Route Info Location: Mt. Rainier, Washington Route: Liberty Ridge Difficulty: IV, Steep snow and ice Summit elevation: 14,411 feet Elevation gain: 11,400 feet Max grade: 55 degrees Approach: White River (less-popular alternative is via Carbon River) Time: 2-5 days (3 for us) Gear 60m 8mm rope, 3 ice screws, 2 pickets, a few slings, 2 tools each, crampons Elevations White River Campground: 4,400 ft Camp on Curtis Ridge: 7,500 ft Camp on Thumb Rock: 10,800 ft Summit (Columbia Crest): 14,411 ft Liberty Cap: 14,112 ft |
Day 1:
Day 2:
Note: Some
parties shoot for Thumb Rock in one long day (6,400ft up) and avoid
camping on lower Curtis Ridge, and hence make it one long day from the car to Thumb Rock. Day 3:
Note: Some
parties begin descent after the summit of Liberty Cap rather than
tagging the higher summit. As we did, it is possible to descend all the way to the
trailhead and not camp at Camp Schurman, and hence make it one long
day between Thumb Rock and the car. |
I climbed Ptarmigan Ridge exactly 1 week after Liberty Ridge. It was interesting to see the amount of melting that occurs over the course of 1 week of normal warm summer weather.
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My parents climbed Rainier on several occasions in the 1970s (my mom climbed it more than my dad, since before they met she was part of the Tacoma Mountaineers; Rainier was and still is common destination for the Mountaineers). My parents climbed a few different routes (Emmons Glacier, Disappointment Cleaver, Ingraham Glacier, Sunset Ridge, Kautz Icefall) on Rainier, but they never did climb Liberty or Ptarmigan Ridges, although these were on their list. Then I was born, and the list was passed on to me. Here are a few photos from my parents' scrapbooks. The people and gear have changed greatly over the years, but Rainier is much the same now as it was when my parents were climbing it over 30 years ago.
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