In the 1800s mountaineering safety rules and regulations were under development in Europe, but not standardized for the use of climbers in the Pacific Northwest. The few experienced climbers shared practical basic information with determined "tenderfeet" who rode horses and hiked through roadless forests to reach our spectacular mountains. There were amazingly few accidents recorded.
In 1870 Hazard Stevens and B. P. Van Trump made the first climb known to reach the highest point on Mount Rainier. S. F. Emmons and A. D. Wilson, surveyors made a successful unguided climb that same year. It was a decade before another documented attempt was made.
By the late 1880s mountain climbing caught public attention as a challenging adventure. Accounts of John Muir's 1888 Mount Rainier climb were widely published.
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