Mt. Rainier  -  2006
Day 3  -  Alpine Start & Summit Ascent
First, I must admit that I did not take as many or as good photos of the Mt. Rainier summit day compared to pics from my summit of Mt. Baker (see 2005 link).  Simple reasons:  higher altitude, 30-40 degree slopes, focused heads down climbing, fewer rest stops.  Despite that, I hope you like the pics I posted here.
Wakeup for Alpine Start
After getting to bed by 7:30 p.m., we got up at 11:45 pm for an alpine start.  The moon and stars were out = great weather!
An alpine start is all about 'lights and darkness' and getting the body moving. We started climbing at 1:30 a.m.
Time to get up! Get Ready! Climbing early looks A LOT like this! Team members coming up behind... Sunrise on Emmons One of the 3 Dave guys in group
These pics show the sun coming up on Rainier and our teams moving higher on the Emmons Glacier.
Early light on Emmons Glacier Me on Emmons Glacier Sun's up ! Self-pic at Rest Stop Ascending Emmons Glacier Chip high up on Emmons Glacier
There were a few challenging spots to cross including the bergshrund while ascending up Emmons Glacier.
One of our AAI guides One of the challenging spots! This spot was FUN! (sort of) 2 guys coming right up Emmons Taking a break before crossing the bergshrund
A dropped water bottle rolls a long way from here...
From the bergshrund crossing, it was a straight shot to the crater rim, and then across the crater itself.
Quite a view Home stretch... On the rim! Still got some 400 yards to go Crossing the crater to the true summit side
We made it to the top around 12/12:30 noon, roughly an 11 hour climb.  Below are some of the pics taken on the true summit of Mt. Rainier, Columbia Crest (14,411 ft).  We started down around 1:15 pm  and got back to Camp #2 around 5:00pm for a total 15hr 39min round trip by my tracking watch.
Fallen and can't get up! Woohoo!  Made it to the top (Columbia Crest 14,411 ft) View of Rainier's summit crater Another summit pic! Rest of the AAI group
Heading back down Rainier to Camp #2 Descending back into the cloud cover Last challenging obstacle on way down to Camp #2