In September 2024, Eric Gilbertson arrived at Mount Rainier with a grant from the American Alpine Club and a simple mission — to find out if the summit was still where everyone thought. Gilbertson, an accomplished climber and surveyor, has sized up mountains all over the world, updating old elevation estimates by taking more exact measurements with modern technology.
He wanted to measure Rainier at the end of summer when its icy summit would be the most affected by months of warmer weather. It’s also roughly the same time of year the U.S. Geological Survey took the previous measurement in 1998. Gilbertson had attempted this mission in 2023, but wide crevasses prevented him from reaching Rainier’s summit.
“I couldn’t remember that ever happening,” Gilbertson, an engineering professor at Seattle University, told GearJunkie.

His 2024 attempt was successful, though. When he reached the top, he confirmed his suspicions. The mountain’s summit, known as Columbia Crest, had melted nearly 22 feet since 1998. It was no longer the highest point on the mountain. The new summit location is a rocky point elsewhere on the upper rim, about 500 horizontal feet from Columbia Crest.
Now that it’s located on rock, Rainier’s summit isn’t likely to change again. But it raises other questions: How many other summits aren’t where we thought? And if the summit can melt off the mountain, what else is changing?
Climate Change at the Top of the World: Mount Rainier’s Changing Summit


A Mission to Measure Mountains


Grant With American Alpine Club
