The feeling of euphoria swept across me while I was checking into my room at the Whittaker Bunhouse and met Lou Whittaker (founder of RMI). At that moment I realized where I was, at the place where all the greatest mountain climbers were trained, either as their first mountain or as a training mountain just before a big expedition. I knew I was in good hands when we met with our lead guide, Kurt Wedberg, who has climbed Rainier 112 times and various peaks around the world including Mt Everest. He has been climbing for over 20 years and is the founder of his own Mountaineering service Sierra Mountaineering Inc (SMI). Our expedition consisted of 8 clients and 3 guides, all in excellent shape and mentally ready to climb Mt. Rainier. After the first day of proving our determination, Kurt decided to take us up the Fuhrer Finger, a route he has never taken a group up before. With our packs fully loaded with all our gear, we climbed to and slept on the summit, something he has only let 5 groups do in all his 112 ascents. We spent 6 nights on the mountain, moving our camp and everything with us slowly up the mountain in a true expedition manner. We split up the group gear (food, kitchen supplies, tents, etc) and each of us carried 55-60lbs backpacks. We had perfect weather everyday and visibility for hundreds of miles, including into Oregon which in some photos you can see Mt Hood (pointy top, between Mt Adams and Mt St. Helens). The climb was very enduring, it has been said to be one of the most enduring climbs in the contiguous United States and I believe it. Everybody felt every foot of the 9,000 vertical feet we ascended and the lack of oxygen as we made our way up to 14,410ft. Some of the challenges we faced were climbing 40-50 degree slopes while drudging through snow up to our knees, avoiding crevasses, and dodging falling rocks and ice falls. We also got a chance to go ice climbing up a 60 foot Serac (large steep block of ice) and explored a fumarole (steam hole in the volcano) while we were at the summit.
I want to take this time to thanks my friends George, Sharon, Missy and Josh for their hospitality and showing me around Seattle before my climb; thanks for being there for me. Also thanks to my fellow climbers and guides for all their teamwork and especially Ryan for driving out of his way to pick me up and drop me off at the airport. I hope some of you find your photo in these albums, I updated photos in Photo Album #4. Feel free to pass this website on to anybody else who may enjoy it. If there are any photos of anyone that they want removed, just let me know and I'll take them off immediately.
Take Care,
Phillip
