Snow time...

Quite a bit of snow has fallen over the past week leaving plenty at Paradise (a solid 2 feet). As you can see in this John Piastuck image, skiers and boarders (32 ants by my count) are "chomping at the bit" to climb Panorama Point for early season turns... This is looking to be a very promising ski season folks. The question is, will it hold; will it continue?

The Washington State Climatologists have something to say about our weather. They just published an interesting report about our 2007 summer temperatures. It points to data that says we're still experiencing a warmer than normal trend (0.01 to be exact for Aug). I also found that they are willing to post an "Outlook" for the fall and winter. Check it out, but don't look for any clarity as it doesn't really predict anything substantial or exciting: "The Climate Prediction Center's 3-month outlook for November-December-January is for equal chances of above, below, or normal temperatures for Washington..."

Whatever the case, we're off to good start and the ants on Pan Point are seemingly stoked. With them are a few climbers who are hoping to find the summit this week. Perhaps they'll successfully weave through the upper mountain crevasses and visit Columbia Crest during this weather window.

If you are planning to climb this fall, here are few safety, registration and camping tips:

• Expect crevasses: Though it's been snowing quite a bit this Sept/Oct, be prepared for lightly covered crevasses on the mountain.
• Avalanche: Yes, slides have killed climbers in the fall on Mount Rainier and it could easily happen again. It doesn't take much to knock a team into a terrain trap (crevasse, cliff, hole) or bury someone. This is especially the case if the wind is blowing which could contribute to large snow deposits.
• Poor weather: Ok, this is a constant on Rainier, but fall is definitely the time when storms linger longer than expected and climbers regret their "fast and light" plans. Be prepared to sit out inclement weather and expect heavy wet snow.

You can register in Longmire at the museum, or self register (i.e. honor system) at Paradise on the front porch of the Jackson Visitor Center. Most teams will select the Camp Muir Public Shelter for high camp accommodations. Over the past few years, that hut has been very accessible... But you should still bring a shovel to dig out the door and always clean up after you leave. On nice/busy weekends, bring your ear plugs (snoring, running stoves, chatter) and expect to breath stove exhaust in the hut.

Whoa... A cabin had to be built

As I understand it, the mountain has often been shrouded in clouds, rain and snow over the past few weeks. But how would you know unless you came here for yourself? Certainly I've done little to keep you informed through this blog... But what can I say? This ranger/blogger needed a vacation and along the way, I caught a batch of writer's block.

Thankfully an ultra-reliable IBM oriented PC is at my finger tips with MSFT software gliding me happily towards another post. I know - Mac's are cool and all, but I needed some sort of flimsy excuse to avoid another post while building a cabin in Alaska for Ted (the Camp Muir guru). BTW, I really appreciated all of the nice Mac folks who took the time to defend their product and offer help. I hope you'll still read this blog knowing that's it's driven from a virus prone, often crashing, operating system. ;)

So what's shaking on the mountain? Well, a few roads have re-opened, and a few ranger stations have closed. September turned out to be a very quiet month for independent climbers. Many (I suspect) gave up on the super-dooper extra long DC climbing route. Thankfully the guide services successfully kept it afloat when most of us would have gone home empty handed. But the past 2 weeks of inclement weather really shut things down on the upper mountain. As the snow settled in, the DC and other "kicked in" routes finally disappeared for 2007.

If you're a downhill oriented person, this sort of news has you jumping for joy as ski season is descending upon us rapidily. And after reviewing the current weather forecast for this upcoming week, Mount Rainier is going to see a lot of snowfall! Sharpen your edges, wax those boards, pack your backcountry avalanche gear and check out the Paradise and Camp Muir telemetry sites for updates on how much snow you could be playing in this weekend.

The first post back might be the hardest, but now that I've broken the bubble I intend to publish more information this fall. There has certainly been a number of neat events that should be shared... And hey, I mostly want to follow up on Maria Cantwell's visit! That's largely because we climbing rangers were star struck by the Senator, as she turned out to be quite hip and very down to earth. Who would have imagined such coolness in DC? Maria Cantwell with Jeremy Shank and me, photo by Mike Heavey

In the meantime, send me your thoughts and comments, and I'll try my best to kick this blog back into action. Photo above: Jeremy Shank cabin building on Bald Mountain near Talkeetna AK, image by Mike Gauthier.

Macs... Media... Maria...

What is your preferred operating system and browser? I've been using PC products (i.e. MSFT) for most of this blog, but have recently been forced to rely on Apple... and as the faithful to this blog will note, my updates have been few and far between. What does this all mean? I can't seem to adjust the color/fonts/links etc. anymore. I'm sure there is a way to figure this out, but I've been too busy wrapping up the primary climbing season and getting ready for the fall/autumn to figure out these details. Therefore, this post temporarily lacked (fixed 10-15-07) such friendly features as links, photos, etc. A chinook helicopter practices a summit crater landing, photo by Mike Gauthier.

Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the end of the summer, and for climbers on Mt. Rainier, it means fewer attempts and quiet nights at the high camps. Ranger Tom "House of" Payne reported only four independent climbers at Camp Muir one night this weekend. Sure, the guide services are still moving up the hill in full force, but many independent climbers have moved onto other projects now that the glaciers are heavily crevassed and icy.

During the last week of August, there was an intense amount of helicopter activity over two days. Most of this action was centered upon cleaning up Camp Muir (i.e. construction debris) and flying down the human waste barrels collected over the season. There was also a training/media event that included a mock rescue mission and flight/landing patterns on the summit crater and Observation Rock. You can find more information about that event on KPLU (NPR radio), KOMO 4 (ABC), and KING 5 (NBC). Right: TV crews are dropped off on the mountain to video a chinook helicopter practicing hoist manuveurs in the distance. Photo by Andy Anderson

Also in Mount Rainier climbing news, the Puget Sound Business Journal was slipped word about Maria Cantwell's time at Camp Muir with me and other climbing rangers a few weeks ago. For those not familiar with national politics, Ms. Cantwell is one of Washington State's two U.S. Senators. You may recall, I reported on her day hike to Camp Muir last July. As things often turn out in the mountains, that hike and that experience tempted Maria to find out more about the upper mountain and climbing. What a treat for the climbing community: a U.S. Senator personally interested in what we treasure and enjoy.

I could share a lot of cool things about the trip (and I probably will someday when I get back to a PC), but the important point to take home is that our senator was truly impressed with the beauty and challenge of mountaineering, and in preserving Mount Rainier as the world-class climbing destination it has long been. And though our team was unable to make the summit, I suspect that we'll see her again on the high slopes of the mountain. So folks, if you were hanging out at Camp Muir in late August, you may have noticed a shy woman kicking around the ranger hut. Next time you stop by for climbing information, water, or just to be social, note that you may have the audience of a true power broker.