Day 3 - The Descent - 8/11/08

We left Columbia Crest and headed back to the crater for a quick snack and water break. Then the descent. OY!

JJs team left first and then we headed out after they were already gone. I think Stuart wanted to catch them as our pace down made our pace up look like we had been sleeping. We ran down that MOFO! We met up with JJ on top of the cleaver which we were NOT excited about descending. Luckily, Stuart realized the shoulder of the Cleaver would be much less scary so we descended that way. But, we saw EVERYTHING that we didn't see on the way up! Much scarier when you can see it!

Stuart had me lead through the Cleaver and all was fine until I made a decision but it wasn't the right one. Eventually we got back on track and Stuart took the lead. We made it through the Cleaver, ran through the Ice Fall and made it back to high camp. 20 minutes to pack our gear that we left, and we roped up and headed back over Cathedral Gap into Camp Muir and the kitchen tent. I was dripping in sweat as I had on my helmet and soft shell too. We drank a ton, said goodbye to JJ who stayed there, and started to descend the snow field. The day was incredible! Perfect blue sky, no wind.

So, the snow field. I think I hate John Muir and his f'ing snow field. It was warm and slushy, so every step became a slide and a fall with a 50 pound pack on. I fell at least 15 times, no joke. I was one of the last to the group but we met up and continued down. On the way down, Stuart saw the person who had set the speed record on Everest (10.5 hours from base camp to summit and back) who is going for the Rainier record this week. We were too tired to talk to him and just stayed where we were. Ultimately, after lots of slush, sliding and bitching, we made it to Pebble Creek (7200 feet) for our last break. Thats when the fun started. My big toes started to kill as they kept jamming into the front of the boots. From Pebble Creek down is all stairs and steep downhills to the parking lot. I felt my legs just stop. I was the last one down by a lot, but I did get down! Meaghan was a big help and walked down with me for a bit. When I got to the parking lot, it took me 5 minutes to take off my wool socks, no joke.

We took the van to longmire to check out, used the bathrooms and drank a ton of water. My butt was soaking from the falls on the snowfield, soft shell pants are NOT waterproof!

Big discussion over Whittakers vs Copper Kettle for lunch and Stuart won out and we went to Copper Kettle. Burgers and Beers were awesome, and a lot of discussion around vulcanologists, where people would climb next, and Meaghan's veggie burger with bacon and coffee and a beer. Keith had an old fashioned BlackBerry milkshake, whatever that is. We went to Whittaker to return some rental stuff and saw Ed Viestures there, pretty cool. We drove back to Seattle (which felt like it took forever) and de-issued our gear. I went with Mark to the Westin, checked in, cleaned up and had a drink with him. I ordered a pizza, ate it in bed, and passed out.

Day 3 - Summit Day - 8/11/08

So, we "go horizontal" at about 4 pm to rest up for the big summit push. Mark claims I tried to snuggle but I dispute that. As mentioned in a previous post, I had to pee about 30 minutes into my bag and held it in for almost 8 hours until 12:30 am when they woke us up. I have to admit, part of me was hoping, due to the wind, that they might not let us go. I am glad they did!

We packed what we needed for the summit push and left the rest (sleeping bags, food, etc) in the tent to pick up on the descent. We had our hot drinks in the kitchen, and I had a couple of breakfast bars. It was very windy but very clear. The stars were amazing.

We roped up and started climbing. The route would take us through an ice fall first, where we sped through, and onto the dreaded Disappointment Cleaver. We made it to the Cleaver and WOW! It was the scariest thing that I have climbed. We had crampons on, and were climbing on boulders, scree, loose rocks, all in the dark with sheer drops on both sides. The climb was very solitary, no chatting at all. and thats not like me! We were short roped, 4 to a rope. I did wonder how more people don't fall or get hurt, but, amazingly, no one did. We were all thrilled when it ended, but worried about descending through it. We took a "10 minute" break, which I am convinced never lasted for 10 minutes, put our parkas on and off, and headed out again. We kept climbing up the glacier with tons of switchbacks and some pretty steep sections. One foot after the other in dark and wind. I used a lot of footwork techniques; duck walk, 12-3, cross overs and did a lot of power breathing to counteract the altitude.

