Mount Rainier is an active stratovolcano in Washington state.  Located 54 miles south of Seattle it towers over the Cascade Range as the most prominent mountain at 14,410 feet.  

With 26 major glaciers and 35 square miles of permanent glaciers and snow fields, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states.  The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each over 1000 feet in diameter with the largest east crater overlapping the west crater.  

Altitude, weather change and the heavily glaciated peak make Rainier a challenging mountain to summit. Approximately 50% of the teams that attempt to summit Rainier turn back due to difficult conditions. 

Reaching the summit requires a vertical elevation gain of more than 9,000 feet across glaciers over a distance of eight or more miles, depending on the route.