Mt. Rainier
Kautz Glacier

The Kautz Glacier has been one of my favorite places to take first-timers on Rainier. The climbing is non-technical until you reach about 11,500'. There are ample places to camp along the way and much of the route can be done unroped. I have only been successful twice on this route, but I have been blown, snowed, rained and fogged off the route. We have also used this route to descend off the Fuhrer Finger route.


A little higher on the route, you climb open slopes to Camp Hazard (some flat spots) where you usually camp in preparation for summit day. The technical glacier climbing starts above Hazard.


In my younger days, I'd go lots of places with just a bivy sack. There are many large snowfields to climb on the Kautz. If the conditions are right, many of them can be glissaded, shortening the descent considerably.




Andrew Nelson took this shot up the Kautz during a trip on which we got stormed off. This is from a rest spot you will reach after ascending the Wilson Gulley. We had some people along from "Back East". We camped on a ridge at 8200 ft. and endured a huge lightening storm during the night. The following morning we got frozen by blowing sleet as we packed up for our retreat.
Click here for a report from my last trip up the Kautz