Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell may have had a hit in the 60’s with "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough," but Ryan Mitchell, an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at DeVry University in Fort Washington, recently completed a three and a half day hike of Mount Rainier in Washington Sunday, Sept. 4, proving that mountain was not too high for him to tackle.
The mountain peaks at 14,411 feet and is the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states, with 35 square miles of glaciers.
Mitchell’s trip was coordinated through International Mountain Guides, based in Washington.
“I found out about the group through some people on my cycling team,” he said.
International Mountain Guides offers trekking and mountaineering expeditions around the world, from the classic climbs of the Alps and Andes to the 8,000m peaks of the Himalayas.
Mitchell’s successful climb of the mountain and proven mastery of the essentials of mountaineering now qualifiy him for more challenging climbs. This includes the highly technical ascents of places such as Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska, which takes climbers to 20,320 feet above sea level.
“I am thinking my next goal would be to tackle a mountain between 18,000 and 20,000 square feet,” said Mitchell, 45, who added that he enjoys all sorts of outdoor sports. “I’ve always been interested in running and I have also enjoyed racing road bikes since I was a grad student. I was actually a runner in the 2010 Philadelphia Half-Marathon. Training is an integral part of preparing for the climb, and I would suggest people train at least for 16 weeks, 3 to 4 days per week before they climb.”
Mitchell said his training for the climb began during the last two months of his bike racing season and he immediately began hiking on trails.
“I live near Fairmount Park, so I was out there a lot,” said Mitchell.
Mitchell also says his background teaching biological science and nutrition helped. “
Since I teach nutrition, I knew the importance of staying hydrated and making sure I ate, both of which helped me to keep from getting altitude sickness,” he said.
Mitchell said of the eight climbers, one did experience altitude sickness and did not finish the experience.
Mitchell says that on the first day, they started at 5,000 feet.
“It took us five hours to climb from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet. We then spent the night at 10,000 square feet. The next morning after training and practicing rope climbing, we then climbed a short hike to 11,000 feet, where we camped out in tents,” Mitchell said. “It was probably about 20 to 25 degrees out. We went to bed at 6:30 p.m. and woke up at 1 a.m. After a short breakfast, we began the alpine descent. We had to climb before the sun’s heat began melting the snow, which makes it more difficult to climb.”
Mitchell said he climbed from 2 to 7 a.m. and made it to the summit of the mountain.
To read the full article written by Jaimi Gordon and featured in the Upper Dublin Patch, please click here.