My legs were fine but I started to worry about my ability to descend. At high break, I expressed my concern to Stuart. I loved the response. "You have 3 minutes (than 2, than 1) to decide if you are commiting to continue up or not." No, "you can do it, you are doing great" or any coaching, just pure, cold, facts.

I continued on. I took an espresso lovers GU pack (2X the caffeine!) and felt fine. Tons more switchbacks and steeps on the way up. My favorite piece had gaping crevasses on the right (with ladders and protection, just in case) and a 50 degree snow slope to the left that dropped off after 30 feet or so and a 2 foot wide path! Yikes! Still pretty cool though.

Around 5:30 or so, JJ on the first rope team said "Congratulations, you are about to summit Rainier". WOOO WOOOO WOOO!!!!! Amazing feeling as we came over the lip into the crater. I almost started to cry. This was 2 years in the making and I made it! The crater was bathed in the pink light of sunrise and was gorgeous! We dropped our stuff and a few of us headed across the crater to Columbia Crest, the true summit (I felt fine now). We walked across the crater and signed the register of summiteers. We then hiked up the rocks onto the snow and the ridge to the top. the wind was pretty strong but nothing would deter us. The view was incredible. Mt Adams, Hood, St. Helens and a ton of other mountains. Beautiful sunrise and we were above the clouds. We took a lot of pictures and descended the ridge back to the group and the crater.

And now a break in the story to discuss BLUE BAGs

OK, so, Blue Bags. Since mountains are generally pristine, the goal is now to Leave No Trace and pack out whatever you pack in. Yes, that means that too. If you poop it, you bag it and pack it. Before the trip, we were given blue bags. We were instructed to use them to poop in if there were no toilets or outhouses. So, in Camp Muir, we were all obsessed with the concept of pooping as often as possible so as to not have to either poop at high camp in the "shelter", or to have to unclip from your rope and poop on a completely exposed glacier on Summit day. So, we all pooped as often as possible in the most foul outhouses ever. I almost gagged and barfed after my first trip to the out house. The best part was how the smell stayed in your clothes for hours after. Suffice it to say, I timed my poops perfectly and never had to use a blue bag. Amazingly, no one on our climb blue bagged. I wonder if thats a record?

Day 2 - Camp Muir and High Camp - 8/10/08

We woke up in the hut after a protected night from the wind and horizontally blowing snow. Some people, who shall go nameless, peed in special water bottles that are dedicated to pee so they don't have to leave their sleeping bags. I am not that smart, but I will be next time! YES, there will be a next time!

JJ woke us up around 6:30, we packed up our stuff and headed over to the kitchen tent for breakfast.

In the kitchen tent, they made us blueberry pancakes, sausages and hot drinks. This was certainly a first class climb! They also told us to poop as much as possible so we wouldn't have to blue bag it. After breakfast, and the obligatory bowel evacuation, we went to snow school to practice cramponing, ice axe, rope team and footwork routines. We ate our pre-summit meal of Pasta with Pesto, roped up, and proceeded to cross the Cowlitz Glacier en route to our high camp at Ingraham Flats at 11,100 feet. the climb across the glacier was easy although there was a threat of rockfall. After the Cowlitz, we reached Cathedral Gap, an area that was all loose stones and scree. Not fun! Very difficult to get a foot hold and we slid a lot. Little did we realize that it was a precursor of Disappointment Cleaver. We reached high camp which was incredible. Great views of the summit, Little Tahoma (3rd highest peak in Washington) and Disappointment Cleaver. We met for hot drinks in the "kitchen" and got our summit briefing after we picked our tents. Mark and I tented together. Being honest, i was nervous and went through a period where I questioned why I was doing this and if this would be my last climb. Really, the only part that got me nervous was the prospect of climbing the Cleaver in the dark at 1:30 in the morning. The team was strong with no weak links, so we went to our tents to "go horizontal" and rest at 4 expecting to be woken up at 12:30 am or so. Of course, 30 minutes into my sleeping bag and I had to pee. I held it in for almost 8 hours!

