Partner: Sam Lien
Mileage: 35.5
Gain: 13271'
Elapsed Time: 16:35 (ugh)
Start time: 2:00 AM
Approach/deproach: Lots!
Ski Gear: Lightish
Technical Gear: Single axe and Crampons
Rope: Yes
Pack: Pretty light, but a stove and warm clothes as always
Start: Mount Rainier Westside Road Gate
Finish: Start
Dryland: About 7.5 mi/1700' bike, About 2.5 mi/1000' hiking
Mileage: 35.5
Gain: 13271'
Elapsed Time: 16:35 (ugh)
Start time: 2:00 AM
Approach/deproach: Lots!
Ski Gear: Lightish
Technical Gear: Single axe and Crampons
Rope: Yes
Pack: Pretty light, but a stove and warm clothes as always
Start: Mount Rainier Westside Road Gate
Finish: Start
Dryland: About 7.5 mi/1700' bike, About 2.5 mi/1000' hiking
Sunrise with the Emerald Ridge in the background
Readers of this blog will probably have noticed that I really like to ski Mount Rainier, I try to get up the big mountain at least once a year. I also enjoy exploring the less popular routes. Last spring when I skied the Sunset Amphitheater couloir with Ben Peters we had accessed it by the Tahoma Glacier. Seeing the glacier up close made me want to come back and ski it. It also happened that our ascent this year coincided with a major solar storm. The puget sound filled with the Aurora Borealis. We did see them faintly while riding our bikes in the middle of the night but didn't stop to take a photo, sorry.
Route goes straight up the center of the snow ramp
Now... you could summit via a standard south side route like the Kautz or Fuhrer drop the upper part of the Tahoma and then traverse back around to the south side. You would spend half your descent traversing and totally miss the chance to park at 2150' to climb a mountain that is 14411' tall. Where else in the lower 48 do you have the opportunity to do so much fall line vert? It's also worth pointing out that for an early season ascent, this route totally skips the Longmire gate opening/closing bullshit... food for thought.
There is a significant bike approach on the west side road, It's a very smooth road and a gravel bike would do just fine. For us it was nice to be on MTBs for the low gearing. The prior spring Ben and I took a decommissioned and partially washed out trail up Tahoma creek to connect with the wonderland south of Emerald ridge. This time I wanted to try the only other option which requires riding a little further up the road and taking the Puyallup Creek trail, connecting with the Wonderland north of Emerald Ridge. Once you get all the way up Emerald ridge the two routes converge. The good news is that the trails going this way were in beautiful shape. The bad news is that you have to go over an extra pass on the westside road and early season it would be snowed over meaning you would be skinning very early (making for a very long day(s)).
Sam on the upper Tahoma with Sunset Amphitheater in the background
Looks like the approach notes are going to take up at least half of this write up. Anyways, the lower Tahoma is pretty straightforward, mostly low angle with some obvious ramp systems to follow and not too much crevasse hazard. Mid way up the glacier you want to move to the north edge of the glacier, see my TR from last year to understand why (hint, massive serac exposure). Then the glacier really starts to get complex around 9700' (just above where the circumnav cuts across). From there on up it's crevasse dodging, do note that 2024 was not a good snow year, in a better year it would probably be more straightforward, at least earlier in the spring.
Sam topping out with Glacier Peak in the background
It was a very warm day, highs in the mod 80's in the Puget Sound. We figured that the west side of a very tall mountain would be a good bet. We made it to the top at about 2 PM. The ascent of the upper headwall had given us nice firm travel conditions, but seemed like we should be right on time for softening. It was warm on top, I made it up there in a Sun Hoody, but had to layer up as soon as I stopped. The other funny thing we realized that was for all the skiing Sam and I had done together, this was our first Rainer summit together.
Skiing the upper headwall
We dropped in and while the summit plateau was still pretty firm, the line was softening nicely. It's not a very steep route, but the snowfield leading into it is a bit of a blind roll and it's very broad. Made for tricky route finding. I was following our faint tracks and the ascent route on my watch very closely, basically the entire way back down to 9500'. One of the cool things about this route is that since there is no herd-path booter it's much more of a wild mountain experience. Following booters is fast, wild mountain experiences can be slow, plan accordingly.
Terrific ski conditions combined with tricky route finding
Below 9500' we were able to relax and just ski. Unfortunately it's a low angle glacier and we were below "pollen line" so it was rather sticky. Just point them straight for the most part. Last spring and then again this year this section was quite sticky, I think it does make an argument for an early season descent, it would ski so well if it was fast!
Natural ice arch on the lower Tahoma (see goat tracks, upper left)
The day was wearing on and we had just rolled over 13 hours. Neither Sam or I were having our finest day, big busy weeks for both of us, excuse, bullshit, etcetera. The last few thousand to the summit had been quite a grind and even with good snow the descent was rather taxing. I was feeling a bit low, but at that moment the mountain really came to my aid and lifted my spirits. First off I saw a herd of mountain goats, always a pleasure (as long as they aren't kicking rocks at you). Then I saw this massive ice arch, it could have easily been 100' at it's highest point, goat tracks going right over the top. What an incredible thing to see.
The woods deproach ski was also a bit taxing in really sloppy rotten snow which became patchy. Mother mountain again came to our aid. Near the South Puyallup River Camp, right off the trail we were treated to some spectacular basaltic columns complete with perfect light and seasonal waterfalls. I'll remember the snow arch and these waterfalls much more vividly than my 16th summit, then again I would never have seen them if I hadn't been going for the summit, the paradox of mountain climbing.
The saving grace of the exit is that the hiking trail is in great shape and all flat or downhill, but for one short 300' vert climb. From there it's back on the bikes and we made it the 7.5 miles to the car with less than 200 mandatory petal strokes. Really an incredibly well graded road.
This is a fantastic route. On one of the busiest days of the year on the mountain we saw exactly 6 humans (mountaineers on the lower Tahoma doing god knows what) and a herd of goats. That being said, this will not be my go-to mountain access for a quick-hitter Rainier ascent in May. Thanks as always to Sam for being a great partner and indulging my weird route ideas.
Funny post script: the gate we parked at (about 300' from the paradise road) was open when we got back to our car. I think they opened it for the season that day. If it had been open that night for us it would have cut off about 3-4 miles but not much vert. The west side road is permanently closed a little further up so a bike will always be needed unless snow line is very low.
This is a fantastic route. On one of the busiest days of the year on the mountain we saw exactly 6 humans (mountaineers on the lower Tahoma doing god knows what) and a herd of goats. That being said, this will not be my go-to mountain access for a quick-hitter Rainier ascent in May. Thanks as always to Sam for being a great partner and indulging my weird route ideas.
Funny post script: the gate we parked at (about 300' from the paradise road) was open when we got back to our car. I think they opened it for the season that day. If it had been open that night for us it would have cut off about 3-4 miles but not much vert. The west side road is permanently closed a little further up so a bike will always be needed unless snow line is very low.