40 before 40: Ski a volcano!

Mt. Rainier is a Volcano!

Mt. Rainier

Putting on skins after a night in the van; Rainier in the background

Brooks skinning up from the parking lot

Twice now we have skiied Rainier, a volcano south of Seattle.  It last erupted around 1894-95, but is projected to erupt again.  The USGS identifies Rainier as one of the nation's most dangerous volcanoes because of its proximity to populated areas, likelihood of eruption, and danger of lahars.  Its summit sits at 14, 410.  When we attempted to summit Rainier in 2012, we made it to 12, 200.  Muir Camp is at 10, 500 feet.  Anyone can hike up to Muir Camp without a permit, and so we have hiked there twice and skiied down.  It takes 3-5 hours to hike up; both times we took quite the break at the camp and enjoyed a leisurely snack break and even a nap!  Finches are present, looking for crumbs and bugs.

Hiking up!

Skinning up! Mt. Adams in the background

Skinning up to Camp Muir

Man and the Mountain

Camp Muir; one needs a permit to go beyond here

The descent is roughly a 4,500 run! It took us 30 minutes to ski down! It was a major quad burner! Previous to skiing Rainier, our longest descent was a run in B.C. during our week at the hut.

This most recent trip, the snow was incredible! It is pretty much a green run all the way down except for one section that is fairly steep--a black.  The snow was incredible even on the steep! At the bottom of the steep, I was gaining speed because of the small incline just ahead.  Brooks saw me crush the steep, he said he even thought to himself, "Lindsey is getting so good at skiing!"  But just as I flew into the depression, the soft snow GRABBED my skis and I did a total flip: face into the snow, skis over my head, landing on my back.  Because of this rise, all the hikers around me who saw me crush the descent never even saw my crash.  At first, I moved my legs to see if they still worked.  Then, I moved my arms.  All systems go.  Next, I removed the snow from behind my sunglasses.  I was so disoriented I couldn't even turn on my radio to communicate with Brooks.  I slowly stood up and skied my way over to Brooks.

He was standing in the snow, post-holed up to his knees away from his board. He said he saw my head go down out of sight and then my skis came up.  He couldn't see me fully, but jumped out of his board and ran until he could see me.  He saw me testing out my limbs and noticed I was up and moving so he had waited with his radio on to hear from me.

Luckily, there was no permanent damage, just a little ego bruise.  Another reason why I ALWAYS wear a helmet.

It is amazing to ski Rainier and get above the alpine and some times above the clouds! Wear sunscreen!