Rainier Rematch

by Jon Skeen

Sustained 60 mph winds, unending clouds, and ultimately having to descend after a forced rest day left a bad taste in our mouths. We had been blown off the Kautz Glacier on Rainier and now we had unfinished business with the mountain. Clearing skies and calming winds taunted us as we neared the parking lot. The team was in good spirits and happy to settle for brunch as consolation, but already the need to go back was creeping into our thoughts.

The itch was not soothed by forecasts of blue skies and calm winds the following weekend. Fewer than 48 hours after being thoroughly shut down, we were planning a reattempt. Glenn Widener and his team pushed through the technical ice and winds the previous weekend, and provided helpful beta on the ice conditions, location of the infamous fixed line, and Camp Hazard platforms. John Godino also shared notes from an adjacent route, the Fuhrer Finger, which boasted of 25 pound packs and encouraged carrying up and over, down the Disappointment Cleaver. Armed with these reports plus our own first-hand knowledge, it was time to get the band back together. We had one roster substitution from the previous weekend, setting the team as Ally Imbody, Eric Kennedy, Nate Mullen, Hannah Seebach, Kevin Vandemore and me.

Jon Skeen and Eric Kennedy starting
up the 3rd pitch of ice on the Kautz
Glacier under a super moon

Spirits were high and pack weights were down, which was important; the pace had to be more aggressive this time, as we didn’t have a long weekend to work with. We aimed to make high camp around 11,000 feet Saturday, then head up the Kautz and down the DC Sunday. We got off to a great start, leaving the trail head at Paradise at exactly 5:05 am. It had been a hot week on the mountain and much of the snow that slowed our early progress the last time had melted out, making our descent from the trail onto the Nisqually Glacier more direct. Of course, the disappearing snow had opened new crevasses and exposed new seracs as well. Undeterred, we roped up and made our serpentine path towards the Wilson Glacier.

We reached our previous camp at 9,200 ft. around 11 a.m, shaving about two hours off of our previous time. We took a break here to refill water bottles from the flowing glacier melt and marveled at how much familiar landmarks had changed in just six days. We could see a couple tents set up here, but it wasn’t until we were nearing the bottom of the Turtle Snowfield that we realized there were twelve tents set up. While that’s not uncommon for the Emmons Glacier or DC routes, it’s virtually unheard of for the Kautz. Twelve people is more typical of the population on this line. We were able to ascertain that the tents belonged to a large group from a climbing club in Utah, some experienced climbers, some very fresh who probably didn’t fully appreciate what they had gotten into. Our experiences with these guys could fill another write-up, but for now let’s let’s just say we really wanted to stay ahead of them.

Upward we marched, gaining a thousand feet on the Turtle before taking a quick break for food and water. We watched two climbers ascending in our boot tracks. As they neared, we saw what appeared to be a "No Jive Ass" sticker and realized there was a good chance we knew these dudes. Sure enough, there were two more Mazamas on the Kautz! Victor Galotti and Brian Wetzel had been camped out where the Nisqually and Wilson meet and had caught up to us, which I maintain was largely due to the quality of the steps we were kicking for everyone behind us. We decided to team up for the rest of the day and through the ice pitches in the morning.

Buoyed by this encounter, we pushed to the top the the Turtle and into Camp Hazard. We claimed a few platforms for our team and set off to find the fixed line and get our first real look at the ice. The route was dramatic: cracked ice hanging above and waiting below. As if issuing a warning or a challenge, a few large blocks of ice let lose and tumbled down into the gaping maws below. We returned to our platforms to work out the next day’s plan, eat, and get to sleep early. We chatted with a few other small parties and lamented the throng that would be pressing from below. With our hunger and planning satisfied, it was time to get as much sleep as possible before our midnight wake up time.

Mt. Rainier Summit team with Eric Kennedy,
Kevin Vandemore, Ally Imbody, Nate Mullen,
Hannah Seebach, and Jon Skeen.

The alarms rang, time to get moving. We made our way to the fixed line via headlamps and the super moon. Nate was first down. As he reached the bottom we heard a crack! and looked towards the ice fall to see block after block of ice tumbling across our traverse line. It’s one thing to know there is danger in the abstract; it’s another to watch it tumble where you’ll be walking in five minutes. With a renewed appreciation for the objective hazard, we roped up and shuffled across as quickly as possible. We made it to the base of the ice without incident and up went Nate, leading the first of several pitches.

One by one, we ascended fixed lines, moving in tandem with other teams all fighting to stay ahead of the giant group we knew was hot on our heels. We managed to stay out front for a few pitches, but the top came to a bottleneck and we were stuck while we waited for an opening to push through. Finally, Kevin had a chance to lead the final pitch and we fought our way out of the chute. I was impressed with our team’s ability to climb cleanly; altogether we knocked down maybe four pieces while the other teams around rained ice on everyone below.

Kevin Vandermore scouting the descent route on the DC.

After a quick break to exchange gear, Victor and Brian set off on their way and the original team regrouped for a bit before pushing up toward Point Success. We picked our way up the Kautz, surrounded by the Utah teams. This made the going very slow, but did allow us to conserve energy. Silver linings, right? After several steps plunging into air and a few “verbal scuffles” (as I’m choosing to call them) with the Utah teams, we were able to make our way off the glacier. The crater was in sight! Just in time too, as clouds were starting to move in. We worked our way up to the summit and snapped our victory photos. One more quick stop at the summit register and down into the crater to melt snow.

Once all the bottles were filled it was time to follow the wands down the DC. By this time the snow had turned into sugary mush and we were sliding around a little more than is comfortable on a crevasse riddled downhill trail. A pair of collapsing snow bridges (which I fear we may have finished off) added additional spice. Down and down we went, reaching the Cleaver and down climbing a bit of rock to avoid steep, slippery snow. We made it down the Cleaver, across the Ingraham (including a ladder over a crevasse), and over to Camp Muir. One last break before bombing the Muir Snowfield and returning to the parking lot.

While we high-fived and drank our mandatory Rainiers-on-Rainier, we watched headlamps flickering across the Kautz. The Utah club was still at it; one of the consequences of ignoring your turnaround time. We’ve since heard they made it down ok, but two days overdue. Yikes! Hearing that only makes me more appreciative of the awesome team we had on this incredible route.