Ever since Chad and I have been dating/married, we make it a point to visit Rainier each summer. There’s something about Mt. Rainier that draws us. It could be the colorful wildflowers that bloom at Paradise. It could be the fragrant smell of Christmas when walking past a Douglas Fir. Perhaps it’s the marmots soaking up the rays on a sunny day. Maybe it’s seeing a gray fox cautiously walk past or rounding the corner and observing a bear with her cubs. Could it even be the sheer joy of playing in the snow on a hot summer day? Whatever the reason, we always end up at Rainier, usually in the form of a day trek up to Camp Muir.
We have always dreamed of summiting. I was always envious of the climbers with their huge packs and ice axes. While Muir was our turnaround point, the climbers had a much grander vision – the top. Last year, we finally graduated from dreamers to climbers (thanks to my Uncle Todd who made this trip a reality for us). We went up with Alpine Ascents and had the honor of having climbing rock stars Pete Athans and Robert Link on our team. In addition to our guides, there were two Todd’s (Uncle Todd was nicknamed by the guides big Todd and Todd McKittrick was little Todd), two Mike’s (Mike Lierman a.k.a. big Mike and there also was Little Mike), Angela, Chad and myself. Little Todd and Big Mike were carrying Conner’s flag last year and that is how we learned about the Hear See Hope foundation and became acquainted with Todd’s son Conner’s disease - Usher’s syndrome.
Climbing Rainier is uncomfortable, cold, exhausting, terrifying, rewarding and beautiful. Our summit team was led by Robert (this ended up being his 298th summit of Rainier). Following him was little Todd, big Mike, Chad and myself. The conditions on that climb at times frightened me. The 60+ mile an hour wind gusts would knock me down and there were plenty of times I wanted to throw in the towel. I’m sure we each entertained thoughts of turning around. But we all persevered as a team and finally made it to the top about an hour after sunrise.
Freezing inside the crater at the top made it impossible to process what we all had just accomplished. It wasn’t until well into our descent (when our teeth stopped chattering) that it started to sink in that we were climbers and not just tourists. We had reached the top of Rainier!
Summiting Rainier was the most mentally and physically challenging task I’ve undertaken to date. And I’m looking forward to giving it another go. This year, we are incredibly honored to be carrying Conner’s flag up Rainier (all the way to the summit if all goes well). Uncle Todd (big Todd), Chad and I will be climbing for something bigger than just getting ourselves to the top – we will be climbing to raise awareness for Ushers syndrome. Conner – this one’s for you!
