By Kelly Sanderbeck, Donor Development Manager
It was just a quick note enclosed with an online donation, but it piqued my interest: “Would like this to go to support the climbing rangers at at Mount Rainier. And special callout to Tim Hardin who was a huge help tracking down my phone left at Muir Hut.” –Brad Moore
Curious, I contacted Brad to hear a deeper story. He told me how he and his two buddies, Mike and James, had climbed the mountain, skiied down Kautz Creek, but realized only at the bottom that Brad had left his phone at Camp Muir. They happened to meet up with Ranger Hardin who offered to retrieve it and, said Brad, “My two climbing buddies were sure glad they didn’t have to wait for me to go back up to Muir! There was no charge, but Tim reminded me to make a donation to the Fund.”
Brad and his friends have climbed the mountain at least 14 times, most often skiing down. He couldn’t speak more highly of the climbing rangers. “They give inside information on climbing routes; they’re a wealth of knowledge. I mean, they LIVE up there, and I’m just in Seattle. They sure go above and beyond what’s required. Another time, rangers helped me out when I ran out of fuel.”
Stefan Lofgren, Chief Climbing Ranger at Mount Rainier, referred me to the 2016 Mountaineering Report for full details on the climbing program and its rangers. I found the section on Communications interesting, as it described how funds from WNPF were put to use:
“The biggest gain in 2016 was the implementation of a long-sought-after microwave communication infrastructure linking Camp Schurman to the rest of the park… There was no line of sight between Camp Schurman and a point where there was access to the NPS network and internet. Plus, NPS encryption requirements had increased the cost of the microwave radios involved. The cost of the system was out of reach for us. In 2013, a group of local climbers were attempting the summit from Camp Schurman when they were stranded by a rapidly worsening storm. They spent a few days in a very small snowcave until rangers were able to arrive on scene during another storm. Several of the individuals in that party contacted the Washington’s National Park Fund and several years later enough money was collected through donations and fundraisers to purchase and install this system… Now climbing rangers can call from Camp Muir to Camp Schurman and have discrete conversations about weather, conditions, rescue plans, coordinate daily operations and even get online and check the weather forecast and update the blog after their climbs. They can call and be called internally to or from any other extension in the park. In 2016, all climbing rangers on duty called into a virtual meeting no matter where they were (on patrol via satellite phone, at Camp Muir, at Camp Schurman, at the CIC, at home, etc…) every day at 4:00 pm. This helped tremendously to bring the climbing rangers together and bring a higher level of coordination to our operation.”
For more information on Mount Rainier’s climbing program, visit www.Mountrainierclimbing.blogspot.com. Our thoughts and best wishes are with all the permanent, seasonal and volunteer climbing rangers, as well as all the folks Climbing for a Cause in the next few months!