Day 1: Pre-Trip Orientation
5:00 p.m.	Meet at Rainier BaseCamp.

We will meet at 5:00 p.m. at our Rainier BaseCamp facilities in Ashford, WA. Please dress casually and bring your climbing equipment and clothing. We begin our Pre-Trip Preparation with a welcome and introduction of team members and guides.

The guide staff will lead a discussion of recommended personal equipment.  This is your opportunity to ask questions and get feed-back on all of the gear you plan to bring along, including personal lunch items.  Anything deemed superfluous can be left behind, safely locked at Rainier BaseCamp.  We will not cache any gear along our route; everything we take with us will be carried up and over the summit.  Various items of Group Equipment will also be distributed at this time (tents, stove, fuel, ropes, etc.).

Please make your own arrangements to stay in the Ashford area this evening

Days 2 - 6: The Climb
7:00 a.m.	Meet at Rainier BaseCamp.

Day 2: After an initial team meeting at 7:00 a.m. a shuttle takes our group to the trailhead at the White River Campground (4,400 feet).

Ascending through mature forest, the 3.3 mile Glacier Basin trail leads to the alpine zone and open high country at 6,600'. A steep climb over St. Elmo Pass (7,400’) and a traverse across Winthrop Glacier brings us to Camp 1 at approximately 7,000' on lower Curtis Ridge. Camp commands a spectacular view of the North Wall of Mt. Rainier and Liberty Ridge. This is a very long day, 7 - 8 hours, of laboring beneath heavy loads.

Day 3: We may encounter potentially complicated route finding as we negotiate the Carbon Glacier and make our way over to the base of Liberty Ridge (8,700’). Next, it will require 4 to 6 hours of climbing up steep and exposed snow (40 degrees) from the base of the route to our camp. Our bivouac (small tent site at 10,700’) will be at Thumb Rock . This can easily be another full 8-hour day.

Day 4: After a pre-dawn wake-up, we will resume the climb of the Ridge up continuously steep snow and ice (40 – 50 degrees). Rock outcrops provide natural running belays, and where these are lacking snow and ice anchors will be placed by the climbing team. 14,112’ Liberty Cap, the north summit of Mt. Rainier, looms overhead as we approach the crux of the route. There is usually a short, steep pitch of hard ice (to 70 degrees) to negotiate the bergschrund at an altitude of approximately 13,500'. We top out on Liberty Cap and commence a long traverse to Columbia Crest (14,410'). It will require approximately 8 to 10 hours to the summit from high camp (Thumb Rock). Depending on a variety of considerations including weather, strength of the party and route conditions, we may establish a summit camp or descend the Emmons Glacier as far as feasible.  This is a very long, hard day, with over 3,000' of non-stop steep climbing at high altitude.

Day 5: We will complete our descent today, normally via Camp Schurman, Inter Glacier, Glacier Basin and White River campground. There our shuttle waits for the ride back to Ashford. Plan to arrive at Rainier BaseCamp in the late afternoon or early evening. We celebrate our adventure with a presentation of certificates.

Day 6: This extra day is scheduled into the itinerary in case we encounter bad weather or need additional time on the route.