Day 1 - Up to Camp Muir - 8/9/08

I met Mark in the lobby of the Sheraton Seattle at 5;20 to cab over to Alpine Ascents. We met up with the rest of the group, loaded our gear into the back of the van, and headed up to Ashford, WA, kind of the gateway for Mt. Rainier National Park. We stopped for breakfast and coffee at the Whittaker Bunkhouse, a place where climbers stay started by the Whittakers, famous climbers. We had breakfast there and bonded with the group some more. I hung out with Keith (who decided that week to go climb something -- if only i was in that kind of shape!), Jay and Mark. We made sure to use the toilet as we had no idea what was waiting for us later in the day. After bathroom, last minute gear rentals, and breakfast, we headed up to the Paradise Lodge to gear up and start moving. It was pretty crowded in the lodge with climbers getting ready and tourists incredulous that climbers were getting ready! We spoke to some nice people, filled water bottles, put on boots, gators, etc and got ready. Of course, one of my trekking poles broke but luckily AA (Alpine Ascents) found me a spare.

We started our hike. I soon realized, this was ALL going to be uphill, until the summit! The hike and park are gorgeous. Wild flowers, snow fields, green meadows, glaciers, waterfalls and views of Rainier everywhere. On the way up, John the guide and I discussed the merits of Team America vs. Anchorman.

About an hour in we took our first break. We ate, drank, and learned some basic footwork tips. The break ended and we hit the Muir snowfield. Overall, the hike to Camp Muir was about 5 hours, 5,000 vertical feet and extremely monotonous. All of us had altimeter watches (all about the gear). You couldn't see anything as we were in a white out condition. The hike was literally one step after the next up the snow field. The only thing that kept us going was a peaking Rainier through the clouds once in a while and a desire for the snow field white out piece to end.

At Muir (10,000 feet), we got to stay in a hut share by RMI and AA/IMG. The weather turned while we were there. It was highly windy and even snowing for a while. When it was clear out, it was incredible. Most of the time was in the hut. We ate in it and slept in it. I slept on the second level platform between Mark and John. We ate well, chicken quesadillas, hot drinks, and some moldy brownies. Stuart joined us (another guide) and gave us tips, and outlined the following two days for us. I used the outhouse which almost made me barf. Got into my bag, got ready to sleep, joked around with Mark and Keith and of course, then had to go pee. Oh the inhumanity!

Mt. Rainier Climb Video August 2008

Video of our just completed summit of Mt. Rainier. Blog postings to come soon.

Ready or not, here I come

So, one week from today, I will be waking up from probably a lousy sleep at Camp Muir on Rainier. Do I care about the lousy sleep? Not at all!!!!

I am SOOOOOO excited! I have come to realize lately, that for me to truly disconnect from the world for any period of time, i need to go to remote places that focus all of my attentions on myself and my surroundings. So, does the thought of no blackberry, no cell phone, no laptop, no email, no IM, no meetings, no documents, no kids, no wife, no dogs, no house, no mortgage for 3 days sound appealing? YOU BET YOUR PATOOTIE!

I have been excersizing a fair amount between hockey, treadmill on an incline and hiking, but the only way to determine if I am really ready is to go and climb the bad boy. I am off to LA tomorrow, then on to Seattle. If all goes well, one week and one day from now I should be descending from the summit of Rainier. I am not a religious man at all, but will take all of the support that I can get on this one! Stay tuned for updates as I can send them.

Weekend Wonderland

So, I can't blog about work as people from work read my blog on occassion. Therefore, lets talk Hockey and Hiking, and things that start with "H".

Last night, we had our second, big, Yellow Jackets game in 3 nights. Last night was against the Panthers. Two of our best players got thrown out really early. We only had 7 to begin with, so once they got thrown out we were down to 5 plus a goalie. What does that mean you might ask? It means that the 5 of us played the entire game with no rest at all. It was pretty exhausting. My back was killing me.

So I slept for 5 hours and then drove the wife and kids to the airport. I got home, and being the idiot that I am, went for a 2 hour hike. Needless to say, my body is not very happy with me right now. But, I am climbing Rainier in 2 weeks from today (WOW!!!!!) so I have no excuse to not work out. Am I in shape for it? Who knows. I hope so. Only the Mountain will be able to tell me for sure.

Work, Work, Work and TRAINING

So, all work and no play makes Burt a dull boy. I have been working a ton lately trying to keep up with all that is going on. That being said, its only 27 days until i start the climb on Rainier. ARGH!!!!!!!!

