Technical Posts on the Windows Azure Platform
I have been working in and around the Windows Azure Platform for Slalom Consulting for the past two and a half years. I am currently doings a fair amount of technical posting at the following Slalom Blog locations:
You can also follow me for Azure information on Twitter: @seattlejoel
Mt. Rainier Trip Pictures
Hans has put together a pretty awesome slideshow of pictures, available at the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40258374@N05/sets/72157624386151584/show/
Climb Day 4: Summit
Day 4, Summit Day, begins on Day 3. At 11:30 pm on Saturday, our lead guide came into our hut at Camp Muir, turned on the light, and the room jumped into action. I had been waiting for this, and it was a relief to finally be able to get up and set everything in motion.
I drank coffee out of a bowl, and then ate instant oatmeal right afterwards. All the gear started to go on. Most of it was still inside the hut with us. I went outside to use the facilities, and remember thinking how it wasn’t really that cold at all. It was probably around freezing, with little wind at this point. Everyone was dressing light. I had one two thin underlayers on top and then a light soft-shell jacket. I had an underlayer underneath my shoft shell pants. I just put on my baseball cap underneath my helmet. I went outside I was comfortable.
Outside it was time to get on the real stuff. Crampons, harness, head lamp. We got assembled into our teams. I was on a three person rope team with my friend Kevin, and a guide Mike. We were excited, felt our rope line was strong. Mike took us over and we hooked into our rope. It was time to start, about 12:30 AM.
We started away from Muir across the Cowlitz Glacier. It’s relatively flat across the glacier and the curves up and through Cathedral Gap to Ingraham Flats. I started to get the feel for moving with crampons on the skinny trail in the dark with the headlamp. You wanted to look around, the moonlight was beautiful, but your eyes were glued to the path. Every step had to be sure and solid. When on the move, it was all business. I was trying to get used to having the ice axe in one hand and the rope in the other. There were a lot of things that kept your mind busy.
The pace was slow and steady to the Flats. The route was not difficult here and when you got into the Flats you could see how that was about to change. The night was so clear you got a brilliant view up the Ingraham Headwall towards the top. You could see specs of headlamps lining the route. It was about to get steep. We stopped here for our first break, a little over an hour had gone by.
We were headed up the Ingraham Direct route. Going over Disappointment Cleaver is the most common route, but early in the season when the snow coverage is still good, Ingraham Direct is still open. It is easier than having to navigate the Cleaver. But the guide said that the route gets much more difficult here and its common for people to turn back along this point.
Mentally I knew if I could make it to the next break I could do it. I was telling myself that the sunrise would be close to the next break and those two things would make things easier. But there was no getting around that this part of the climb was hard. It got much steeper, and there started to be several switchbacks. I dreaded the switchbacks because I didn’t like having to switch hands with your rope and ice axe. This involves passing the rope underneath your boots and crampons while keeping stride. One time I got all tangled and tripped down to the path. Another time my right crampon came off and I had to stop our line to get it fixed.
It was during this section that we started to cross some crevasses. I never looked down one. Most we crossed were merely a step over. But there was one ice-bridge, about a foot wide and 6 feet long. Three quick steps while focus on the other side.
Eventually we made it to the next break, now at 12,600 ft. A few members turned back here. You could see a band of light on the horizon. I wasn’t feeling too bad. I had a slight headache, but was thirsty and drank Gatorade. I forced down a candy bar too. It was also time to put more gear on. It was a little colder and the guides said the wind was coming. I put on hardshell pants, a hardshell jacket, and a neck gaiter. We had two more legs of the ascent left. One more break.
The sun rose during the next stretch. I caught just a glimpse but was too focused on the route and my feet. My toes were getting numb, and I scrunched them with every step. The wind was picking up a bit and the route remained steep. You just had to keep going. The pace was slow. We moved on for another hour.
The last break, at High Break, was at 13,600 ft. I hadn’t taken and pictures or video yet, and wanted some, so I managed to get my video camera out. I think we all knew that we were going to summit, having made it thus far. The sun was up now and the views were incredible. It felt precarious where we were taking a break, on the slope, but it was all this steep. 45 minutes left.
