The author savours the spectacular view near the summit.

The chance to climb the fourth highest peak in the United States proves a high point for Squadron Leader Simon Giles, as he reports.

IT had been my ambition to climb Mount Rainier ever since I came to Seattle on posting in January 2000 with the Advanced Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) Project Team.

Earlier this year, after hearing about an annual charity event, Climb for Clean Air, organised by the American Lung Foundation of Washington, I decided the time was right.

Mount Rainier is a spectacular volcanic peak situated 100km from Seattle and at 4390m is the fourth highest peak in the United States. It has long been the training ground for America's Everest climbers as it offers all the challenges of Everest.

Wednesday, July 17
I drove down to Ashford, a small village two hours from Seattle and about 15 minutes from the Rainier National Park entrance.

The climbers gathered for introductions and a pep talk from Lou Whittaker, an American mountaineering icon and the honorary chairman of Climb for Clean Air. He emphasised that on the upper mountain climbers should "drink when you don't feel like drinking and eat when you don't feel like eating".

Thursday, July 18
We were up about 6.30am for the short shuttle bus ride to Paradise, the starting point for the climb. We then set out in fine weather for the five-hour trek to Camp Muir at 3048m. The Muir bunkhouse is nothing more than a wooden shack anchored to the mountainside.

After dinner the guides went over logistics of the next 24 hours and demonstrated equipment including helmets, climbing harnesses, and avalanche beacons.

We were all in our bunks resting by 7.30pm. I did not sleep a wink - the consolation was a beautiful view of Mount Adams as the sun set. At 11.30pm our Lead Guide John told us to get up and prepare for departure.

Friday, July 19
John gave us the "official clothing recommendation" based on current and forecast weather. Soon we were all outside blinding each other with our headlamps as harness, helmet, gaiters and crampons were donned. Fortunately the wind had dropped and conditions were very comfortable.

About 1am we left Camp Muir to start our ascent, crossing the upper part of the Cowlitz Glacier and then picking our way on gravel and rocks through Cathedral Gap, guided by our headlamps. Walking on rock and gravel with crampons on our boots was no treat.

From Cathedral Gap, we traversed the north side of Cathedral Rocks to Ingraham Flats, (elevation 3384m) for our first break. As we came into the break we could see the Yakima city lights in the distance behind and below.

One of our rope team members struggled a bit on the climb to Muir the previous afternoon and approaching the first break he decided that for the safety of the team and his health he should not continue. Adam (our guide) pulled out a sleeping bag and bundled him up as the rest of us took a breather. It was about 2.30am .

We traversed the Ingraham Glacier past Ice Falls to the base of Disappointment Cleaver, a rock ridge that separates the Ingraham and Emmons Glaciers. The Cleaver is steep with sections of the trail being exposed rocks cemented together with some ice in places.

We finally reached the top of the Cleaver a little over an hour later. At a height of 3750m the wind was blowing at 25 knots and it felt pretty cold. It was 3.45am and time for another short break.

It was starting to get light and Adam called for headlights off and glacier goggles ready. As we traversed to our next break at 4054m, my legs were heavy and each step was becoming a real effort. The team also needed to concentrate on keeping just the right amount of slack in the rope so our self-arrest training could be effective if someone fell. At this elevation we began to zigzag to avoid crevasses. We stepped across two deep crevasses and for some time were only about 30m up the slope from a crevasse of "unspecified depth".

When we reached our next break at 4054m, the sun had risen. A quick chocolate bar, some water and we were on the last pitch to the summit. One step at a time for another 40 minutes, and we were there, six hours and five minutes after leaving Camp Muir and having climbed more than four miles (nearly 7km) for about 1220m elevation gain. It was a great relief to walk down a few metres into the crater and take off our packs for a 45-minute break.

I sat down, pulled out my water, some excellent homemade pizza, which was now almost frozen, and attempted to light the cigar my friend Squadron Leader John Kenny had so kindly provided. It was about 7am.

I surveyed the wonderful view, which was far more beautiful than from an aircraft window five minutes after take off from Seattle!

The descent was uneventful but seemed never ending. We finally made it to the Paradise Inn about 3pm.

To sum up, we climbed 5487m up and down over 25km in about 29 hours, met lots of great people and raised $361,000 for a good cause in the process.