Legacy and Conservation

A. Historical Significance

1853: Lt. August V. Kautz makes the first documented summit attempt. He does not finish the job, but he opens the door. 1870: Hazard Stevens and P.B. Van Trump complete the first recorded summit. 1890: Fay Fuller becomes the first recorded woman to stand on top. These names are not trivia. They are the beginning of a culture of trying.

The early twentieth century builds guide culture and local knowledge. Dee Molenaar maps, climbs, and writes the mountain into deeper understanding. Lou Whittaker becomes synonymous with Rainier guiding, with 250+ summits and a legacy that still shapes how people learn this peak. 1931 brings the first winter ascent. 1963 ties Rainier training culture to the American K2 expedition, a reminder that this mountain has long been a classroom for bigger objectives.

History on Rainier is not only triumph. It is also rescue, fatality, and hard lessons paid for by people who did not get to write the ending they wanted. Climb with that inheritance in mind.

B. Conservation Efforts and Leave No Trace

Ten thousand climbers a year leave marks whether they mean to or not. Conservation on Rainier is not a sidebar for people who like birds. It is part of being allowed to keep climbing here.

Blue Bags

On Mount Rainier climbers must pack out all human waste unless they use a toilet facility. Before leaving a ranger station, pick up a few blue bags for your trip. How many? Well, for the DC route, you won't need many, unless you are planning on camping at Ingraham Flats. Many climbers suffer from gastrointestinal distress from either altitude or a change in diet. For a three day trip, bring at least two per person. There are blue bag barrels at Camp Muir and Paradise.

Wands

Wands are the main source of trash climbing rangers collect during the summer. Climbers believe they are 'helping' others out by leaving the wands they placed on their ascent. Please do not do this. You could actually be sending other climbers into harm's way because the route may have changed. Rangers and guides end up picking up all the stray wands. We encourage the use of wands if you need them for navigation, but only if you agree to pull them. The modern standard for navigation is the GPS. Practice using it and don't forget an extra set of batteries.

Rocky Fellfields

Areas above treeline where certain freeze/thaw and wind conditions allow for plant growth are called fellfields. This is an extremely fragile environment. Social trails can rapidly develop and new campsites (rock rings) are always popping up. Plants in this micro-habitat depend on rocks for protection from wind and ice. Climbing rangers survey these campsites as the years go by and deconstruct the new ones when they develop. Please camp on snow and perform all your camp activity on snow.

Wilderness

The Mount Rainier Wilderness Area is part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The five qualities of wilderness are: Natural, Undeveloped, Untrammeled, Solitude, and Primitive and Unconfined. We strive to protect these qualities in our wilderness while at the same time providing a climbing experience for the people who want to climb Mount Rainier. Not all five qualities can be protected to the highest standard at the same time.

Leave No Trace Principles

The five qualities of wilderness can be most fully protected by practicing Leave No Trace techniques:

• Plan Ahead and Prepare

• Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

• Dispose of Waste Properly (Pack It In, Pack It Out)

• Leave What You Find

• Minimize Campfire Impacts

• Respect Wildlife

• Be Considerate of Other Visitors

For more on Leave No Trace, please visit www.lnt.org.

Conservation is also cultural respect. The mountain holds meaning beyond recreation. Climb quietly in spirit even when the wind is loud. Pack out what you packed in. Leave the rocks where they are. The measure of a good climber is not only the summit count. It is the condition of the place after you leave.

If you want to give back, support park programs, volunteer where appropriate, donate to trail and wilderness organizations, and tell the truth about the climb to the next person who asks. Do not sell Rainier as casual. Do not gatekeep it as impossible. Tell the real story: hard, doable with work, worthy of reverence.

The climbing community inherits both courage and wreckage. Read accident reports without voyeurism. Read them as a student. The patterns repeat: late starts, ignored weather, inadequate skill, summit fever, poor communication. If your plan rhymes with an accident report, change your plan.

Leave No Trace on a glacier includes micro-trash: wrapper corners, broken wand pieces, dropped tape. If you see trash and can safely collect it, do. You are not above the work of stewardship because you carried an ice axe.

Teach the next climber better than you were taught. Lend the book. Lend the honest warning. Lend the encouragement that does not require a lie. The legacy of Rainier is not only first ascents and famous names. It is the quiet chain of people who made each other more competent.

When you sign the summit register, you join a long handwriting chain of people who stood where you stood and then had to walk down. Some of those people became legends. Most became ordinary humans with an extraordinary day in their pocket. Both outcomes are honorable. What is not honorable is treating the mountain like a content factory and leaving your wrappers in the crater like a tip you could not afford.

If this book does anything lasting, I hope it makes one climber more prepared and one climber more willing to turn around. Those are not small hopes. They are how cultures of climbing improve without waiting for another accident report to teach the lesson the hard way.