Mountaineering
How Mountaineering was introduced to my life.
In June of 2008 Ron and I invited some beginners to come on a
canyoneering trip with us. We did Keyhole and Pine Creek
canyons in Zion National Park. One of the people on the
trip was Dan, who Ron had met in a climbing group. Dan
liked canyoneering and told me and Ron there were a couple spots
open on a mountaineering trip he would be on the following
month. He asked If we wanted to go. Ron immediately
said yes and I said I was like a 60% yes. I was hesitant
because I knew I did not like cold. The trip would be
traveling and camping on snow and ice while we to summit Mount
Rainier.
As time went by I was more and more excited about getting the
opportunity to experience snow camping. I eventually said
I was a definite and committed to the trip.
I ended up spending well over $2,000 on the trip in the form of
gear and a $300 plane ticket. All in all it was well worth
the expense and I still have gear to show for it for the next
mountaineering adventure.
During the trip we had great weather with little wind, few
clouds (above us anyway) and warm day time temps. Our
coldest night was getting up for summit day at 11pm to 20°F.
During the trip and looking back on it I am of the mind set I
would like to experience more of it but will try to plan for the
popular routes during parts of the year where good weather is
likely. If that trip had been full of heavy winds or had
any appreciable amounts of precipitation I would not have
enjoyed my self as very much. But having good weather I
enjoyed the trip immensely and it is one of the highlights for
my life memory collection.
Trip Reports
If you would like to see a report of the Mount
Rainier trip and any others I eventually put here check out my
Mountaineering
Trip Reports Page.
You will find maps, GPS coordinates, notes and pictures.
Mountaineering Gear Thoughts
My Mountaineering Gear
Thoughts page includes some of my opinions on gear
selection. This page will have limited information since I
am new to the mountaineering experience. But the thoughts
just might be helpful to a beginner looking into the sport. The intent of the Gear Thoughts page is not to tell you what is the
best. The intent is to tell you what seems to work best for me and
why. You will develop your own ideas of what works for you.