RMI Guides Brent Okita, Zeb Blais and the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Winter Team finished up a great week of training. The team has started their descent and will be back at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
A little wind and snow couldn't keep this intrepid group of aspiring alpinists from training on our last full day of the
seminar. What most impressed the guides was the 100% participation of the group given the 50 mph winds and heavy snowfall.
We look forward to a last evening together going over a couple more topics and sharing a war story or two.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
We left
Camp Muir this morning at 4: There was a cap over the summit from the outset of our climb but we were thankful the winds from yesterday evening had abated and hoped the cap would follow suit.45 a.m. in reasonable winds. The team took to heart the lessons learned at yesterday’s climbing school and climbed strong on the upper mountain in deteriorating conditions.
I began the route finding effort up the Ingraham Direct but gave way to
RMI Guide Zeb Blais as he led the team up to a break at 12,800’. As we switchbacked our way up the mountain, we encountered increasing wind speeds and steadily decreasing visibility. We made the smart and safe choice to call 13,400’ our high point for the day. On our descent to Camp Muir, clouds would billow up from below causing white out conditions followed by periods of visibility. This process repeated continually until we returned to Camp Muir.
We’re back at Camp Muir safe and sound. We are looking forward to a low-key afternoon at camp with a siesta and some easy training on the schedule.
Signing off for now,
RMI Guide Brent Okita
We had a great day for making our way to
Camp Muir yesterday. Blue skies and just enough wind to keep us from over heating. Everyone did well!
Camp Muir will be home through Friday. The next few days we'll be training around Camp Muir. It's going to be a fantastic week!
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Hello from 6200'!
We spent the day in Ashford yesterday organizing gear and getting our ski kits dialed in.
The road to Paradise was delayed in opening due to the 13" of new snow overnight!
We kept ourselves busy this morning tour planning and exercising our map and compass skills, while enjoying coffee and patiently waiting for the plows to finish their job.
The late arrival was worth it, and we made good time to our campsite here in the Upper slopes of the
Paradise Valley. After building a bomber camp we went out for a cocktail hour ski back down the valley a few hundred feet.
We are all cozy here in camp and looking forward to clear skies and more training tomorrow!
Cheers,
RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall, Bryan Hendrick, and the team!
Last week was RMI's March Expedition Skills Seminar-Winter. Like every month from January to April, a team of intrepid climbers looking to learn the beauty of winter mountaineering, ventured up the slopes of
Mt. Rainier on this, our classic six-day winter program. Guides
Adam Knoff,
Leah Fisher,
Nick Hunt and myself,
ElÃas de Andrés, enjoyed the company of a dozen folks, who initally were welcomed by a characteristic March day; rain in town, snow and wind up high. Our orientation day in Ashford would include a thorough evaluation of the forecast, a task that is, regardless, part of this program's curriculum. But in this case, with a close look at a promising improving trend which would keep us excited for the remaining of the day.
The next morning, with packs ready and boots laced up, we headed into the park not without a delay due to the National Park's snow plows hard work to keep the road to Paradise open to individuals like us. Upon arriving to Paradise we rigged our equipment for the hike to what would be our first camp. Atop Marmot Hill, we built a fortified settlement "Denali style" for the evening. A "posh house" tent was erected to socialize at dinner time, just like on any expedition, really. It was a new sight for many in the group, which by now were enjoying expedition life barely 500ft above the parking lot.
Our hike to Muir started as we waved good bye to a weatherfront that had wiped western Washington for a few days, but not without great team effort breaking trail for most of the remaining 4,000 vertical feet to Camp Muir. Enjoying the clearest skies possible, our climbers who'd arrived from all parts of the country could make out in the horizon the central Oregon volcanoes of Mt. Hood and Jefferson without even squinting. To the north, some avalanches, along with ice and rock fall from the Nisqually Ice Cliff, reminded us of the interactions between the new loaded glaciers the spring-like sun of this day. The next 36 hours would continue to add to the tool kit the climbers were building for future expeditions and also, in order to face, of course, a potential climb the following day as the high pressure system was supposed to last for at least three days. Muir Peak, the AAA Gully, the Cowlitz Glacier... all provided, in the vicinity of Camp Muir, a perfect training ground.
In the morning of Thursday, March 13th, we woke up to yet another incredible day; clear skies had been swiped of clouds by the same winds that windblasted some of the upper slopes... as well as loaded others. Careful evaluation by the
guides on the go, determined a safe, wind-scoured route up the west side of the Ingraham Glacier, a seldom traveled route almost hugging Gibraltar Rock on its east side. Once at Camp Comfort, trail breaking efforts would begin again, and as the team team held it together, we were getting closer to the top in sometimes mid-calf deep snow on the now, more lower angled sections of the climb.
After 6 hours and 50 minutes of ascent, the team reached the crater rim to the now strengthening winds. But a new winter summit had been attained by another successful
RMI Winter Skills Seminar team. Our careful preparation to detail, our philosophy in approaching the mountain, the guidance of the leaders and the great application of the skills learned by the climbers allowed the feat... the
RMI way!
The next day, in a deja vu of what winter is truly like, we woke up to one-foot tall spindrifts and gusts of over 70mph at Camp Muir. Most of the guides, including myself, couldn't remember such conditions on the snowfield. Far away from feeling accomplished by the previous day's achievement, successfully navigating down to Paradise in such white-out conditions demanded now serious skill and perseverance. A team of now well-trained climbers, learned their last lesson of this winter seminar; the summit is only back at the car. Three hours later we'd bypass the remains of our camp on day 1, and as the winds decreased at 6,000ft and visibility came back to reasonable, we reached the Paradise parking lot. Celebratory drinks and a dinner over future climbing plans with the climbers was the perfect closure to a week on the frigid, yet amazing environment of winter on
Mt. Rainier.
Come play, climb and learn with
RMI! Satisfaction guaranteed.
ElÃas de Andrés
RMI Senior Guide
The last
Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir Team of our 2013 Rainier climbing season reached the Summit of Mt. Rainier at about 2:00pm yesterday. RMI Guides Casey Grom and Elias deAndres Martos reported a blue bird day with cold temperatures and fresh snow on the route. The team will spend the morning at Camp Muir finishing up their mountaineering skills training before heading back to RMI Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
The
Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by
RMI Guides Leon Davis and Geoff Schellens were forced to turn around at 8,000' today en route to Camp Muir. The teams experienced wet and windy weather with low visibility. They made the tough decision to descend and return to Paradise. The teams arrived at Rainier BaseCamp just before 3 pm PT.
The
Four Day Summit Climb September 19 - 22 led by RMI Guide Billy Nugent & the
Five Day Summit Climb September 18 - 22 led by Zeb Blais were unable to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams left Camp Muir en route to the summit but were forced to turn around at the top of Disappointment Cleaver (12,300') due to a cloud cap that was descending. The cloud cap brought limited visibility and increased winds. The teams returned to Camp Muir to rest and dry out. They began their descent from Camp Muir a little after 8 am en route for Paradise.
We look forward to seeing the groups at Rainier BaseCamp later this morning.
The
Mt. Rainier Summit Climb led by
Seth and
Solveig Waterfall reached the summit at 7:00 this morning. The guides reported clear and cold weather conditions. After spending some time on the summit, the team began their descent at 7:45 a.m. We look forward to congratulating them back in Ashford at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon!
Hot meal and warm, cozy bed awaits…so proud of you!!
Jk
Posted by: JK on 4/17/2014 at 10:39 pm
View All Comments