My knowledge of mountaineering is like in asymptote, it's not zero but it approaches it. Prior to setting out for REI, Cody did what Cody does best: kicked ass. Cody's got a bag for every occasion; he's got a one-hour bag, a two-day bag, even a drink-beer-and-pass-out-on-your-couch bag. Today, from out of his The North Face book bag he pulled Mike Gauthier's Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide, 2nd Edition fresh from Amazon.com. I tossed it on the back of my toilet, and viola, within 3 days I'm already 72 pages into it.
Apart from our noobie trek to REI, where we didn't even try on books, other than going on a few hikes in my youth the only thing I knew about climbing Rainier can be found on a few of the online articles I had read:
--http://www.summitpost.org/so-you-want-to-climb-mt-rainier/507227
--George Dunn's Gear Tips http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/the-top-10-climbing-gear-tips.html
Since safety is a big concern of mine in our adventure up Mt. Rainier, I immediately glanced at the Health chapter written by Jim Litch, MD, who is a faculty member at in the UW Departments of Family Medicine and who has climbed both Mt. Rainier and Mt. Everest. Dr. Litch's vivid introduction describes the physiologic effects that 14,410 feet of altitidude has on the human body. Written like a doctor's note, his descriptions of high altitude sickness, HAPE and HACE provided quick evidence that this book was written by experts.
I shall enjoy reading it. One BM at a time.
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