More pictures

I have to write up a trip report. Until then here are more pics

http://1drv.ms/1kqaelg

 

Total elevation & miles

Mt. Rainier summited !

Summited Mt.Rainier this morning at 6am starting with a 3 day journey ..

Will be adding full details with more pics soon..

It begins..

Ready or not, Mt. Rainier here I come !!!!

Trip starts tomorrow until Sunday evening.. My next post will be late Sunday night !

Cable line hike - Independence day

Final training hike ..

 1 hr 10mins up; 50 mins down.

Mt. Si hike 6/29

2 hrs 35 mins up; 2 hrs down.  27 pd pack and 1 pound ankle weights each leg

Camp Muir attempt 3 - summit

Went to Camp Muir again this time wearing Koflac double plastic boots( these weigh almost 2 pounds on each leg!). The guides will most likely make us wear these boots on the climb. Did some skills practice wearing crampons also..
Time up: 5 hrs 30 mins; Time down:  2hrs 50 mins ;  28  pound backpack

Here is the cal topo graph of the hike

 

 

Weather was awesome once again with great views : Mt Rainier summit up close

Mt Adams

 

Why climb ?

I have been thinking about why I want to climb Rainier so badly inspite of all the challenges and obstacles.
I have no clear answer to that but I think this famous quote sums it all up perfectly !!

"Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain?  We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard,  because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." 

                                                                                    - President Kennedy  

                                                                                            Sept 12,1962

 

Mt. Si hike 6/14

My personal best time so far at  2hrs 10 mins up and 1:55 down.  27 pound backpack

Mailbox peak hike 6/8

Time up: 2 hrs 20 min; Time down: 1 hrs 45 min ; 15 pound backpack

Camp Muir hike attempt 2 - summit

Having partially recovered from minor back injury, attempted to hike upto Camp Muir today.

Camp Muir at approx. 10,000 ft is the first base camp of the actual Rainier climb.  Last time tried this in March and we had encountered blizzard conditions. Today the weather was just perfect and summited . Time up: 5 hrs ;time down: 2 hrs 40 min
We could see the summit of Rainier to the left and the guide shelters at Camp Muir. Will be staying at these shelters during my first camp night during the climb

Saw awesome views from the top of Camp Muir.  We were above the clouds

Mt Adams in the distance:

 Mt. St Helens in the distance

Also saw a rock fall scare

 

View from the top

 Climbed 25 steps to the rooftop of my apt :)

Enjoying the bright sunny Seattle day and taking a short  break from climbing...

 

Bandera mountain 5/26

A rainy day at Bandera mountain. My first time in the 40 pound backpack range.

Total time up: 2 hrs 15 min, down:  45 mins; 5.0 mile roundtrip, 41 pound backpack

Lichenberg mountain snow scramble

First summit scramble out of the three required to graduate from Alpine scrambling course.

A relatively easy hike rated S2/T2 ( strenuous 2 , Technical 2)
Climbed slopes to an unnamed mountain at approx. 5000 ft , as we could not navigate to  Lichenberg initially.  We ended up meandering and the total trip was over  10 + mile hike. When we did find it, it was rock climb with no snow and so turned back. Saw some small snow fall starting into a small avalanche as well.
Time to go up:  5 hrs ; Time to go down : 3 hrs; 25 pd backpack

Panaroma shot from the top of unnamed peak

Linchenberg in the background

 

Cable line hike 5/23

1 hr 35 mins up; 1 hr down; 33 pd backpack

Mailbox hike 5/18

Total elevation gain around 4000 ft in 2.5 miles.
Time up : 3hrs  Time down: 2 hrs, 23 pound backpack

For more info about this hike http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mailbox-peak

Me in front of the dummy mailbox. The mailbox does have registration book to document you arrived there.

 

 

Denny mountain scramble

Final field trip for Mountaineers Alpine scrambling course.
A snow scramble with a class 5 (Technical 5) steep routes for parts of the hike.

From the top we could see the entire Snoqualmie pass mountains and nearby regions

 

Cable line hike 5/13

1 hr 30 mins up ; 1 hr down; 36 pounds

Exactly 2 mos to go !!

Mt. St. Helens hike - Mother's day

Went on a Mother's day hike to Mt.St.Helens. Took the winter route which starts at 2650 and ends at 8300 ft. After climbing upto 6800 ft  turned back as it was already 1pm and I would not have made the remaining 1500 ft by the turn around time of 2pm. While coming down glissaded almost 1000 ft
Time taken to go up for 4200 ft vertical gain: 5 hrs ; to go  down: 3 hrs, 30 pound backpack

 

 

Mother's day at Mt.St. Helens has  a tradition where people dress up in dresses, skirts, fascinators and head pieces. this includes both men and women. Was very entertaining seeing 800 people today on the mountain in dresses.

