Climbing and Recreation
Mountain climbing on Mount Rainier is difficult, involving traversing the largest glaciers in the U.S. south of Alaska. Most climbers require two to three days to reach the summit. Climbing teams demand experience in glacier travel, self-rescue, and wilderness travel. About 8,000 to 13,000 people attempt the climb each year, about 90% via routes from Camp Muir on the southeast flank. Most of the rest ascend Emmons Glacier via Camp Schurman on the northeast. About half of the attempts are successful, with weather and conditioning being the most common reasons for failure.
The worst mountaineering accident on Mount Rainier occurred in 1981, when eleven people lost their lives in an ice fall on the Ingraham Glacier. This was the largest number of fatalities on Mount Rainier in a single incident since 32 people were killed in a 1946 plane crash on the South Tahoma Glacier.
More recently, the mountain received media attention in 2012, as one of the park rangers lost his life when several climbers were caught in a storm while trying to ascend the mountain. While trying to help load the climbers into a rescue helicopter, the ranger lost his footing, and slid 3700 feet to his death.
About two mountaineering deaths each year occur because of rock and ice fall, avalanche, falls, and hypothermia associated with severe weather (58 reported since and including the 1981 accident through 2010 per American Alpine Club Accidents in North American Mountaineering and the NPS).
Hiking, backcountry skiing, photography, and camping are popular in the park. Hiking trails, including the Wonderland Trail (a 93-mile or 150-kilometre circumnavigation of the peak), provide access to the backcountry. Mount Rainier is also popular for winter sports, including snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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