Ford Prefect
12-17-2004, 11:04 AM
Hey guys,
I couldn't find the other thread, so I started this one. Any of you guys who live(d) in Washington and climbed Rainier ever try to go to the summit, or did you stick to the hiking trails? If you did, what route did you take, what guide service if any did you use, and what did you think of it? I'm trying to get the finals of my trip planned and needed to book the guide service.
It's looking like the DC route is the cheapest since it's the shortest, but I like the look of the Eammons route. It's between those two since I have zip experience doing any real peaks. By the time I go, the largest one I'd have summitted will be roughly 2.5x smaller than Rainier and doesn't have the potential hazards like altitude sickness, rock falls, glacier crevasses, and all that fun stuff.
If all goes well with this, I'm going to hit a 20-day climb of Denali and tour Alaska for my 30th. Should be fun.
BTW, I talked with climbers and changed my training a lot. I'm basically doing at least 45 minutes/day 5x/week (by the time I leave it will be 70 minutes) of cardio like pack hiking, biking, or jogging. On top of that I do 30-45 minutes of stair/hill climbing 2-4x/week, and 30-45 minutes of anaerobic training 2-3x/week. I'm doing weights 2x/week, and BWE 2x/week. Saturday, I hike for 3-6 hours with a pack. Huge change for me. Haven't been able to jump in fully yet because I got sick and I'm trying to time the periodization perfectly so I peak for the Rainier trip.
I couldn't find the other thread, so I started this one. Any of you guys who live(d) in Washington and climbed Rainier ever try to go to the summit, or did you stick to the hiking trails? If you did, what route did you take, what guide service if any did you use, and what did you think of it? I'm trying to get the finals of my trip planned and needed to book the guide service.
It's looking like the DC route is the cheapest since it's the shortest, but I like the look of the Eammons route. It's between those two since I have zip experience doing any real peaks. By the time I go, the largest one I'd have summitted will be roughly 2.5x smaller than Rainier and doesn't have the potential hazards like altitude sickness, rock falls, glacier crevasses, and all that fun stuff.
If all goes well with this, I'm going to hit a 20-day climb of Denali and tour Alaska for my 30th. Should be fun.
BTW, I talked with climbers and changed my training a lot. I'm basically doing at least 45 minutes/day 5x/week (by the time I leave it will be 70 minutes) of cardio like pack hiking, biking, or jogging. On top of that I do 30-45 minutes of stair/hill climbing 2-4x/week, and 30-45 minutes of anaerobic training 2-3x/week. I'm doing weights 2x/week, and BWE 2x/week. Saturday, I hike for 3-6 hours with a pack. Huge change for me. Haven't been able to jump in fully yet because I got sick and I'm trying to time the periodization perfectly so I peak for the Rainier trip.