The Four Day Summit climb led by Brent Okita, Solveig Garhart and Dan Windham reached the top of Mt. Rainier today. The team reported clear skies and 20 mph winds. At 7:40 a.m. PT the teams were at 12,300' on their descent en route to Camp Muir.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 3 - 8 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning led by Mike Walter. The team will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
When the alarm sounded this morning we stuck our head out of the tent and saw nothing but clear skies. The wind was blowing high up near the summit, sending whisps of snow flying off the ridge lines, but conditions between 14 Camp and high camp at 17,200' (17 Camp) were perfect: it was go time! It was cold again as we at breakfast and broke down camp but the team kept to task, by now everyone is comfortable working in the cold temperatures. Just after 8 am we headed out of 14 Camp, climbing the slopes back to the fixed lines and up to our previous high point at our cache at 16,200'. We climbed well to there, managing the bigger packs on the fixed lines without any problem.
After a break to eat and drink we set out up the West Buttress proper, climbing right along the ridge line for the final 1,000' to camp. The West Buttress is widely regarded as the finest climbing of the entire route and today did not disappoint: it was a simply spectacular afternoon of climbing. The sun was out, there was hardly a breath of wind, and the snow conditions were perfect. The team climbed strongly, weaving back and forth between the outcroppings of granite that pepper the ridge line and across the intermittent stretches of thin snow ridges between where the slopes fall away several thousand feet to each side. The big packs, high altitude, and exposure kept us focused and it was a hard day of climbing, but by the time we reached camp everyone was excited and smiling.
We set to work right away upon reaching 17 Camp, shoveling out a few previously used tent platforms that we're buried under several feet of new snow, touching up the snow walls in case the winds pick up, and setting up and anchoring down our tents. It was a calm and warm evening so we sat outside afterward, eating dinner and gazing across the patchwork of clouds below that stretched off into the interior of the North Slope of Alaska.
If the perfect weather that we have right now sticks around we're hoping to take advantage and make our summit bid tomorrow. The team is tired from the day but recovering well now that we're in camp and excited about giving it a shot tomorrow. We'll let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
This is Dave calling from Mt. McKinley, from 11,000’ specifically. We had another great day today. In fact, it was the best weather of our trip so far. It was nice and cold this morning, we woke up at 5, and we had broken camp and were on the trail by 7 a.m. and made good time coming up to camp at 11,000’. It was again pretty easy going, there's not many other folks out there, there's nobody behind us that we are aware of. And so, it’s delightfully uncrowded. We had an easy go of it for the first hour up to the corner of Kahiltna Pass and then started up the hills to get to 11,000’. We were in camp before 10 o'clock a.m. so that went pretty well.
At camp we met Mike Haugen and his team coming down. And that was good for us. We exchanged a few pieces of gear they had some stuff that is going to be pretty helpful to us.
We got to chat with Mike and Elias and their team and congratulate them on their summit the other day.
We just set up camp here in 11,000’. It’s a beautiful bowl, looking out over the clouds and the tundra. We got settled in, it has just been very calm and nice here all day. Then this afternoon and this evening we prepared for doing our carry tomorrow. We are going to carry up and around Windy Corner if the weather continues to be good. And then come back down here and sleep at 11,000’ again. I will let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from 11,000' on Mt. McKinley.
Wayne, I have just finished having dinner with Dinah at our place and she has shared with Barb and I about your climb. I have to admit that I’m quite impressed that you would take on a challenge such as this. On the other hand, since I’ve done a 14k footer in Colorado, I won’t be TOO IMPRESSED until you have exceeded that altitude and beyond! HA! It will be fun to follow your progess and I wish you well in this endeavor. Be safe, my friend, enjoy your challenge and we will join in the celebration of your accomplishment.
All the best,
Tim Scully
Posted by: Tim Scully on 7/7/2011 at 6:34 pm
Glad you have the weather on your side and are able to move up the mountain - hope it continues.
Sue Currie
Hey, this is Seth calling from the Cotopaxi Express trip. We are up at the Jose Ribas hut at about 15,700 feet. Today we had a nice breakfast at the Chilcabamba Hacienda and after a relaxing time packing our stuff for the mountain we headed up into mix of sleet, clouds and high winds, We're all safely at the hut. We have to two nights here so hopefully the weather will clear up for us in a couple of days and we’ll get to punch it to the top. All's well here. We're having a great time. The hut is full of people from all over the world. Nothing but fun stuff. We’ll check in tomorrow. We hope everything is well back in the USA.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall checks in from the hut on Cotopaxi.
