RainierFest 2006 9/17 - 9/18/05

The climbing season is coming to a close and there's only one way to end things: RainierFest 2006 in Ashford!

What exactly is RainierFest? It's a little get together for the local climbing community. It's put on each year by Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI), one of the leading guide services in the state.

Some of the elite mountaineers in the world were at this year's bash, including twin brothers Jim and Lou Whitaker, Ed Viesturs, Dave Hahn, and Dee Molenaar.

I particularly wanted to meet in person the living legend Jim Whitaker. He was the first American to set foot on Mt. Everest. Him and his twin brother Lou helped cultivate climbing in the Northwest, creating RMI which has produced some of the great mountaineers of the world.

I heard that Jim was the more introverted of the Whittaker brothers, but I found him quite personable and willing to offer some good advice to a new climber like myself.

He told me and my pal Jeff not to "make an headlines!" I had been reading his brother's book Lou Whittaker: Memoirs of a Mountain Guide, which I highly recommend, about their 3-day climb of Denali. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity to pepper him a bit about the experience.

I told him of my plan to attempt Denali next year and he strongly urged me the best time to climb it was in May. So who am I to question Jim?

Now onto Ed Viesturs. Very approachable fellow. Having just completed the inhuman feat of climbing the 14 highest peaks in the world, I asked him about his future plans. He was characteristically noncommittal as his wife was in close proximity, heheh.

I told him that Jeff and myself were looking for a solid lead climber for our planned traverse of the Ptarmigan Range. He thought I was just kidding! Boy was he wrong! Anyhow it was nice to meet 'the human lung' face-to-face.

The festival was nice in that there weren't too many people so we got a chance to chat a bit with some of the local climbers.

RMI sells alot of their used goods at the Festival, so there were many ice axes, plastic boots, down jackets, all discounted. I scored a pair of expedition-rated mitts, half price!
Jeff had a go at the ice climbing wall. We got a chance to watch some cool mountaineering documentaries in the TV tent. Plus we dropped back a few at the Beer Garden.

We spotted Lou Whittaker scarfing down a hamburger, in the company of local newsgal hottie Penny LeGate!

I eavesdropped on a great conversation someone was having with Dave Hahn. He's summited Everest 6 times.

All in all, a great day and opportunity to meet some of my heroes. It's a hidden gem of a festival that not too many people know about, and that's why it was cool.