Mt Rainier: Summit Climb via DC (August 98)
        Amar Andalkar's Ski Mountaineering and Climbing Site
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View of Mt Rainier from Paradise
A Sea of Clouds below Camp Muir
Camp Muir Pinnacle
Looking Up at Gibraltar Rock
The Climbing Route to Cathedral Gap
Dawn in the Summit Crater
View Across the Summit Crater
Liberty Cap from the Crater Rim
Looking Down on Grand Park
The Final Steps to the Summit
Self-Portrait on the Summit
View of St Helens from the Summit
View of the Crater from the Summit
Descending the Upper Ingraham Glacier
Overhanging Serac
Panorama of the Ingraham Glacier
Traversing Below the Cleaver
Crevasse on the Ingraham Glacier
Camp Muir from Cathedral Gap
The Three Summits of Mt Rainier
We walked through the night with crampons on firm snow, traversing the extremely crevassed Ingraham Glacier (see later photos) and then climbing bare rock and scree on Disappointment Cleaver up to 12000 ft. Looking down at Camp Muir after midnight , we could see a long train of headlamps snaking out of camp across the Cowlitz Glacier. Since we were out ahead of all other groups, we didn't have to worry about them accidentally kicking rockfall onto us, which is a common hazard on the Cleaver. After leaving the rock we followed the right edge of the Ingraham past the top of the Cleaver to 12800 ft, then traversed far to the left (southwest) to avoid seracs and the huge bergschrund crevasse above. This detour extended over half a mile, and we finallly ascended the upper Nisqually Glacier to the summit dome. We reached the southeast gap in crater rim (14180 ft) at 5:30 AM, finally permitting a photograph in the first light of dawn. All nine of us had made it up Rainier successfully!
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Amar Andalkar <andalkar@u.washington.edu>