Rainier Gear

Travis, when do you plan the hike?
My first time up (1974) I rented a pair of old leather hiking boots from REI- I don't remember what type of socks I wore. My feet were fine. It was the first week of August and the weather was perfect. If you are going that time of year the Kolfach's would work but there might be better options.
I wore:
Long johns bottoms- doufold
Pants- Levi cords
Top- turtle neck and flannel shirt
Coat- ski jacket
Hat- ski hat
Gloves- Ski gloves
Sleeping bag- my friends down bag (It was warmer then we anticipated in Muir hut so I slept on top of it)
Pack- my friends Jansport ext. frame (I thought it was a really cool pack)
Crampons- Rented from REI

That was it- Of course things were a little different back then.
I hope you have a great climb.

Hi Travis,

I've climbed Rainier twice, as well as many of the other volcanoes in WA. A couple of thoughts…

I used to have an epic shelled BD Lighthouse. I've abandoned it after finding that the Epic would leak in constant rain and high humidity. Just an fyi.

re: boots. Most folks use plastics on Rainier. They're warm and stiff. I've never used plastics, though, because I find the weight slows me down. I have used leather climbing boots but I now use the La Sportiva Trango S Evo GTX. I go with wool socks if the temps are mild or an RBH Designs vapor barrier sock if it's really cold. That said, if I were to go up today, I would use 40 Below overboots- I think they're genius. I'm not a big fan of leather footwear anymore.

The Hydrogen should work for a summer climb but I'd want way more ground insulation (especially if you're on snow, which I've always been up there) and the Thermawrap pants and jacket. I'd prefer a warmer bag, but I'm a cold sleeper at altitude. The bivy isn't a bad idea but the pad will keep you a lot warmer.

Look at Camp Ice Axes and crampons. The weight on your feet and hands will make a huge difference over trad gear- esp. on summit day.

RE: pants. Be sure to consider the long glissades.

Last, if you're looking to do a non-guided trip and need a team member, I'd love to get back up there.

Welcome to the Pac NW!

Doug

I think a balaclava would be nice, maybe some mitts as well.

Thanks all for your responses. Doug, I think you are very right about the ground insulation. Last time I went up Rainier I was on a very large, and very thick Thermarest. Do you think that A nightlight 3/4 would be enough if combined with the thinlight pad underneath or would I need something else? Thanks for the reminder on the Trango's, I'll have to go check them out and read the review here again. I am pretty sure now that I will ditch the patagonia expedition weight capeline and just buy myself a pair of the thermawrap pants, they are something that I have wanted for a while anyways. For my ice axe I already have a petzl snowwalker, which is relatively light, although not nearly as much as the CAMP corsica or the ushba Ti. My crampons are the older Charlet Moser super 12,l which I have not yet weighed yet. Does anybody think that it would be a good idea to switch over to aluminium crampons? Will they hold up to the super hard ice as well as scree on the cascade volcanos? My final question is does anybody think that the two parka system is too much? Should I ditch one and just bring along my U.L. Inner Jacket?

Travis

P.S. Doug I would really be interested in your offer to go up Rainier this summer. Its been four years since I was up on any of the Cascade Volcanoes and I'm just itching to get back!

Which approach will you be doing? I've always taken leather boots. The two times I went in on the Schurman side it sure was nice to just hike in them on the 5 mile approach. On the Muir side I was surprised that we basically started on the snow right off of the parking lot. It may have been the time of season.

As far as other things:
-I'd cut weight by moving to aluminum crampons. Unless you really plan on going up a lot or doing some ice climbing they will last a good while and be quite a bit lighter.
-I always use my BD Lighthouse and the epic does great up there (no rain, just snow, no worries).
-For pants I use Marmot Precip rainpants (full-zip) and they are light enough and waterproof enough for mountaineering if you're not going to do any ice climbing or rubbing on rocks. I even glissade in them no problems although I did wear out a pair after 2 seasons.
-Don't bother bringing any down for mid-layers. You'll want to be moving to keep warm and sometimes will sweat a bit when you're working hard. I made the mistake of bringing my montbell ul down inner jacket once for a midlayer.
-My strategy is to go light on base layers (smarwool microwool pants, mid-weight long-sleeve top. No insulation for my legs usually does me fine. Arcteryx shell over my smartwool top keeps me warm and shielded from the wind while we are moving. When I we are making the summit attempt at night I will have a big parka (mtn hardwear). The things I do not skimp on are headgear, balaclava, gloves, socks, neck gaiter. The right combination of these things keeps me from having to dig clothing out of my pack all the time.
-For sleeping, do not skimp on a full-length pad. Ground insulation is important and if it is good enough, I usually get away with my WM summerlite bag (32deg) plus wearing my layers. Some of my buddies go lighter than that and sleep in all the clothes they brought but I can't comfortably do that.
-Basically, my whole Rainier setup is around 36 lbs. And then I get a bunch of shared gear that my non-UL buddies throw at me. Go figure!