Main Text
Since 1922, many Mount Rainier climbers have begun their summit attempts at the threshold of this building. From the 1920s to the early 2000s, park concessioners operating out of the Guide House led guided climbs up the mountain. Today the building houses the park’s Climbing Information Center. While the building’s stone and timber construction is typical of the alpine rustic architecture of the 1920s and the 1930s, the gambrel roof is unusual. In the 1927 photograph, professional guides with ropes and ice axes line up in front of the Guide House.
Exhibit Panel Description
The text fills the top half of the exhibit panel against a grey background that crossfades into a black and white photo of the front of a wood building filling the lower half of the panel. The building has at least two stories with three large windows on the second story and a large window and a white door on the first story. A ladder from the second story is pulled up and tied against the building. Above the first story window and door is a large sign reading “Guides - Equipment - Auditorium". Lined up in front of the building is a row of men, with one woman on the far left. All the men wear a matching outfit of pants tucked into tall boots, a dark shirt with sleeves rolled to the elbow, a handkerchief tied around the neck, and a coil of rope slung across the chest. Each holds an ice axe with the handle resting on the ground in front. The woman wears a similar dark shirt and handkerchief with a knee length skirt and does not have the rope or ice axe. A small box in the lower right corner of the exhibit panel reads "User Fee Project. Your Fee Dollars at Work. Entrance fees were used to produce this exhibit".
Visit This Exhibit Panel
This exhibit panel is located along the path in front of the Climbing Information Center/Guide House across from the Paradise Inn. The Guide House is open during the summer only, typically from May to October, and the exhibit panel is only installed during the summer as well. While the Paradise area is open year-round, the area around the Guide House is covered in deep snow during the winter.
Mount Rainier National Park
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service