Liberty Ridge East Side Variation Traverse

June 10, 2016

Mt. Rainier is the iconic peak of the Pacific Northwest with Liberty Ridge being the most classic alpine route on the mountain. It’s a route that’s on the bucket list of any true alpine climber. To climb this route requires all the stars to align.  The weather must be stable and the snow conditions must be just right.  If just one of these pieces is out of place the route may not go… and that’s just what happened on our most recent attempt at Liberty Ridge.

On our climb earlier this week we were put to a decision pretty early on in the program. We camped at St. Elmo’s pass on day one and read that the forecast called for 70 mph winds out of the SW during our scheduled summit day.  Fellow guide Luke Reilly and I discussed our options, came up with a plan, talked it over with the office who confirmed it with the National Park. We opted to completely change our trip objective and focus on climbing Little Tahoma.

Off to Little Tahoma we went.  From St. Elmo’s we went up the Winthrop Glacier to Camp Schurman, had some coffee, then headed across the massive Emmons Glacier.  Gaining the north shoulder of Little Tahoma consisted of 1000 feet of 45 degree snow climbing to our camp on the Whitman Glacier.  The next morning the weather was holding strong which gave us a nice window to climb Little Tahoma, Washington’s 3rd highest peak.  Little T, as we call it, has a beautiful summit ridge.  It’s a classic alpine ridge, offering the best view possible of Mt. Rainier’s East side.  The summit pinnacle is large enough for only three people to stand shoulder to shoulder.

Once back at high camp we decided to continue our adventure with an east side traverse.  Up and over the Whitman col to the lower Ingraham glacier was a sporty (but fun) section of our program.  The winter snow pack had melted so much that simply walking over the col was not possible.  A 50 meter repel was required to get the team down to the glacier.  Across the Ingraham and over to the Cowlitz glacier we climbed.  The team was strong and the weather was still holding at lower elevations.

Wandering down the Cowlitz glacier was exciting.  One of our climbers looked right at me and said, “It looks like an impossible puzzle!” Luke and I simply continued connecting the dots and finding a route.  Yes it involved down climbing a rushing waterfall, climbing thru massive icefall debris, and a few intense crevasse crossings.  But we put the “impossible puzzle” together and arrived at our intended camp at 7600 feet on the Paradise glacier.  Our last day put us at the trailhead at about 11am. It was off to the Copper Creek for lunch then we waited for our shoes. Yes our shoes. We had left a trailhead vehicle at White River with our shoes inside. Our back-up plan was put in play. The descending Emmons Team brought our van back and with it our shoes.

Four days, seven glaciers (Winthrop, Emmons, Frying Pan, Whitman, Ingraham, Cowlitz, Paradise), and a Little Tahoma summit! The Mt. Rainier Lib Ridge East Side Variation Traverse may never be repeated, on purpose.  I can’t thank Luke Reilly and the rest of the team enough for an unforgettable experience.   From a guide’s perspective this was an absolute blast!

Austin Shannon