Gore Secretly Tackles Mt. Rainier With Son

On a secret climbing expedition with his son, Vice President Al Gore reached the summit of 14,411-foot Mt. Rainier on Friday, officials said.

“It was great,” Gore said with a thumbs-up sign as he and 16-year-old Albert Gore III emerged from the fog shrouding the mountain to complete their descent shortly before 8 p.m. PDT.

Members of Gore’s staff described the getaway by Gore and his son as so secret that even many senior White House staff and presidential campaign aides were not informed of it.

The Gores, who were accompanied by a contingent of Secret Service agents, have been running and lifting weights together at home for months. All along, the vice president’s line was that he was training for another marathon.

An online tour guide to Mt. Rainier, an active volcano near Seattle, warns that half of the 10,000 men and women who attempt to climb it never make it--turned back by weather or exhaustion. Reaching the peak requires a vertical climb of more than 9,000 feet over eight miles.

“Climbers must be in good physical condition and well prepared,” warns the guide. “Proper physical conditioning can offset the effects of fatigue that lead to mistakes or injuries.”

Gore slipped off the official radar screen for most of his staff Tuesday, leaving word only that he would catch up with his aides in Chicago this morning for a speech to Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

One official said the vice president wanted some solo time with his son before the fall, when the 2000 campaign kicks into high gear. Also Friday, Tipper Gore embarked on a separate “girls’ weekend” with her daughters at an undisclosed location.

After a week and a half of the vice president’s intervening campaign appearances, the entire Gore clan--Albert III, three daughters, a son-in-law and an infant grandson--regroups later this month for a beach vacation in the South.

An avid runner and hiker who completed the 1997 Marine Corps Marathon, Gore said last year he was eager to tackle Rainier.