2 Days Until Rainier 2012!

Only two more days until we embark on yet another all-out assault on the legendary volcano. All last minute preparations have been made. Maps printed, gear packed, and trip plans sent out to the fam and friends. Once again, I've got a slight head-cold damping the good vibes, but I'm hanging in there. After all, I climbed last June, only few days after coming down with the flu. Sure enough, I was popping antibiotics at altitude.

On Saturday, I'll be flying out to meet my partner in alpine crime and our Washington state friend to attempt yet again, the Kautz route. We ran out of time last August, so this time we have budgeted a heap of time to slay this one off our to-do list. If we have extra time, we'll perhaps climb the Fuhrer Finger route too -- we have five days to enjoy the southside routes before our committed meetup with the rest of our group. On Thursday, we'll rendezvous with the other six members of our DC climbing team in Ashford and begin yet another push on the mountain's east flank. We'll hit up Camp Muir and from there ascend either the Disappointment Cleaver or the Ingraham Headwall route, assuming the snow bridges haven't melted out completely. Regardless, we have 9-10 sweet days to get our kicks for 2012 on Rainier.

Stay tuned... on Saturday evening, we go live. Be sure to check out our beacon tracker:
http://themountaineerskeptic.blogspot.com/p/track-me-in-real-time.html

Cheers.

Current state of affairs: