Skiing Mount Rainier: The Fuhrer Finger Route

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Mount Rainier is the prized jewel of the cascade volcanoes. Mountaineers and skiers travel from all over the world to tackle this bad boy. Back in June of 2017, I attempted to climb Mt. Rainier via the Kautz Glacier route. Our trip was unexpectedly shut down at high camp when 80 mph winds ripped our tent off of the glacier. It was blown off of the mountain and out of site in the blink of an eye. No longer with a tent, our team made the tough decision to turn around and book it back down the mountain. I decided to return to the burly mountain again, but this time to ski down it.

When I climbed Mount Rainier in 2017, the decision was pretty easy. I didn’t train much for the climb since I was finishing up my PhD and defending my dissertation just weeks before the trip. However, I was young and strong and had plenty of confidence in myself. While I was a much more experienced climber this time around, I doubted my ability to climb and ski this mountain successfully. Still battling the Long COVID I started experiencing in May 2020 (see My Long COVID Journey), I wasn’t sure my body would be able to handle the adventure. I also didn’t want to let my teammates down if I had to turn around. This fear of failing on the mountain is what compelled me to do it though. I needed to regain confidence in myself and not allow my health issues to hold me back from living my life and following my dreams. Mount Rainier would be the perfect test piece for future adventures. So, I committed to the trip with the understanding that even if it didn’t go as planned, at least I took the plunge.

I decided to ski Mount Rainier with my partner, Braiden, and his best friend, Evan. We planned the trip for the end of May 2021 in celebration of Braiden’s 30th birthday. Initially, we had chosen to ski the Emmons Glacier route since it seemed like a fun, moderate line ideal for our first time skiing on a glacier.

Deep down though, I was itching to ski the ‘Fuhrer Finger’ (as I like to say in my best French accent, even though it’s actually a German word). The Fuhrer Finger is one of the 50 classic ski lines in North America, and for good reason. It is a prominent couloir with over 3,000 feet of vertical gain, all with a consistent 40-45 degree slope angle. A beautiful ski line, indeed! Upon further research, we learned that the road leading up to the starting point of the Emmons Glacier route was still going to be closed during our trip dates. So it goes, we would have at the Fuhrer Finger after all.

Mount Rainier is a serious mountain climbing objective. It has unpredictable weather systems and plenty of crevasses and objective hazards to threaten even the most experienced mountaineers. It is not only important to have the physical fitness and ski skills to climb and ski down the mountain, but also the proper experience and knowledge of roped-up snow travel, crevasse rescue (in case someone falls into a crevasse), and avalanche conditions/rescue. I had taken a class in 2016 focused on snow travel and crevasse rescue. I also had taken my AIARE level 1 avalanche education course in 2017. I needed to refresh my knowledge for this trip though. Braiden, Evan, and I spent multiple days out in our local Colorado mountains practicing snow travel and rescue techniques, including skiing down a mountain as a rope team and pulling each other out of crevasses. This prepared us for our trip to come.

To dial in our technical backcountry ski skills and fitness, we spent the spring season skiing objectives with similar or more challenging terrain than that of the Fuhrer Finger. This included steep lines, narrow couloirs, and lines with 3,000 feet or more elevation gain/ski descent. I also went on a ski hut trip, where I experienced skiing with a heavy pack. Still, I was worried about managing the weight while skiing down the mountain (considering how small I am). I felt okay about the summit push/skiing the Fuhrer Finger since we’d have lighter packs after leaving many of our items at camp. However, I would still need to ski the rest of the route back to the trailhead with a heavy pack. When I was not out backcountry skiing, I was trail running weekly to keep my fitness up. I was still concerned that I would have a flare-up in my health issues and wanted to give myself confidence and feel prepared.

After we arrived in Seattle, we made our way up to Whittaker’s Bunkhouse to stay for the night. We planned to start our adventure the next day, but snowy conditions on the mountain led us to pushing out the trip by a day. We planned to do the route in two days but gave ourselves a whole week for the trip, in hopes we’d hit a good weather window within that week. While waiting for our weather window, we enjoyed the outdoor cafe and hot tub at Whittaker’s Bunkhouse.

