1700m.
Ridge splitting the center of the north face of Mount Rainier. Highly visible from Seattle, one of Steck and Roper's "50 Classic Climbs of North America" and commonly regarded as the best route on the mountain. Also committing, and subject to considerable objective hazard made worse by climate change. A long old school mountaineering route, perhaps comparable to the Brenva Spur on Mont Blanc.
Approach from the White River Campground towards Camp Sherman. At the interglacier take St Elmo's Pass (right) instead of continuing towards camp sherman, and cross over onto the Winthrop glacier. Traverse the glacier while trying to maintain elevation. After the Winthrop glacier there is a snowfield of sorts before the Curtis Ridge. Curtis Ridge provides a good camp site before 1 or 2 day climbs of the ridge since it provides views of the route, views of the Carbon glacier which you will have to negotiate to gain the route, and views of the major objective hazards on route (liberty wall and willis wall seracs).
The ridge can be gained from either the left or the right near the toe or from the right deep in the cirque subject to very serious serac hazard (the Liberty Wall seracs calved three times in one day while we were on the lower ridge, before we turned the ridge on the left and lost sight of it). Once you've gained the ridge make your way up to a prominent gendarme known as Thumb Rock.
A flat section can often be found behind thumb rock, where one could pitch a tent, but Thumb Rock is a choss pile and may drop rocks on your tent. If climbing the route in two days this may still be the best place to bivy though.
Above thumb rock there is a large rock buttress that is sometimes split by a WI3 pitch, but which most parties will pass on the left or (rarely) the right. The goal at this point is to make your way to the prominent left leaning ramp on the upper left side of the ridge, where pitches of AI2 are often encountered. This long (hundreds of meters) 40-45 degree ramp (early season, possibly steeper if climbed late) leads to a bowl like depression in the upper ice cap where a bergshrund must be negotiated to reach Liberty Cap, a subsummit of Rainier.
Descend via the Emmons Glacier back to Camp Sherman and over the pass onto the inter glacier.
Approach from the White River Campground towards Camp Sherman. At the interglacier take St Elmo's Pass (right) instead of continuing towards camp sherman, and cross over onto the Winthrop glacier. Traverse the glacier while trying to maintain elevation. After the Winthrop glacier there is a snowfield of sorts before the Curtis Ridge. Curtis Ridge provides a good camp site before 1 or 2 day climbs of the ridge since it provides views of the route, views of the Carbon glacier which you will have to negotiate to gain the route, and views of the major objective hazards on route (liberty wall and willis wall seracs).
The ridge can be gained from either the left or the right near the toe or from the right deep in the cirque subject to very serious serac hazard (the Liberty Wall seracs calved three times in one day while we were on the lower ridge, before we turned the ridge on the left and lost sight of it). Once you've gained the ridge make your way up to a prominent gendarme known as Thumb Rock.
A flat section can often be found behind thumb rock, where one could pitch a tent, but Thumb Rock is a choss pile and may drop rocks on your tent. If climbing the route in two days this may still be the best place to bivy though.
Above thumb rock there is a large rock buttress that is sometimes split by a WI3 pitch, but which most parties will pass on the left or (rarely) the right. The goal at this point is to make your way to the prominent left leaning ramp on the upper left side of the ridge, where pitches of AI2 are often encountered. This long (hundreds of meters) 40-45 degree ramp (early season, possibly steeper if climbed late) leads to a bowl like depression in the upper ice cap where a bergshrund must be negotiated to reach Liberty Cap, a subsummit of Rainier.
Descend via the Emmons Glacier back to Camp Sherman and over the pass onto the inter glacier.
Ome Daiber, Arnie Campbell and Jim Burrow 1935.
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