Rainier Gear Checklist
A Mount Rainier climb is a glacier trip, not a long hike. The usual Disappointment Cleaver route gains more than 9,000 feet and crosses crevassed ice, so your pack is built around a rope team kit, a way to melt snow at Camp Muir, and layers for a midnight start that ends in hot slush. The Park Service publishes no required gear list. It does say what rangers expect to see, and climbers who went unguided say the sleeping pad, the cold wind on the cleaver and the shoes for the walk in are where they were caught out.
What shapes your gear on Mount Rainier
- Size of the climb
- Every route to the summit gains more than 9,000 feet and covers more than ten miles. The summit is 14,410 feet. The Park Service says glacier travel and rope skills are required to go up and down safely.
- Where people sleep
- Many overnight parties use Camp Muir, about 10,080 feet, as base camp. Others camp higher on the Ingraham Glacier at Ingraham Flats, around 11,200 feet, which has room for 36 people a night and no toilets.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017), Off The Couch Project and Shalee Wanders
- Water
- Snow is the only water at Camp Muir and there is no running source. The route brief says to pack a stove for cooking and melting it, and one unguided couple spent about an hour and a half melting enough for two people.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017) and Shalee Wanders
- Start time
- Guided groups wake close to 11:30 pm and are roped up by 12:30 am. An unguided couple started at 1 am from Camp Muir, reached the rim at 7:40 am and finished a 16-hour day back in Paradise.
From Colorado Keith and Shalee Wanders
- Wind and temperature
- The route brief tells climbers to expect sub-zero temperatures and winds averaging 20 miles an hour. A climber on the cleaver at 3:30 am had gusts of 25 miles an hour or more. A one-day team crouched in the summit crater for about two hours to wait out strong wind.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017), Shalee Wanders and Off The Couch Project
What the agency requires on Mount Rainier
Climbing registration and a wilderness permit
Anyone on a glacier, or above the high camps near 10,000 feet, needs a permit. Registration costs $82 per person. From May 1 to September 15 a wilderness permit also applies, at $12 per person per night, even if you plan a single push. Nobody climbs solo without specific authorization.
Blue bags for human waste
Climbers must pack out their waste unless they use a toilet. The brief says to bring at least two bags per person for a three-day trip. Ingraham Flats has no toilets, and Camp Muir and Paradise have barrels for used bags.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
Crucial crevasse gear for those who lack experience
The Park Service publishes no required gear list. It says rangers often meet parties at Camp Muir that carry a single picket or two, and no pulleys or prussiks, or an ice axe with no leash. A permit can be denied to climbers who lack crucial gear and also lack substantial experience.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
Camp on snow, not on rock
The fragile plants above tree line need protection, so rangers ask climbers to pitch camp on snow and do their camp chores there.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
What hikers carry on Mount Rainier
A crevasse rescue kit built for a small team
The Park Service says each climber should have at least two small pulleys, two prussiks, several carabiners and two anchors, especially in parties of three or fewer. Unguided climbers listed a 30 or 40 meter rope, one to two pickets, prussiks and a handful of carabiners.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017), Off The Couch Project and Shalee Wanders
A stove and spare fuel for snow melt
Camp Muir has no running water. One couple spent about 90 minutes melting snow to fill their bottles. A rescue story in the Park Service brief involves a party that ran out of water and carried no stove to melt snow.
From Shalee Wanders and Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
A helmet for the cleaver
Rocks fall on the Disappointment Cleaver. A one-day team on the way down saw a party above knock loose several large rocks, and one climber took a head-over-heels fall that a backpack cushioned. The route brief lists a helmet in its personal gear list.
From Off The Couch Project and Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
A big down parka for the summit crater
A guided client put on a big down parka the moment packs came off at the crater rim. Another guided climber carried a down sweater, a parka and a shell top and bottom, and noted temperatures near 30°F around the last hour to the summit.