Once it seemed like the storm was starting to subside, we began our drive up to the Paradise Trail parking lot (the beginning point for many routes up Mount Rainier, including the Fuhrer Finger). We were having a grand ol’ time cruising up the forest road in our minivan, blasting our music and singing along to pump us up. We arrived at Paradise and were greeted by whiteout conditions. The forecast for the next two days looked splendid though. We waited around for a while, in hopes that the storm would pass. Finally, the sky started clearing up around 5 PM.

Instead of waiting until the next day, We decided to get a head start on the route. We made good progress, crossing the Lower Nisqually Glacier and heading up above it. When the glacier got steep, we had to stop skinning up on our skis and start bootpacking. Once darkness fell upon us, we stopped moving and decided to set up camp. Unfortunately, we did not realize we weren’t near any reasonably large areas of flat terrain. So, we pitched our tent on a small sloping cliff that jutted out of the mountain.

We were only a few hours in when the shenanigans started. When we arrived at our camp spot, I took my skis and pack off. I then took out my shovel to start digging a platform for the tent. All of a sudden, I dropped the shovel and it started sliding down the slope practically at mach speed, and off the cliff it went. Braiden quickly jumped after it to try to save it. I yelled, ‘Stop! I don’t want you to go off the cliff too! The shovel isn’t worth it!’ Then, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. Where was my ski that I was holding just a minute ago?! I looked around and it was nowhere to be found. The sneaky ski must have slid off the cliff as well! I was devastated. The ski was probably long gone, eaten up by a crevasse on the glacier below the cliff. I was pretty upset that I just lost a very expensive ski setup and would no longer be able to ski down the mountain. There was no point in freaking out or trying to find the ski before morning, so I just tried to block the feelings of anxiety and disappointment so I could get some sleep.

The next morning we woke up to a stunning view from our tent. Braiden, being the wonderful partner that he is, went straight to work looking for my ski. I, on the other hand, had given up and assumed it was long gone. Braiden went a little ways down the mountain side and then finally shouted at us, ‘You are not gonna believe this! I found the ski AND the shovel!’. I was in disbelief. We went down to take a look, and there they were, the ski and the shovel sitting side-by-side on a small rock outcropping. The ski was practically teetering on the edge of the rock, about to tumble down the mountain. I was overjoyed that I lucked out and found my ski!

After we found my ski, we watched folks skiing down the Fuhrer Finger in the distance. We instantly grew more excited about skiing down the next day. We started packing up camp and getting ready for the trek ahead. As we started moving, we ran into the skiers we saw skiing the route earlier. We chatted with them about conditions. They told us that the skiing on the Finger was fantastic, especially after the recent storm. They also said that the Upper Nisqually Glacier, sitting between the Fuhrer Finger couloir and the summit, was in poor condition and pretty much impassable. Therefore, they had to stop short of the summit and turn around. We knew we’d likely have to make the same decision, but were excited to get as far as we could and enjoy the awesome ski out.

The day was a warm one! The storm had definitely passed and the warm spell began. Beads of sweat were trickling down my forehead and into my eyes and I felt like I had to stop to chug water every few steps. It was such a beautiful day though and the mild breezes kept us going. We finally arrived at our next camp on the Wilson Glacier. We had a great view of the couloir and our ski line above us. At camp, we made some new friends who were also planning to ski the Fuhrer Finger. We had some good chats and laughs and then we all went to bed around 8 PM, preparing to wake up at 12:30 AM to start our summit push. I did not sleep a wink. Normally, I spend the night freaking out about how I am not going to get enough sleep before a big alpine day. This night, I accepted that sleep would not come, but I would relax and enjoy resting my body. I trusted this was sufficient recovery needed for the day ahead.