 

GPS track of Rainier climb route

Snow travel skills field trip

Snow field trip by the Mountaineers as part of Alpine scrambling class . Spent the entire weekend learning traversing, glissading, doing sitting arrests(holding ice axe in right and left hand), head down arrests(holding ice axe in right and left hand) and back down arrest. Also worked on plunge stepping and backward down climbing.

pic of me glissading

Ended the field trip by summiting Cowboy mountain

 

Cable line : May day

May day hike with heaviest weight so far at 35 pounds
1hr: 50 mins up;  1 hr down

Mt.Rainier fund raiser for Washington National park

Hello:
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves “is the famous quote from Sir Edmund Hillary. This summer I am going to put this quote to test as I climb Mt. Rainier along with other Microsoft folks as part of MS climb group.
Washington National park areas has fascinated me since I moved to Seattle over a year ago and Mt. Rainier is the most impressive of it all. It dominates the Seattle skyline and is the most glaciated peak in lower 48 states. Little did I know when I moved here that I would one day be given the opportunity to stand on top of its massive crater climbing up 60 degree slopes and crossing crevasses over ladders lighted up only by moonlight and headlamps as air thins out at 14,410ft.
Along with conditioning and learning mountaineering skills, I am also fundraising for a Washington National Park fund charity. The proceeds go towards buying equipment for search & rescue efforts in the Washington national park areas (this includes the Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Park areas). This will enable millions of outdoor adventurers and nature lovers to enjoy the parks knowing that keeping them safe is the main responsibility of search and rescue.
Thank you for visiting my fundraising page! Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my fundraising efforts.Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

You can donate to my cause at
https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/SowmyaMahadevaiah/microsoft-mt-rainier-climb-july-2014

If you are a Microsoft employee, you can use //give to request a matching contribution. See these instructions for MS matching of funds.
If you are not a Microsoft employee, please check with your employer to see if they will match your charitable contribution. WNPF is a 501(c)(3) charity, tax id 01-0869799.

Pic of Mt.Rainier today

Took this pic from the bus while crossing Lake Washington this morning. Mt.Rainier looking so majestic and daunting at the same time..

Mt Si hike 4/26 twice

Round 1:  27 pounds back pack, 2hr 30mins up , 1hr 50 mins down
Round 2:  24  pounds back pack, 2hr 45 mins up, 1 hr 55 min down

Total hiking time : 9 hrs 15 mins

Lake Serene hike - 4/19

Part of Microsoft group outing.  Beautiful day gave away to light rain. A relatively easy hike with a very well maintained trail.
2hrs, 15 mins up; 2hrs down.
Lake Serene was frozen with a little water starting show up. A few wildflowers on the trial.

 

Elevation gain and distance covered

Between Feb 16, 2014 - April 18, 2014

		2014
	Elevation gain(feet)	# of times	Distance(miles)
Poo Poo Point	1500	1	4
West Tiger 3	2250	1	6
Mt Si	3150	4	8
Camp Muir	4600	0.5	10
cable line	2022	5	3
	28760		62

Gold's gym 90 day challenge

Today was final weigh in at Gold's gym national 90 day fitness challenge ( Jan 16 - Apr 16).

Total change in body weight : -5.5 pounds
Total body fat % change : - 3.5 %
Total body fat mass lost : 9.7 pounds
Total lean muscle mass gained : 4.25 pounds



 

Cable line hike 4/15

29 pds back pack. 1hr:38 mins up ; 1 hr down

Glacier travel training - Part 2

Z-pulley crevasse rescue field trip at Stevens pass. It was snowing lightly.

Round1: Middle person in rope team of 3
1. I connected to the main Rope to the two belay loops through the locking carabiner. Connected the chest prusick and leg prusick to a second non-locking carabiner. Team mates took turns to verify that the locks are secure and locked.

2.When the last person fell into a little man made crevasse , the lead and me arrested keeping our entire body weight onto the ice axe. Since I was the person in the middle, I was carrying the weight of 170 pound man when the person got up to make the first anchor!.. After the first anchor was secured, I got up to make the second anchor or the dead man anchor in the snow. This was done by
1. measuring the length for double runner to start from where the first anchor was placed.
2. Dig 3ft into the snow and place the picket with a double runner girth hitched to it. Run the runner under the rope and attached it to the carabiner connected to the first anchor.
3. setup second pulley.
4.After that used the connected to the chest pruisk to the main rope and slowly moved to the top of the crevasse. Dug the blade of ice axe into the snow and buried the sling in the stop.