The last leg was tough for me. The wind picked up, to about 30 MPH and it made me uncomfortable. I remember jamming my ice axe into the slope and holding tight through the gusts. I knew it was close but I realized I was spent. Just had to keep going, one step at a time. I remember just thinking that soon I would be there. Finally, I saw the crater and knew I had made it. We summited at 6:30 AM.
I walked down as Hans came toward me and we embraced in a “summit hug.” It was emotional, a bit overwhelming. I think it just all hit me, the preparation, the injuries, and then making it. It felt great. Kevin got one too. We all sat down exhausted. 11 of the 16 members of the Slalom team made it to the summit. No one was ready to celebrate yet. We had some food and drank some water and rested for a bit. As our energy picked up we got up and took some pictures. Soon it was time to leave, seemed to quick but that was it.
We started the descent. I started to feel how tired I was. The pace felt much faster and you had to be even more alert. I felt shaky in parts where the terrain was steep. There would be only 2 breaks on the descent. After about a half hour I was burning up in the sun. I yelled to our guide about stopping and he said the break was near. After a few more minutes I yelled again and got the same response. I was irritated. I wanted to stop. We finally got to the break and I exchanged words with the guide. This was the only part of the trip where I was unhappy with RMI.
We continued the descent down the Ingraham Direct route. We crossed the crevasses again, and that ice bridge was about to go. They said this was the last day it would be in use. Made those steps very quick for sure, and still didn’t look down. I noticed things that I didn’t on the way up. The mountain is spectacular.
We made it down to the Flats and another break. We were almost home to Muir. It felt great to see it emerge around a corner. It looked so tiny from way up high (see picture). Another 1/2 hour and we were back. All I wanted to do was rest, drink, and eat. But after 15 minutes, the packing up started. It was difficult to get it all back into the backpack. It took a while. I was hurting. I was hot. I felt burnt. My knee hurt. But we weren’t done.
The trek down from Muir was long as well. It was nice to glissade down some long chutes. You slid on your feet as much as you could as well to avoid taking steps. When you had to go off the trail for people coming up, you sunk in to your shins, and I hated this. I definitely just wanted to be done.
We got to Paradise at about 2:30 PM. We made it back to Ashford where Stephanie, and others were waiting for us. We celebrated with burgers and beer and talked about it all. We did it.
Climb Day 3: Camp Muir
Day 3 of the trip is the first real day of the climb. Today we head up to Camp Muir at 10,000 feet to stay. We then will be waking up in the middle of the night to begin our ascent ot the summit.
Everyone was pretty excited to be on that bus and headed out to start are adventure. As we made some last minute adjustments in the Paradise parking lot, I remember thinking how big my pack felt. It was probably about 40 lbs and did not feel light. When I did Muir two weeks prior, I had a 20 lb pack and today felt a little different. As we got ready to leave I was concerned about my knee. It held up fine the day before, but I definitely noticed it impacting my ability to take large strides. Today was the real test of the knee. I was thinking all week that if I could make it to Muir fine, then I would be ok to try to summit.
The weather was just awesome. There was scarcely a cloud in the sky, and it was warm. I started out in a t-shirt and got pretty warm immediately as we started to hike.
No one listened to ear phones, everyone was chatty. It was a good time to get in a few words with our guides. Our climbing group of 18 (16 being from the Slalom group) was split into two groups of 9, which would hike pretty independently of one another. Each group of 9 had three guides accompanying; 1 senior guide and 2 junior ones. It was fun getting to know the guides a bit on the way to Muir. We hiked single file, but the guides walked alongside the line, making for easy chatting.
The pace was slow and steady, hiking for an hour and then taking a 10-15 minute break. I felt strong. After about 2 hours, I knew that I could do this. The weight wasn’t bothering me, nor was my knee. It felt better than the day before. And this hike seemed easier than the one two weeks prior.
At our last break on the Muir Snowfield, our lead guide gave us the agenda for the night and the climb to the summit. It wan fun to hear about each stage, and think that it would only be a few hours until embarking on the journey. We got up from here and moved up the field for the last 1/2 mile and into Camp Muir.
It took 6 hours for us to arrive, at about 4:00 pm. We had a couple of hours to relax, enjoy the views, eat dinner, hydrate, and get ready for bed/rest. I took time to ice my knee, grabbing some snow in a zip lock bag that I packed. It was precautionary. I felt like if I could repeat my routine of icing that I did over the past week, then mentally it would help me for tomorrow. I got a few funny looks icing. I explained to one of the juior guides what was going on.