The alarms sounded and we begrudgingly rolled out of bed, ate some breakfast/snacks, and geared up. The approach to the couloir was pretty straightforward until we almost punched through a snow bridge over one of the crevasses. We all slowly crossed it and prepared to self arrest if someone fell in. Luckily, we all made it across the bridge safely. Once we hit the base of the couloir, we took our skis off, put our crampons on, and began bootpacking up. Moving up the couloir under the moonlight was a peaceful and magical experience I won’t forget. As for my burning calves, I won’t forget that feeling either.

As we made upward progress, we watched the spectacular sunrise. We stopped a few times to sit and view the picturesque sky as it transitioned from darkness to dawn. Once at the top of the Couloir, we noticed our new friends that we made at camp starting their ski descent down. They told us that it looked like it would be very difficult to continue on to the summit, given the conditions of the glacier. They also didn’t want to risk skiing down the Fuhrer Finger too late in the morning when avalanche and rockfall risk would increase.

We took the climb as high as we could go and found ourselves being shut down by impassable crevasses as well. So, we followed suit and decided to call it just over 12,000 feet or so and begin our descent. We waited a bit for the snow to soften and decided to drop in around 8:00 AM, the same time we saw the skiers descending the couloir on the previous day. There were some icy/bumpy sections, but also some amazing sections of glorious corn on steep terrain that just kept going! We were having a blast! We finally got near the bottom of the couloir and started hearing and seeing rocks whiz by us. All of a sudden, I heard Braiden yelling for me to jump to my right. I did so instantly, and just narrowly dodged getting taken out by a cantaloupe-sized boulder hurling down the chute. We got out of the line of fire as fast as we could and reached safety back on the Wilson Glacier.

We made it back to camp and began to pack up. We may not have tagged the summit, but were on cloud nine after skiing such a fabulous route and having an incredible couple of days on the mountain. Not to mention, we were grateful that no one got taken out by a boulder when the couloir became a rock funnel. Looking at the beautiful mountain above us and the couloir we just skied, we felt very satisfied. Before beginning the ski out, we enjoyed some time playing around, being silly, laughing, and soaking in the Sun.

We started our descent back to the Paradise Trailhead. Now, I had to ski up to 35 degree slopes with my big ol’ pack on. As I started skiing, I immediately toppled over (luckily I wasn’t in crevasse territory). Like a little turtle on its back, I flailed a bit (or a lot) before I got myself back up. After another couple falls, I finally found my center of gravity/balance and got in my groove for the rest of the descent.

The push back to the parking lot become grueling at the very end. We were all just ready for it to be over. We finally arrived at Paradise and were greeted by masses of tourists trying to climb up a little snow hill in tennis shoes. I feel bad about my next moves here, but I was just in the zone I guess. Braiden and Evan stopped before the hill and took off their skis. They then consciously hiked down the little hill. Me? I decided that I MUST ski till the very end of Rainier! I took off down that hill cutting through the crowd, causing people to jump out of my way. Once I got to the parking lot, Braiden and Evan were shaking their heads and laughing at me. Though, I felt bad that I had acted like a bit of a jack*** in that moment.

Alas, as all good things must come to an end, so did this wonderful trip! We were exhausted, but happy. We waved goodbye to the mountain and headed back to town for some much-deserved burritos. We still had a couple days to burn in Seattle, so the next day we joined our new friends we made on the mountain for a barbecue/party they were throwing. It was a fun time!

Skiing Mount Rainier with my crew was a magical, memorable, and empowering experience. Despite my fears, I actually felt strong on the climb and the ski. For the most part, my health held out for me. This trip helped me regain faith that I would still be able to pursue my passion of climbing mountains. Most importantly, I have so many beautiful moments to look back on from this trip. There were many moments of laughter, silliness, and ridiculous shenanigans (that darn runaway ski!). There were also spiritual moments of connecting with the mountain and experiencing the forces of nature. These kind of trips make me feel grateful for the Earth and the freedom and peace the mountains bring me. They make me feel grateful for the beautiful people I am surrounded by and for this life experience I am blessed with.