 

5. Moved back up to the first anchor by using the chest prusick and both of us pulled up the fallen climber.

--->Missing  few other details.. to be added

Round2:  leader of the rope team of 3
1. I connected to the main Rope to the two belay loops through the locking carabiner. Connected the chest prusick and leg prusick to a second non-locking carabiner. Team mates took turns to verify that the locks are secure and locked.
2. When the last person fell into crevasse, me and middle person arrested. I checked with everyone if they were ok. Making sure the middle person was securely arrested . I got up moved to the foot of the second person
3. Strongly dug the ice axe into the snow making the first anchor. Now the weight of the fallen climber has been transferred to the ice axe.
4. setup the first pulley. Put my leg on the anchor to secure it more
5. Later while the second person was setting up the second anchor, still connected to the rope, detached the two prusick.
6. Un winded the rope , removed the knots and threw the other end of rope to second person to make the second anchor
7. Finally after he returned ,both of us pulled the fallen climber


--->Missing  few other details.. to be added

Lecture self rescue:
We had in class lecture for self arrest. Attached to a rope connected to basketball hoop in gym. Used  the chest prusick to move it up the rope as much as possible and then sat there on rope. Put legs on leg prusick to pull myself up
 

Mt. Si hike 4/6 - 1 1/4 trip

First round:
32 pound back pack. 2:51 up; 1:30 mins down.

Attempted to climb again. Went up about about 1 mile and turned back. Notice my pace was getting really slow even though mentally I still wanted to go up.
Will try again another day...

Acute mountain sickness(AMS)

Attended an excellent REI talk about AMS by A.M.Luks from Univ. of Washington yesterday.


About Thin Air:
The composition of Air at sea level is 78% Nitrogen(N2), 21% Oxygen(O2) and traces of water vapor, CO2 and other components
The composition of Air at Mt.Rainier ( at 14,000 ft) is still the same.
The only difference is the barometric pressure. The pressure at the summit of Mount Rainier is 40 percent less than at sea level. So, at 14,000 feet the air has expanded and now takes up 40 percent more space. So with every breath you take  40 percent less air, and 40 percent less oxygen

About AMS:

http://www.altitudemedicine.org/index.php/altitude-medicine/learn-about-altitude-sickness
and
http://www.mountainguides.com/wordpress/2011/11/30/guide-features/what-you-should-know-about-altitude-sickness/


 

Cable line hike 4/1

25 pds. 1hr:30min up, 55min down
Beautiful day with no rain.. Was finally able to get a good shot at the top .

 

 

Leg extensions and chest press

In today's weight training reached a big milestone. Feeling awesome

Leg extensions 75 pounds 10 reps each.
Followed by 50pounds 10 reps , 35 pounds 10 reps and 15 pounds 10 rep
and repeat the above 4 times

Chest press: 45 pounds 15 reps , repeat 4 times
 

beginning of busy April

Busy April begins...

• Snow skills training class -part 2
• Cable line
• Mt Si
• Mailbox/ Microsoft Lake serene
• Mountaineers Rock climbing class

Mt. Si hike 3/23 and Navigation

29pounds starting backpack weight.
2 hrs:55 min up ; 2 hrs down
Nice sunny day but ice and packed snow last 2 miles requiring microspikes.

Thought of taking advantage of  the great weather by practicing my navigation skills today.
1. At the Mt Si trailhead, set compass to obtain bearing towards the snowqualmie view point on the map. Got bearing at 328 degrees. When I reached the viewpoint, it was still pointing towards the haystack which is the right direction. My compass had the declination set.

 

2.At the snowqualmie view point,thought of identifying an unnamed nearby peak on the map. From the map contour lines identified that peak was at 4500 ft elevation. Steps to locate the peak:
1. First oriented myself with the compass and map to all point north. Had the compass N at the pointer.
2. Set it on the map at the snowqualmie view point and angled compass towards the unnamed mountain. Rotated the bezel until the meridian lines were parallel to the map's grid lines, all the while maintaining the N of compass pointing to the North of map.Found bearing of 50 degrees
3. Keeping the compass on the palm of my hand moved until the "red fred was in the shed". The peak was located.

 

 

 

more gear

Excited about my shiny new backpack and crampons. courtesy of REI 20% off discount..