The time went fast and before you knew it was time to lay down in our hut. RMI owns a hut that sleeps about 20 up at Camp Muir. It is a little wooden box that has three levels of wood shelves where mats are laid down for people to sleep on. The hut is small, but it serves its purpose I guess. My sleeping bag was on a shelf at the top, and it was warm up there from being in the sun the whole day. 
No one on the top really got into their sleeping bag at all.
Sleeping didn’t really happen. It was kind of like being at summer camp, with people laughing, talking, and stirring. Some slept but I didn’t. Knowing you were getting up in a few hours was a little too much for the mind to relax. I had drunk so much water that even when I thought I could fall asleep, I had to get up to pee. The second time I did, I saw the moon rising. It was something. I think this made me really excited to start climbing. I went back inside and told Pete to come out and take some pictures.
As the light disappeared outside, I laid quiet on my sleeping bag. I had prepped my knee. I had my socks and liners already on. I remember just laying and waiting for the door to open and our summit day to begin.
Climb Day 2: Training Day
Day 2 was “Mountaineering School.” It was a beautiful day. We got up at 7 and had to get all our stuff packed and ready to head up to Paradise. We left on a bus at 8 and by 9 we were trekking up to an open area where we could learn some different skills needed for the climb.
Over the course of the next 5 hours or so we were taught a variety of things. We learned about pressure breathing and the rest step. We learned how to use the ice axe when climbing. We did self arrests (check out the video) from a variety of different falls, including falling backwards and upside-down. This was pretty fun.
After a break we put crampons on and got the feel for them on the snow and on a trail. Then we harnessed up and learned how to handle the rope. It felt like a lot to take in. It was a little daunting to be on a slope watching your step but also have to pass a rope under your feet as you keep pace with an ice axe in one hand and trying to keep 2 points of contact with the mountain at all times.
We got back to base camp at 4 or so and had the rest of the night to rest and get prepared for tomorrow. We all packed our backpack that night. It took at least an hour, maybe more. It was like putting a puzzle together. All in all the pack weight probably 40 lbs or so. We went to the pub nearby for a beer as a group before turning in.
Here is my favorite video from the day…taken at a break from our training in the morning.
Climb Day 1: Orientation
June 24th, 2010 was the first of our four day Mt. Rainier Climb trip. Our trip was through Rainier Mountaineering Inc, and we met at there base camp in Ashford, WA in the afternoon for our orientation.
After an hour or so of a talk and orientation by our lead guide, Mark Tucker, we moved into a gear check. Different guides answered questions about gear, and went through your items to make sure you had what you needed. This was also the point to rent anything you didn’t have.
Now, there are just a few items you need. Mountaineering backpack, mountaineering boots, gaiters, 2-3 pair wool socks, base layer, fleece layer, soft shell pants, hard shell pants, soft shell jacket, hard shell jacket, parka, neck gaiter, baseball cap, warm hat, glacier glasses, goggles, helmet, head lamp, harness, avalanche transceiver, crampons, ice axe, trekking poles, sunscreen, nalgene bottles, lightweight gloves, medium glove, heavy glove. And food. And some other stuff.
Pretty short day. After orientation we had dinner and pitchers of beer and had some fun.
So much for tapering
I had planned on tapering at least a week before the weekend of our climb. I thought taking a week off to rest and gear up would be perfect. Turns out I needed to start tapering sooner than that. 10 days before my climb, I injured my knee in a softball game (the last of my season) sliding into second base. If I didn’t have enough adversity to deal with, here was some more.
The gracefulness of my slide is still under debate…but the injury that resulted was not. I ruptured a bursa sac underneath my patella. The next morning my knee was very swollen. I went to my PT who helped me with my ankle, and he set me up that afternoon with a doctor (who happened to be the Seahawks team orthopedic doctor) who drained some fluid off my knee.
I continued with rest, ice, and physical therapy every day until I left for our trip. My knee was feeling better, but it definitely was not 100%. The picture here was taken the night before I left for Ashford and Day 1 of our 4 day trip.
