Mt. Rainier Climb - Part V - Carolyn Power Tells All

Jerri Brooker: What was the most unexpected part of the climb?

Carolyn Power: The most unexpected part of the trek was everything. You prepare for a year and you think you know what lies ahead the day of the event.

Well, that's a wrong assumption.

Life is always the "unexpected" for me and that week-end was not an exception to what occurred to the team.

First of all, prior to the climb, Washington State did not have rain for 21 days. Perfect weather. On August 18th, the day before the ascent on Rainier, it poured buckets all day. That night in my hotel room I prayed to God for the team's safety and dreaded what lay ahead.

Also, the pace of the guides was way faster than we ever trained at. The most unexpected: would we summit or not?

All of us believed in our hearts and bodies "from working out" that we would summit. After I called it "finished" on the mountain, Peggy and Nancy did, too. Darlene and Cindy continued.

After we got back to Camp Muir, Elizabeth was sleeping, so the rest of us decided to lie down and try to sleep. As I laid there I could not stop worrying about my two teammates up on the glacier heading for the summit. Oh, I prayed so hard for their safety and also for their own success of a summit attempt.

I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking: If something happens I will never forgive myself 'cause I had asked them to join SSA-Y2K "Climb for the Cure" team. I know, perhaps, I should have not had negative thoughts. However, anyone who has ever been up there knows what it's like - you cannot stop thinking thoughts like that.

I got up after an hour and someone asked me, "Why aren't you sleeping?" I said I couldn't stop thinking about Cindy and Darlene.

I went outside. The sun was out and it was a perfect morning. I stood there at Camp Muir staring at the summit and praying that my friends had made it to the summit. The sky was deep blue and it was 30 degrees outside. The sun was shining on the Cowlitz Glacier and the ice was starting to melt somewhat so that there was a shine to the glacier. I could see the reflection of Cathedral Rocks on the glacier; it was almost as if the rocks were alive and they were using the glacier to groom themselves.

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