I believe at 1 am. Jennifer decided to stay at camp, her feet never became comfortably warm, and the grueling hike with full gear took it's toll on her. ( She is a trooper). We roped up in the order of Curt , Me, Tim and Dan. The start of the hike was not so bad. Crossing the Cowlitz glacier there were a couple crevasses to cross. Then up the Cathedral Rocks switchback. Wow it was warm there. We all shed some layers.

Once past the Cathedral Rocks we headed across the Ingraham Flats. We unfortunately lost Tim there. I heard he felt nauseous and his feet were concernedly cold. (Plastic is the way to go) We all felt pretty safe where we were. So we untied reconfigured the rope for three. I heard Curt advise Tim to wait there for another team because of the crevasses. I believe he went on his own and made it down safely. He sure had a nice headlamp.

So here we are Curt, Dan and I headed for Disappointment Cleaver. This is a very exposed part of the route. If we were cats we all had one life taken at the cleaver that morning. Curt was leading , I followed than Dan. There were a couple crevasses to cross here before the ledge. Curt crossed carefully one then the other, then I crossed one then the other, as soon as I got onto the ledge (which was about two and a half feet wide) I heard a crackling like a tree limb cracking. Then heard a deep rumble. Then heard Curt yell, "HEADS UP GUYS,..RUN". Heck if I did not almost poop the old pants. I looked up and my headlamp was swallowed by the dark. I couldn't see anything. Curt ran forward on the ledge I ran forward and pulled Dan right over the second crevasse he was crossing. I thought for sure this serac was going to crush us or trigger an avalanche. And with nowhere to run except forward on the ledge or backward I thought for sure we were in for a dance with the devil. Looking to my right was a very steep slope, too steep for any chance of self arrest. Which is why Rangers fastened rope to that area. Probably also because that is where the worst mountaineering accident in North American Climbing history occurred. (There is even a cross for remembrance on some maps) But anyway we survived and continued switch backing on ledges. Oh we had to pass a team on the exposed ledge, that was uncomfortable. Then, I recall they had to pass us. I had crampon trouble on an icy switchback. My headlamp went out at the same time. I had to make it with one foot slipping, one not and an ice axe. Because there was nowhere safe to put it back on. (So purchase good crampons, it is your life up there) (The same with headlamps).

Once past the exposed part we came to a safe place. Very windy and cold. I stopped and put on my shell pants. It was very difficult, being cold and starved for oxygen. A simple zipper was unbelievably hard. Then I dropped a pack of gum and my student ID. I did not have the energy to pick them up. The rope was caught between my neck and back pack. I could not get it. I asked Dan for some help and he was out of it. He just stood there looking at me gesture for help. He was gone. Curt came by and fixed the rope. We were good to go. We were than making some serious gains in elevation. Seemingly vertical. I felt like I was pulling Dan up. We were all getting signs of AMS. (Grumpiness, tired, dehydrated.). We came across some serious crevasses and snow bridges. They were beautiful. The cornices were sculpted by GOD. The crevasses were deep blue. Some snow bridges went up and over the crevasse like a bridge. They intimidated me. We continued to gain some altitude. It went on forever. The whole time I was sucking water down while climbing and pressure breathing. Dan's line was frozen solid, and he was not drinking as much as Curt and I. Water really help with AMS. Dan could no longer make it. He became a victim to AMS. The three of us decided to anchor him to the mountain. And we would be gone another 2-3 hours. It was a very emotional moment. Driving 30 hours nonstop. Hiking to Muir a day before the full climb. The planning etc. And here we were the moment of truth. My best bud who really got me to go on this adventure was practically dead. Weak, thirsty, nauseous. He could go no further. Curt and I re-roped and headed up.

Curt and I noticed the weather was getting worse by the minute. We saw a team come down with icicles from their beards, and one guys eye was frozen open. And I'm thinking we're going into this?! But I had summit fever. I still felt safe for some reason. Curt and I crossed some crevasses that we should have set up a belay. At least a boot-axe. But we just went for it one at a time. I was ready for self arrest. There was one bridge with the type of snow that you can just blow out of the palm of your hand. My ice axe shaft pierced right through it as I probed. When I lifted it all I saw was a blue hole, blue from the crevasse below. The weather was getting worse so we decided the first team we saw descending we would have pick up Dan. I think we told a couple teams for safety. I eventually had my moment of truth. I collapsed. Curt noticed, and came down by me. I asked him for food and water. My bladder line was frozen up by now. Curt gave me some power gel, and some of his water. The temp was so cold that as soon as I opened the lid, the surface froze over and I had to poke it with my finger. Our turn around time was 9:10 am. So after a couple minutes we had to get moving. That power gel really felt like it helped, along with the water. Before heading up he felt my back pack and said, "Holy shit". (My pack was very heavy compared to his. That is inexperience). We decided to anchor my pack to the side of the mountain. I had my fathers 1972 Canon F1. A very heavy camera, plus extra food, and my down vest inside. All I put on from there was the rope. I felt so light. We made better time, and made it to Point Success (which is the summit rim of the crater) before our turn around time. Man was it windy and snowy.

Curt said the summit register was across the crater about a half mile. I joined him. I came this far. We crossed the crater which was weird. I could hear ice cracking here and there. But I knew it was thick. It was fear messing with me. Imagine summiting then drowning at 14,411 feet. Down on the ice it was warm again. The wind was blocked and the sun was beating through the clouds. It became hot. We made it to the other side and found two other climbers. Curt raced ahead to beat them. I did not have that much energy to exert. The four of us signed the book, drank some water, took some pictures, I talked with the one guy and he is from my area, McHenry IL. He rides his bike at Kettle Morraine, Wisconsin. The world is getting smaller.

The descent was not fun. It was nice changing muscle groups in the legs. But the snow was melting, and collecting in our crampons. We had to tap our feet every step so we would not slip. Then came the bridges again. Oh man I was praying out loud. We found a spot to glissade down. Which we did with our crampons on. We slid on our butts, kept our feet from touching and alternated. One would brace the other glissade. And man I am glad he had me at one time. I gained speed and could not self arrest, (I felt my pick was not long enough to dig in) heading right for a crevasse I slowed down enough to dig my crampons in and Curt had me on belay. We did not see Dan anywhere. I did pick up my backpack. We were on the ledge of the Cleaver and there was snow melting everywhere. We practically ran on the ledge to get out of the exposed part where the seracs were waiting for gravity to start their fall. We were on the Ingraham Flats and we heard rock fall. We saw the two guys that summitted with us. The rock fall was right in front of them. So Curt yelled out to them. Once on the flats it was pretty safe. Then on Cathedral Rocks there was a River of rocks sliding twenty feet in front of us, it would have taken us out. We hurried through there also. Once back to Camp Muir I collapsed. I was burnt, the area where my glove and cuff did not meet left my skin exposed, swollen and blistered. I still have a dark band there. I started to drink water and tried to eat. I felt really sick. A couple hours later. We packed up and went down. We slid on our isomats some of the way. I need to invest in those miniature skis. Overall it was great. Mountaineering is dangerously beautiful. I just got back from Wyoming. Dan and I climbed the Grand Teton (13,770). We summited the Enclosure. I am a student at UW-Parkside.