Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Rainier

Good morning to all:

After climbing Shasta, Whitney, Langley and St. Helens in the last few years we have decided to bite the big one and try Rainier next summer. Does anyone have a recommendation on a guiding service for Rainier that does a more personalized climb. There are three of us committed so far, ages 45-55.

Many thanks.

Kurt Wedberg, of Sierra Mountaineering, is a frequent poster here - you might contact him to see if he guides Rainier.

You might check with the consessionaire on Rainier, RMI, to see if they arrange private climbs. Other companies include Alpine Ascents International and International Mountain Guides. Am sure there are other companies/individuals as well who'd guide your group.

I climbed Mt. Rainier with RMI a couple of years ago. Everything was great - training, safety first, excellent guides, equipment,etc..... The only think to consider it that with the groups climb you really need to be able to keep pace with the others on your rope during summit day. You are roped up in groups of 3 (1 guide and 2 clients), and if everyone is not at the same pace, it is not very efficient - lots of stops and starts. While you are in groups of 3, there might be 4-5 groups in total (so a total of 12-15 people). So, everyone has to go at relatively the same pace.

Long way of saying that I think a private guided trip, which you can do through RMI or Alpine Ascents, would be a great way to go. If I do the climb again, I would consider that.

By the way, it is an amazing experience - a beautiful mountain.

Hi there.

Having personal experience with both Sierra Mountaineering Int'l (SMI) and Kurt Wedberg (owner and senior guide) + RMI, I would certainly recommend without any question -> Kurt Wedberg. He or one of his guides does in fact guide on Rainer. You won't regret choosing him or his services!

hollywood,

I still do a few small personalized climbs on Rainier. I also have three guides in my employment who do the same. If you get in touch thorugh the web site below I can get you some information about it. Rainier is a great mountain!

All the best,

Kurt

I signed on with Alpine Ascents to do their 3-day Rainier Climb via the DC in July. It was a great experience with really nice, experienced and patient guides. There were 4 guides and 8 clients, so the guide to client ratio was low and the group was fairly small. I felt that I was really lucky to get on a trip with such great guides. The guides we had on the trip were: Our guides on the trip were Mike Horst, Lapka Rita Sherpa, Jason Thomas, and Todd Passey.

Would also recommend Alpine Ascents International. They provide transportation to/from the mountain. You can stay at a reasonably priced hotel within walking distance of their office (Mediterranean Inn, etc.). I've been on several international expeditions and Washington state climbs and have never heard anything positive from clients or guides about RMI. Beware!

Dont be so down on RMI, I had a great trip with them, our group was very fast and liked moving that way, had several hours on the top and took our time coming down. Every trip is going to be different, fellow climbers personalities, physical ability etc.

I've used RMI too and I think they did a good job - it was a large group with 27 clients and 9 guides when I tried Rainier with them and they handled everything very well. I didn't make the summit of Rainier when I used them, but it certainly wasn't their fault - I just wasn't strong enough. Things changed on Rainier this year - there are now 3 guide service on the DC route, so all of the groups are smaller.