Marc Lindenberg Mt. Rainier Memorial Climb

"You can summit if the mountain lets you. There is only so much you can do to make it happen. You can prepare physically, toughen yourself mentally, and practice on smaller challenges. You can plan routes carefully, take the right food and equipment and build the right climbing team. But in the end the mountain is the great equalizer. The wind can blow you off the slopes. Broken ice bridges can block your way. Wet snow can turn one step into ten. Ice can be polished and sheer and impenetrable. We summitted because the mountain let us."

Marc Lindenberg
Evans School Dean 1998 - 2002
Journal entry, September 2, 2000 after a climb with students

Sharing a Mountain with Marc

"We were a team of eight. Six alumni and two spouses who had spent nearly half the year preparing for a summit climb on Rainier to honor Marc's memory. The weekend of July 24th was glorious, all cloudless sunshine. Cathy Lindenberg, Marieka Klawitter and Elaine Chang buoyed our enthusiasm at dinner. The next morning they pushed up the Muir Snowfield to base camp with us and dispensed ripe tomatoes and slice of avocado at every break.

There really is no night on a glacier climb-who falls to sleep at 7:00 pm hearing the constant creak and door slams as the well-hydrated go forth for nature's call? (Until it calls for me.) Within less than an hour and half after the midnight wake-up call-we begin the snakelike journey. We were 50-somethings and 20 and 30-somethings roped up as teams, walking on crampon-fitted boots. Headlamps dimly lit the way. These specks of eerie light marked advancing teams fore and aft.

We crunched over steep loose rock and hard-packed snow. In darkness the steep abyss below remained hidden. The summit, 14, 410 feet, is earned after seven hours of slow, methodical steps and breaths. The crater is a wonder. And it's Diana Birkett's birthday. But chocolate cake? No thank you. Nobody feels that good in the thin air. We manage to smile for a photo with our banner and sign names in the summit register.

There is both relief and mild terror on the journey down. We see the abyss. Crampons come off at base camp. There's a little rest and heavy packs to lug down five more miles. That birthday cake finally looks good.

We all knew Marc. Victor Yagi organized this weekend of memories, stories from Cathy Lindenberg and steep snow. Together we raised nearly $3000 to support the work of the Lindenberg Center.

The 2004 Marc Lindenberg Memorial Climb Team

Diana Birkett '03
Kimberly Bernier '03
Dan Klabunde '03
David Messerschmidt '98
Leslie Rae
Victor Yagi '03
Raphael Bernier
Elizabeth Long

Return to October 2004 MPA Alumni News