Anyway, after a long process of finding a kick-ass orthopedic surgeon who specializes in shouders and figuring out how to get insurance to pay for it, I finally went under the knife to have the old bolts tightened.  10 days later and I can finally type again.  Technically it was a bankart repair which I’ll leave you to research if you care, but in my case involved drilling some tiny holes in my bones and tying some connective tissue back into place.  You might be able to follow along on this video he took while poking around arthroscopically before performing the actual repairs:

(my favorite part is when he pulls out the hedge trimmer attachment to get a clearer view.)

Anyway, now I’m left with a few nice clean cuts and one extremely weak arm.  Funny things I’ve noticed include that washing my hands is often quite painful.  I figured out this is because pushing your hands together requires using internal rotation, which uses the subscapularis muscle, that he had to cut through to get a clean shot at the problem.  Pushing light switches with the wounded wing has also nearly reduced me to tears.  But it’s getting better every day.  I think another month I’ll put my new cadillac sling on the shelf next to the others, and then a month after that I should be biking, and another month and I’ll be swimming.  And shortly thereafter, I’ll be biking through Vietnam.  w00t!

First off, if you don’t have a fair amount of rock climbing
experience and mountaineering experience, or have a lot of experienced friends who are
willing to babysit you, go with a guide service.  This year I
went without a guide service and I’m really glad I did it.  But 3 of
the 4 of us had been up previously with RMI.  RMI used to be the only officially licensed guide service, but the NPS just opened up to allow two more: Alpine Ascents and International Mountain Guides.  How all this pans out remains to be seen.

Going with RMI had some fantastic benefits:

• Lighter pack
• Don’t need to carry safety gear b/c the guides carry that for you.  (lighter pack)
• Don’t need to carry a tent b/c RMI operates a building at Camp Muir.  (lighter pack)
• Don’t need to carry a stove or a rope or a bunch of other stuff.  (lighter pack)
• More likely to summit b/c you’re carrying a lighter pack
• Don’t need to learn crevasse rescue skills
• Really just need to haul your body up the hill without much thinking

As for training and preparation, I have some specific advice as well.  Get in shape.  It’s really physically draining.  Get in really good shape.  Stairmaster, bike, run, whatever.  The best thing you can do is to hike to Camp Muir a lot.  Camp Muir is the 10,000′ base camp for most people trying to summit Mt Rainier.  It’s a 5,000′ vertical ascent from Paradise, which makes it a really solid workout.  IMHO it’s also a fantastic way to spend a sunny Summer day.  Plus you get experience at moderate altitude.  If you do that a half dozen times in a summer with increasing weight each time, you’ll be in pretty good shape.  And you’ll get to know your gear pretty well, which is also super important.  I like to load my frame pack up with several gallons of water as ballast.  Get to the top, and make some friends by giving it away to the thirsty climbers, and save your knees the effort of hauling it down the hill.

Wear lots of sunscreen, especially on the bottom of your nose.  I recommend Aloe Gator 45 Gel, which has the physical consistency of crisco.  You might need steel wool to get it off, but it’s one of the only things that can really protect you from the super-bright glacier-reflected rays. 

Also, talk to your doctor about getting some diamox (acetazolamide).  It’s an altitude sickness drug which can both cure a case of AMS ("acute mountain sickness" — no, really, it’s a technical term) and will also help you acclimatize to the altitude faster so you’re less likely to have a problem in the first place.  It’s generally quite safe unless you have sulfa allergies.  The first time I went up, the stupid RMI guides advised one of my climbing partners not to take it (because drugs are bad and they’ve never needed it), and he didn’t summit because of AMS.  The worst thing about it is that it makes you pee more, and the benefits are marked.  Be sure to try drinking some coke when you’re on it.  It’s truly bizarre — no matter how fresh the bottle, it tastes flat and you can’t feel any bubbles on your tongue.  Diamox’s mechanism is to crank the CO₂ thermostat in your blood-stream to keep your blood’s pH neutral as you ascend, and a side effect is that carbonated beverages taste flat.  Go figure.

You’re gonna need a lot of gear.  Much of it can be rented.  I don’t really feel like going into it all here — maybe I’ll write more later if y’all want.

Be prepared for a really long hike.  We took 34 hours from car to car and of that 21 hours were spent hiking with a heavy pack on.  Our packs were about 55 pounds each getting up to base camp and probably 20 pounds up to the summit.  It took about 4 days before I didn’t feel constantly hungry and thirsty.  It’s intense.

And of course, like the lawyers say, use your head.  If you have to read this, go with a guide.  I’m really no expert, and people die up there.  But when you’re standing on top of the world at 14,411′ it all feels worth while.

A loving reminder that if you’re climbing up to 8,300′ elevation, you should bring extra warm dry clothes, even if it’s summer.  Pack clothes as if you’re going snowboarding.  We ended up sopping wet in a cloud and I got concerned about hypothermia after we had put on all the gear we brought and were still cold.  Cotton kills.  Bringing cotten clothes are fine and comfy and pretty, but don’t rely on them to keep you warm.  Roger that, we all know this, but it’s serious.

Arguably the summer here in Washington ended about a week ago — it’s pretty gray right now.  But by the rules we’ve got a few days left.  So along with Mt. Adams (12,281′) and Mt. Rainier (14,411′), now Mt. St. Helens (8,364′) becomes the third volcano I summited this summer.  I’m pretty happy about that.