Entries from Mount Rainier
The
Camp Muir Skills Seminar is back down off the mountain! We had hoped to give the summit one more shot but, as was our luck, the rain returned overnight. The mountain did clear at the mid elevations yesterday giving us hope but the weather fronts were stacked up end-to-end this week so we packed our things this morning and headed down.
Even though we weren't able to summit, Camp Muir provides an excellent high-altitude training site so we were able to train in the complex skills necessary to climb a glaciated peak. And so when the team parted ways everyone was psyched up for new adventures. One of the main things that makes a successful trip for me is if everyone returns as friends. This is no small feat with 15 climbers and 5 guides, but if this is our yardstick we definitely succeeded after our week at Muir.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Greetings from Camp Muir. We've had an interesting 24 hours weather wise. Last night we planned on waking up at 1 AM and heading for the summit, but when the alarm went off it was raining hard. We checked every hour from 1 to 6 am but the weather never relented so we called off our summit attempt.
We did make the best of the day though. In the morning we trained with our avalanche beacons practicing companion rescue. After lunch we set up a fixed ropes course with a rappel descent. The sun even poked out for a bit. We have one more night and we're still hoping for a shot at the summit but either way we'll be heading back home sometime tomorrow.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
This is Seth again checking in from Camp Muir. After a blustery and cold day yesterday we have been enjoying the warm and calm conditions today.
We began our day with breakfast at 7 and by 8:30 we were heading out onto the Cowlitz Glacier. We then found an awesome set of crevasses for practicing crevasse rescue. Everyone was able to alternately practice arresting a fallen climber, setting up a pulley system and descending into a crevasse. We also had a backup rope set up where we could practice belaying techniques.
After the rescue practice everyone was still feeling good so we lowered folks back into the crevasse and had them ice-climb back out.
It was a great day of training and with any luck tomorrow we'll do the real thing and climb the mountain. We'll check in again in the morning.
It's a beautiful day here at Camp Muir! The winds have died down and we're out practicing our rope work. We've been above the clouds all morning an the views of Mt. Adams, Hood and St. Helens are fantastic. Hopefully the weather continues to hold out for the rest of our trip.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Hi this is Seth and the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir. Today we climbed the Muir snowfield. We began at 9:45 a.m. from Paradise (elev. 5,420') and spent the day in the clouds with light snow flurries. It made for nice walking temperatures throughout the day and the sun actually came out to welcome us into Camp Muir (elev. 10,000).
Everyone is enjoying their dinner now and getting ready for our first night at Muir!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
The Four Day Summit Climb May 25 - 28, 2012, led by RMI Guides
Tyler Reid and
Kel Rossiter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams reported moderate westerly winds and cold temperatures. The skies were clear above with a cloud deck below around 10,000'. The teams began their descent at 9:31 a.m. from the crater rim en route to Camp Muir. They will continue to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by
Tyler Jones reached the summit this morning! This was our first summit since May 20th. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 9:15 a.m.
Congratulations to Tyler and his team!
The Four Day and Five Day
Summit Climbs reached Ingraham Flats this morning on their summit attempt. The weather has been unsettled, which resulted in unfavorable route conditions.
Both teams are safely off the mountain enjoying their program wrap up with their guides.
Expedition Skills Seminar: May 20 - 25, 2012
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir led by RMI Guides J.J. Justman and Jake Beren have enjoyed several days of training at Camp Muir. The team members received instruction on crevasse rescue, avalanche forecasting, building snow anchors and much more. Weather and snow conditions prevented the team from making a summit attempt. They began their descent from Camp Muir at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.
Liberty Ridge Climb: May 20 - 25, 2012
The
Liberty Ridge Climb led by RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Elias de Andres Martos began at the White River Trailhead on Tuesday, May 22. Conditions on the mountain prevented them from attempting the Liberty Ridge climb. They did make a summit attempt via the Little Tahoma route but were turned by deteriorating weather. The team will return to Ashford this afternoon.
Despite stormy conditions, a small
summit climb team reached the summit today led by
Brent Okita. The team did not linger on the summit before beginning their descent at 8:00 a.m. The climbs are back to Paradise and are currently on their way to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford.
Congratulations!
Seth, Adam, Solveig, Thomas and Zeb were excellent guides and made the trip a worthwhile experience even though the weather did not cooperate for a summit bid. I look forward to other guided adventures with any one of these guides.
Thank you for a memorable trip.
Posted by: John Gallen on 6/4/2012 at 8:28 am
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