The Mowich Face is located on the NW corner of Mt Rainier. As you look up at it from below, it is bounded by Ptarmigan Ridge on its left side and Sunset Ridge on its right. The North Mowich Glacier leads up to the face.
This climb was a Mountaineers Intermediate course climb. I am not absolutely sure, but from the photos I took on the trip, our party may have been up to six climbers (although four is also a possibility). I only remember one of the other climbers, Al McGuire, with whom I would do several other trips in later years, including Mt McKinley (Denali) in 1981. This route, the Central Mowich Face, was certainly the most challenging climb I had done up until then and, even years later, it ranks up near the top.
The approach to the climb is long. We drove up the Westside Road of Mt Rainier National Park (MRNP). I am not sure whether we hiked up the South Puyallup Trail or continued further to the St Andrews Creek Trail. It might have depended on how far the Westside Road was open (that road washes out regularly from winter storms).
We picked up the Wonderland Trail at some point but then broke off from it when we got to the higher, more open terrain. We worked our way up, crossing the Puyallup and South Mowich Glaciers, to our high camp from where we would start the climb the next day. Our intent was to descend the South Tahoma Glacier and I believe our camp was at about 9200 feet near the bottom of Sunset Ridge, between the South Mowich Glacier and the Edmunds Glacier.
The weather was mostly clear and settled with firm snow conditions as we started before dawn. My recollection is that we followed the original 1966 ascent route which works its way through some rock bands before reaching the Liberty Cap Glacier. Once you summit Liberty Cap (14,098'), you are faced with losing nearly 500' of elevation before climbing 900' back to Rainier's high point of Columbia Crest at 14,409'.
T
he descent down the South Tahoma Glacier involved route finding challenges of ice falls and crevasses as well as dealing with snow balling in our crampons as the sun warmed the surface. We retrieved our gear from our high camp and retraced the route to our cars at the trail head.
Compared to other Cascade Mountain peaks, Mount Rainier is an order of magnitude bigger and can be intimidating as you stand on its lower slopes looking up. A successful climb of it by any route always feels like an accomplishment.