So, I am training in my free time. The pack is up to about 47 pounds with weights and a full camel back. I went out for two hours yesterday around Hemlock Hills near my house, as its the hilliest area around with some steep sections. I played hockey friday night, hiked for 2 hours on saturday, and hiked the treadmill for an hour today.

While hiking the treadmill, I played Grand Theft Auto IV. Anyone played it? Pretty wild. I opted not to kick the guy off the roof, although I have certainly gunned down and driven over my fare share of pedestrians! Pretty wild game, the graphics are great. I also just finished Call of Duty 4, which might have been my favorite video game that I have ever played. The multi player is awesome also even though I tend to survive for only a few minutes.

Onward and Upward

Wow, long time no post. Its been a while but I am back in the saddle and training for Rainier. Everything I do, I do it for you...just kidding (shout out to Bryan Adams). Everything I do, I do with a 40 lb pack. Whats in it? All my gear PLUS a 10 lb dumbbell (my 7 year olds favorite word).

I am hiking as often as possible on weekends, and during the week, playing hockey, doing stairmaster and treadmill on highest level with my pack on.

So, why no posting? I have a new area of responsibility now. I don't usually blog about work, but I work for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (can I get props for using the trademark correctly?) lead a team of people responsible for brand interactive marketing, website initiatives and call center strategy. In addition to that team, I am now leading the Marketing for Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) our loyalty program. So, needless to say, I have been busy. Very busy!

But, that doesn't put my climbing ambitions aside, I just have to work harder to realize them now.

Anyone know of any good soft shell pants?

A psychological look at the amassment (is that a word??) of gear

First of all, I have no idea if its legal or not to use the REI logo. But, if I was them, I would love the fact that people want to add their logo to blogs! Being a brand marketing person, I would love that!

So, what is it about climbing and hiking that makes you want to amass gear? I am at a strange point right now. I get daily gear mail from REI and EMS, but I honestly don't think that there is anything left for me to buy!!!! OY!!!!!

I recently bought a -20 sleeping bag from EMS for my upcoming NH trip and my Rainier trip in August. Thats about it! Aside from a tent for camping with the kids, I don't need anything else. Is it time for a new hobby?

Just kidding. David Brashears started a facebook group called why we climb. Its interesting in that a) he is world famous and extending himself into social networking with the likes of yours truly and b) for a middle aged mountain climber it forces me to look inward into why I decided to take up this hobby.

My answer? The solitude. There is nothing that I can think of that disconnects you from everything as well as being dependant only upon your self, carrying everything that you need, and trying to overcome a big challenge and return safely!

Looks Like it Might Be Mt. Baker

So, media conferences aside, where do I/we go next. After much research, and the unfortunate news of the RMI Rainier sellout, I found Alpine Ascents. They have a cool site and guide all over the world. They have slide shows, cybercasts, and a whole lot of information.

I was looking for a moderate climb, since Rainier wasn't available, and I think I have settled on Mt. Baker. At 10,781 ft., its smaller than Rainier but offers the real climbing experience. 65lb packs, camping on the mountain for two nights, early morning ascents, skills training etc.

The big open question is who's going. I am definitely in. My partner just started a new work gig and is far from committed to the climb. Brothers-in-law? Friends? Husbands of friends? All are welcome, who will climb?

So, Whats next?

Not really sure. I called RMI Guides (www.rmiguides.com) and they told me, much to my dismay, that all Rainier trips are booked for this year. So, what to do, what to do. Do we climb with someone else? NO! You can't climb Rainier without RMI, the best known guiding company in the USA, and perhaps the world.

So we research. Mt. Baker, Grand Teton, Mt Whitney, who knows. We are working through it right now. By early next week, we should have a plan.

Then, getting into shape really has to kick in to high gear. Maybe Core Performance program.

Who'd've thunk it

So, two middle age men walk onto a mountain...

Who'd have thought that the crazy ramblings of two interactive guys, who both started with NBC years ago (almost 20 to be exact), would start to materialize just in time for middle age and mid-life crises.

What started with the plan to fly across Canada in a single engine airplane, has morphed into a short term plan to climb Mt Washington (home of the worlds worst weather) in the dead of winter, with plans to do Mt Rainier this summer and then who knows?

This is the blog that will capture the hopefully non-pathetic aspirations of one Burt Rosen, and one Mark Dillon, our two intrepid heroes.

Mt Washington is two weeks from now. Keep your fingers crossed!