From Colorado Keith and 14ers.com
A sun hoodie and vented pants for the hot return
Guides told one client to leave Camp Muir in just a base top and softshell pants. Climbers then found the descent hot, with soft slush by mid-morning. The same client stuffed snow in a hat to cool off and unzipped the pant legs on the cleaver.
From Colorado Keith, 14ers.com and Shalee Wanders
Light shoes for the first miles and for camp
One one-day team wore waterproof trail runners up the Skyline Trail and changed to mountaineering boots on the Muir Snowfield. Another hiker did the whole climb in boots and wished for flip flops at Camp Muir. A guided client says sandals were the best thing to put on for the bus ride home.
From Off The Couch Project, 14ers.com and Colorado Keith
A GPS with a loaded map, spare batteries and a satellite messenger
The route brief calls the GPS the modern standard for navigation and tells climbers to bring spare batteries. A one-day team carried a satellite messenger and a GPS watch.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017) and Off The Couch Project
A pee bottle
The route brief asks climbers to keep urine off the snow at Camp Muir, since the snow is the camp's water supply. It suggests a bottle used in the tent and emptied into the toilets.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
12 people can go on one permit. Split this list between them so nobody carries two stoves.
Plan a trip hereWhat hikers regret or leave behind on Mount Rainier
A sleeping pad that was not made for a glacier
A couple sleeping on the Cowlitz Glacier at Camp Muir got under two hours of sleep. Their footprint, tent floor, budget pads and down bags did not stop the cold seeping up. The one change they would make is better sleeping gear.
From Shalee Wanders
No camp shoes at Camp Muir
A guided hiker who wore boots the whole way up wished for flip flops at the hut. Several guided climbers brought sandals for the ride home and described taking boots off as the best moment of the day.
From 14ers.com and Colorado Keith
A shovel they left in the car
One couple skipped the shovel and chopped a flat platform with an ice axe at Camp Muir instead. They call it a chance they took, and the route brief still lists a shovel as group gear.
From Shalee Wanders and Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
Extra gear that slowed a one-day push
A team with a first-time partner chose to carry more gear on a car-to-car climb and accepted a slower pace. The push took about 18 hours, with a long rest at the summit and again at Camp Muir.
Gear questions for Mount Rainier
How much does a Mount Rainier climbing permit cost?
The Park Service charges $82 per person for climbing registration. From May 1 to September 15 a wilderness permit is also needed, at $12 per person per night.
Do I need a rope and crevasse rescue gear to climb Mount Rainier?
Yes for an independent climb. The Park Service says glacier rope skills are required, and rangers expect each climber to carry at least two pulleys, two prussiks and two anchors. Guided climbers travel on a rope team with their guide.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Climbing, Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017) and Colorado Keith
Where do climbers get water on Mount Rainier?
At Camp Muir the only water is snow. Pack a stove and fuel to melt it, and collect snow from the north side of Muir Ridge because the camp's toilets drain into the snowfield. Climbers also refill from a filter on the way down.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017), Shalee Wanders and Off The Couch Project
What do you do with human waste on Mount Rainier?
Use the toilets at Camp Muir or pack out your waste in blue bags. Pick the bags up at a ranger station before you go and plan on at least two per person for a three-day trip.
From Mount Rainier National Park (NPS): Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017)
Sources
- Climbing · Mount Rainier National Park (NPS) · Agency
- Disappointment Cleaver-Ingraham Direct route brief (PDF, 2017) · Mount Rainier National Park (NPS) · Agency
- Everything to Know Before Climbing Mount Rainier: Disappointment Cleaver Route · Shalee Wanders, Shalee · Blog
- Mount Rainier In A Day (Disappointment Cleaver) Trip Report · Off The Couch Project, Ryan Mullen · Blog
- Mount Rainier - Disappointment Cleaver with RMI · Colorado Keith, Keith · Blog
- Rainier-Disappointment Cleaver (trip report, August 2013) · 14ers.com, WarDamnPanic · Trip report