We did this one a few years back. When it first came into view I remember thinking, "that's not so big..". Soon I was reminded that it was still over 200 miles to Mt. Rainier. For a montanan, climbing Rainier felt a bit like joining the circus. It was definitely harder to obtain climbing and camping permits for Rainier than it was to get accepted to MSU. Paul, Will, Aaron and I had all done both and with cliche Russian nicknames, bad Russian accents and hammers and sickles drawn on to each of our 50 wands we were gonna have a go at skiing the 10,000 vertical foot Emmons route. Day one was mosly dirt trail for about 4 miles. We made it real easy on ourselves and took 2 days to get to Camp Schurman. Skinning up the interglacer i began to realize how big this mountain was. Stark contrast to the hills in Montana where ranges dominate, this mountain was clearly a range in itself. At 10,000 feet, Camp Schurman is pretty high for city folk. We hiked up and took fine corn turns while folks from Seattle stooped over, gasping for starbucks. A leasiurly 7:00 AM start to 5,000 ft of cramponing, taking in the view of the top of the clouds, summit day went smoother than hoped. 5,000 ft of 35-45 degree hard pack safety turning brought us back to camp. All geared up we commicly mached down the glacier entirely too fast infront of a dozen or so seattleites. Skiing down the inter glacer was like a ski-majic carpet ride for hundereds of turns. Fog kept visibility at 15 meters, adding to the effect. About 6 hours after the summit, we were at our car. Only then did we realize that we had forgoten to retrieve our lone placed wand. We though the headlines might read, "Unregistered Russian Team Dissapears on Ranier". I had the lowest body weight to pack ratio and had lost 15 pounds in 3 days! Great trip!

'07-'08 was a substantial year for snowfall in This neck oh the woods. This snowpack really extended the season and allowed for some great, safe big mountain lines into July including what arguably our best alone am i line. This couloir shines above most when it comes to vert, consistent pitch and fall line, stunning location and shear aesthetics. A July morning found Geoff, Pat and I on our way to the base of the couloir. Our camp was set eight or so miles back amongst thriving alpine turf, rolling blue water. and crowned with snow adorned peaks. Not because of our alpine start we made good time up the couloir swapping leads around 1 snow picked and a few pieces of rock pro. We passed a party of 2, one of which, from Michigan I believe, had forgotten his crampons! We all got a few grey hairs after seeing him slip on the near 50 degree pitch, begin sliding and self arrest just before going for the big ride. Only then did they rope up. After reaching the col, summiting and returning to the col we found the party of 2 stalled out 20 meters below. They graciously accepted a belay, then expressed their disbelief in our plans to ski the couloir. We expressed our disbelief in the midwesterner reaching the col without crampons! I took a belay into the 60 degree, icy, 200cm wide boot backed entrance. At 120 feet their rope kinked up and i could go no further. Untieing felt like stepping into space. Now closer to 50 degrees but still icy the slope held my focus. I skied to a safe spot and waited for Geoff and Pat who opted to rappel in and gear up on the rocks. This was Geoff's first rappel ever! We all met up then skied 2600 ft straight down to our camp. Cheers!