The Challenge of Rainier: A Record of the Explorations and Ascents, Triumphs and Tragedies, on the Northwest's Greatest Mounta [Paperback]

Dee Molenaar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1979

Complete climbing history of Mt. Rainier. Loaded with anecdotes, sketches, over 100 photos.

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books; 3 Reprint edition (November 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916890708
• ISBN-13: 978-0916890704
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #702,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Essential for Rainier Climbers!, July 17, 1999

By 

Timothy G. Gerlitz "Tim Gerlitz" (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Challenge of Rainier: A Record of the Explorations and Ascents, Triumphs and Tragedies, on the Northwest's Greatest Mounta (Paperback)

Molenaar makes a detailed records analysis of the many accidents that have occurred on this massive mountain. For example, the guy who slid a thousand feet in his down booties trying to catch a lid that fell off of his cooking pot. Weird! Also, he details the tragedies with thoughtful suggestions. Our team studied this book before our climb so we would be aware of climbing errors that others have made. I think this is pretty much considered a Rainier classic by now...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Aspect of Climbing Fundamentals, March 3, 2010

By 

Brad Allen "Middle Fork Giants" (Redmond, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Challenge of Rainier: A Record of the Explorations and Ascents, Triumphs and Tragedies, on the Northwest's Greatest Mounta (Paperback)

All too often we climbers get all caught up in ropes and crampons, figure 8 knots and ice tools, yet mountains can represent so much more. To climb a mountain like Rainier, a mountain simply referred to as "The Mountain" seems, to me, to require a little bit deeper understanding than just where to rest on the top of the DC. Dee Molenaar introduces you to The Mountain in a way that gives it history, depth, and character.

There are many stories in this book that take place throughout the history of climbing the mountain. Dee Molenaar was there (he was a guide and ranger in the 40's and 50's) and what he has not learned first hand, he researched very well. This is a man who loves the mountain, and it shows. His beautiful hand-drawn illustrations give just a hint of what is up there. Another fun part is learning the stories behind the many names of the features you climb past. Just why is it called "Cadaver Gap" anyway?

There are many great stories and facts in here, but two of the very best are: The map of the steam caves and tunnels on page 187. I have never seen this any other place and it is accurate. Make a copy, put it in a Ziploc bag and take to the summit. The entrances to the caves are just where he says. The second is the story of Delmar Fadden's winter ascent in 1936 in chapter 25. How can you not love this poem: "If I knew, My hand of fate, Would I do - or hesitate." He didn't.

Read this book and tell stories all the way up and down the mountain. It might even distract you and your partners some from the pain in your chest from breathing so darn hard.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A superb account of Rainier's historic climbs & disasters., May 12, 1999

By 

Robert B. Ellis ([e-mail]) (Poulsbo, Washington, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Challenge of Rainier: A Record of the Explorations and Ascents, Triumphs and Tragedies, on the Northwest's Greatest Mounta (Paperback)

This is an unforgettable history of Mt. Rainier, its pioneering and more recent explorers of trails to the summit, its geology and natural environment, and its inevitable human disasters. Molenaar's many explanatory sketches of climbing routes and his inclusion of numerous historic photos of famed climbers, guides, and ascents help immensely to illustrate the absorbing text. As one who is intimately familiar both as a guide, an artist, a scientist, and a world-famous mountaineer, he is uniquely fitted to write this story--one which anyone contemplating an ascent of "the mountain" could hardly do without--and he has succeeded beyond measure.