A 78-year-old woman climbed the tallest mountain in Washington by “taking one step at a time.”
Rose Vanderhoof’s July 10 feat made her the oldest woman to summit Mount Rainier, beating Bronka Sundstrom’s record that stood for 21 years. Sundstrom set the record in 2002 when she was 77.
Mount Rainier is a 14,410-foot active volcano in the Cascade Range, about 80 miles southeast of Seattle. To reach the summit, climbers need to be in “excellent physical condition” and have glacier roping skills to accomplish the 10-mile journey that includes 9,000 feet in elevation gain, according to park officials.
It was Vanderhoof’s ninth time reaching the summit, but this time, she became the oldest female climber.
After weeks of conditioning for the journey, the Ashford resident set out on July 8 with her son, Chris Haugen; granddaughter, Aleah Haugen; friend Mingrey Hildebrandt; and the group’s leader, Dr. Leyton Jump, she told McClatchy News on Monday, July 24.
As the group made its way to Camp Muir, Vanderhoof said her son sang a jingle that went, “Rosie to the top, we won’t stop,” she told McClatchy News in an interview.
“I have a recording of them all singing and dancing to that. It was so fun,” she said.
Her friends helped carry the group’s equipment to the camp, a more than 4-mile hike with a 5,000 feet elevation gain. The camp is a resting spot where hikers can adjust to the altitude and rest before beginning their climb up the mountain the following day.
When the group woke up the next morning, Vanderhoof said it was windy and raining as they put on their climbing gear.
They crossed the Cowlitz Glacier and were met with a hailstorm as they made their way through the Cathedral Gap, “which is very rocky, steep and lots of dirt and loose talus,” she said.
Once they reached Ingraham Glacier, they began climbing on ice as they trekked to Ingraham Flats, another climbing camp, she said.
“Leyton said let’s hurry up and put our tents up because the wind up there is going to be really fierce,” she said.
The group went to sleep at about 5:30 p.m.
When they woke up, she said they ate breakfast at about 11 p.m., drank hot tea and began climbing toward the summit at about midnight.
“I could hear all the other people around us getting ready, and so we were all excited,” she said.
First, they had to walk over a “huge crevasse” with the help of a ladder and board, Vanderhoof said.
The group then reached Disappointment Cleaver, a steep route to the summit. Vanderhoof said it was about 1,000 feet of elevation gain.
“As short as I am, I had to kind of pull myself at times up on my knees on the other rock and pull up on the other rock just to get over,” she said.
Vanderhoof said they were about 800 feet from the summit when she was “wiped out.”
“I said, you know, ‘Lord, if you’re going to get me up there, you’re going to have to do it because I just can’t do it,” she said.
She recited her favorite prayer, thought about all of her friends and family supporting her and kept going.
“Just one step at a time, one foot in front of the other,” she said.
The group made it to the rim and then across the crater of the mountain to the register where Vanderhoof signed her name as the oldest woman to summit Mount Rainier.
They then reached the top of the true summit where the group hugged each other and had photos taken.
“This is quite an accomplishment for all of us,” she said.
Friends and family waited for Vanderhoof at the Paradise area with balloons, pizza and snacks.
“They were clapping for us, and it was like just another big celebration,” she said.
Vanderhoof isn’t planning another record-breaking climb any time soon.
“I’m hanging up my climbing boots,” she said.