 

Cable line hike 3/27

First time with a 30 pound backpack
1hr:30mins up, 1hr down
Two weeks ago took 1 hr:15min for a 16pd pack. Today it is just 15 min more but with a 30pd pack :)

Weights used:

• one gallon of water :     8 pds
• 2 liter hydration pack:   4 pds
• 2x 1 liter water bottle :  5 pds
• 1 dumbbell:                : 5 pds
• backpack itself  with other items:8 pds

 

First woman to summit Mt.Rainier

http://visitrainier.blogspot.com/2014/03/rainier-notable-fay-fuller-first-woman.html

Glacier travel training

Spent the entire day in mountaineering school learning glacier travel skills.
Started off by driving up to Alpental snowqualmie ski resort and hiked up to a nearby slope. Slope was moderate around 25 degree gradient . First task was learning glissading and then arresting while glissading. It was so much fun!!.
We then put on our crampons, roped up to a team of 4 and we completed 3 rounds. We had to switch sides whenever we took turns always making sure rope is down hill while ice axe was uphill.
Then the leaders made it tougher by actually have someone pull on the rope while we were all going uphill and we would all immediately jump down and arrest!!!. Or the leader would yell falling and fall down making us go into an arrest.
That part was really scary.  Was really interesting to think about how to keep the ice axe while I am climbing up with ice axe to my left Vs when it is to my right Vs when I am going downhill.!!!.
I did some awkward arrests followed by some more good ones :). Feeling more confident about my skills now than I did 10 hrs ago :)

Few pics from Aplental.

 

comparisons

I am reinstating a previous post :)

A coworker who has climbed Rainier a dozen times mentioned a good yardstick for conditioning includes being able to climb up Mt.Si with a 40 pd backpack in 1:45 mins!.
This is a mountain with elevation gain of 3100ft in approx. 3.5 miles.

So I am having concerns regarding my own conditioning at this point :(

 

Cable line hike 3/12

1hr 15 min up; 1 hr down ; 16 pd pack

Exactly 4 mo's to go from the big climb !!!

Mt. Si hike 3/9

Part of Seattle Hiking meetup group outing.
2hrs 30 mins up, 1hrs 55 min down with 20 pd pack

Camp Muir hike -attempt 1

Started off at Paradise (5444 ft) destined to Camp muir (10080 ft).
Started off the day at 9am when park opened and we could see Mt.Rainier at a distance.

 

However decent early day weather gave away to white out conditions and  high winds as high as 45mph. We were able to climb up to  Panorama point (at 6800 ft).  Visibility was less than 30 ft forcing us to turn back.
We were climbing up/down 35 degree gradient slopes.  On our way back were hit with ice crystals blowing from the peak due to high winds.

It was my first time snow shoeing.:)

 

 

cable line 3/6

1hr 15 min to go up and 55 min to come down

Quote by Helen Keller on security

Came across this quote while reading the book "Mountaineering-The Freedom of the hills" . As Helen Keller observed in 1957 in The Open Door," Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing ." !! So true for me right now in my journey to summit Mt. Rainier...

Mt Si hike 3/2

Mt Si hike today as part of Mountaineers alpine scrambling course. The criteria for getting credit included carrying 25 pds or higher and complete the hike up to Haystack on Mt Si within 21/2 hrs. Beginning elevation 660 ft. Ending elevation approx. 3500 ft. Total elevation gain : 2840 ft.

To get the 25 pds weight used 1 Gallon water jug along with 1 liter water bottle. This is separate from the 2 liter water bladder I carried for my own consumption.

The trail had snow right at the trail head. within 1 mile into the hike, trail turned icy requiring micro spikes..

I did not complete the climb within  2hrs 30 mins. Rather completed it in 2hrs 50mins. The leader felt that was good enough and gave me a passing score :)

However this is a big step up from hike back in November last year when it took me 3hrs and 25 mins to go up and  1hr 40mins to come down, with a light back pack and no ice or snow. Time taken this time with 25 pd backpack and snow & ice trail: 2hrs 50 mins to go up and approx. 2 hrs to come down :)

View from the top of haystack:

 

 

It's all coming together..

Crampons, mountaineering boots, mittens, 160lumen headlamp, ice axe...Bought a major chunk of my technical gear today.. Still remaining to be purchased: harness, helmet,second pair of gloves

 

Cable line after work hike

Just got done with after work hike at the Cable line trail.. This gains 2200 ft elevation within 1.5 miles!.
Also my first time leading a hike .. that too in the dark !!!
Took 1hr  20 mins to go up and approximately 50 mins to come down.. carrying 16 pds weight

To get more info about what this monster is like: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/853695#
 

West Tiger mountain hike

First snow hike of the year with medium weights.