In May 2004, University librarian Deborah Carver climbed the Middle Sister in Central Oregon. Carver recently climbed Mt. Rainier and has aspirations to continue her climbing ventures. Courtesy [Click to enlarge]

At 14,400 feet, Mount Rainier is the Northwest's largest mountain, glaciated and full of crevasses. Only half of the 10,000 people annually who attempt to climb Rainier make it to the top.

John Manotti, Regional Director of the University's Office of Development, who accompanied Carver on the climb, along with three others, including Carver's husband, said the ratio of men to women who climb Mount Rainier is 10 to 1. He said that he thinks her age makes the climb even more of an accomplishment. Carver is 53.

"I suspect that Deb is one of the oldest women to climb Rainier this year," he said.

Carver has climbed the mountains of the Cascades, but reaching the top of Mt. Rainier was something she strove for.

"If you're serious about mountaineering, it's a must-climb," she said. "It's the most difficult mountain to climb in the lower 48 states."

Carver said people come from all over to climb or to train for mountains like Mount McKinley or Mount Everest.

Carver's husband, John Peggs said their attempts to climb Mt. Rainier began 10 years ago when Carver decided to climb the mountain with a couple of friends. At 10,000 feet, the weather turned bad so they had to turn back. Last year, Carver made her second attempt.

"The weather was good," Peggs said. "But at 13,000 feet, someone in the group got altitude sickness."

Peggs said the only cure for altitude sickness was to climb down, so they turned back once again, just 800 feet from the summit.

The taste of success came on Saturday, July 24, less than two weeks ago, when Carver and friends finally reached the top.

Manotti said the hardest part of the trip was being unable to sleep before the climb. The group left from Paradise Lodge at 5400 feet on Friday night.

"We 'got up', because you really don't sleep, at 10:10 p.m. and started climbing," he said. "It was a strategic move because we were way ahead of the rest of the teams before they started."

Peggs said they left at night because they needed the snow to be firm when they crossed the snow bridges. It was seven and a half hours to the summit.

Carver said one of the major challenges were the open crevasses, some of which were so monstrous that she couldn't see the bottom. "In one case we had to jump over the crevasse," she said.

Peggs said that Carver had several things going for her: She was in excellent shape, and she had good mountaineering skills and crevasse rescue experience.

"She was incredibly determined; there was no way she wasn't making it to the top," Manotti said.

"Not even a horrendous boot problem that created a horrible sore on her leg prevented her from going up."

Carver said it was tiring, but rewarding to reach the top.

She said it took a couple of days before she could walk up and down the stairs without pain.

"I always said if I tagged the top, I wouldn't go back," she said.

But she said once she reached the top, she became more confident, and she is now ready for a different challenge: a more difficult route or a different mountain.

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