Glad to know that all of you are doing well, I will pray for good weather so you all can have a good summit day, we are thinking of you. Get home save, we miss you
We are checking in from our descent back to Base camp. We stayed at 11,000' last night and are currently making our way to 7,800'. K2 Aviation has two planes scheduled to pick us up from the airstrip tomorrow morning. Let's hope the weather holds!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
RMI Guide Mike Haugen checks in from 7,800' on Mt. McKinley.
Patrick…I’ve been following you too! Put another notch in your belt for an adventure that will be with you always. You’re my hero and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Posted by: jan Ellis on 7/7/2011 at 6:33 pm
Let us hear from you when you can. Grey is getting his tonsils out this am.
The Four and Five Day Summit Climbs reached Columbia Crest today. Beautiful day, light winds and cool temperatures. All teams are off the mountain and celebrating at Rainier Basecamp.
RMI, this is Dave Hahn calling from 9,500'. And myself and Zeb and Lindsay and Geoff and the team are camped here at 9,500' on the Kahiltna Glacier. We got up at 2:30 this morning. It was beautiful out. The surface was frozen up just perfect. And we got walking at about a little bit before 5 in the morning. We cruised up easy as anything on that nice surface. We didn't have to break trail through any new snow or anything. And the team did really well coming up hill. Three kind of steady hills to get here to 9,500'. But that all went very well and we were in pretty early in the morning. We were up here before 8 in the morning and had our camp in and were in, out of the hot sun by 11. And took it easy up here, great views today. We saw some massive avalanches off Mount Hunter. We could here them, we could feel them, you could see them. Really spectacular, and nice looking down the Kahiltna Glacier for a change. We haven't seen all the way down there. Today we were looking down there and the new snow extended pretty far down that looked like it went as low as about 6,000' above sea level. So that was good. It looked like it repaired some of the lower glacier a little bit. The part that we will have to travel on. But we won't be traveling on that for a while. We're still going up. And if everything goes well, we'll move up to 11,000' tomorrow morning, and expect that it will. There is some puffy clouds around stuck on the mountains, but for the most part, it's clear today and into this evening. It's cooling off just right. All for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hi Dave. Good to hear that the weather has improved. Can you let Jurjen know that we really need good pictures for his ‘after-dinner’ engagements. We’ve got him fully booked up now through to November! Good luck to the whole team!
Posted by: Team Munting at London HQ on 7/7/2011 at 12:29 am
GREAT TO HEAR YOU GUYS HAVE MOVED UP, HEY SPENCER YOU OUT OF COFFEE YET? TONTO WEST AND I ARE SET TO BRING MORE. PRAYING FOR GOOD WEATHER FOR THE WHOLE TEAM LEAVE SOME MOUNTAIN FOR US!!!
Hey, this is Seth checking in from our Ecuadorian Hacienda Chilcabamba near Cotopaxi. We had a lovely day on the Illinizas acclimatizing. Today we reached an elevation of just over 15,000 feet. The group is doing great and today after having lunch at the Refugio de New Horizons we descended back to our van and drove over here to the hacienda. We are about to have dinner and as I look out the window of the hacienda dining room I can just see Cotopaxi breaking out of the clouds. We were in mix of rain and hail for a little bit today with cloudy skies throughout the day. Then just as we pulled up to our hacienda we got our first glimpse of the mountain. We are all psyched to get rolling tomorrow and we are going to head up to the Cotopaxi Refugio and we'll be there for two nights.
We will check in again soon.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Good job guys you are doing great I would never be able to climb this moutain like you guys are and you are really brave to sleep out there in the camp with noises and animals! I hope so far you had a good time climbing the moutain I miss you daddy. Keep up the good work and be brave not scard. P.S i read the blog everyday. Enjoy your climbing. I will let you go.
Love, Alexa
Posted by: Alexa McClane on 7/7/2011 at 7:03 am
Looking forward to the details of the adventure. Be safe and enjoy every minute.
Well, we've had so much fun here at 14 Camp that we spent another day here, although hopefully our last. The weather cleared overnight and the temperatures dropped while we were in the tents since the clouds were no longer offering a bit of insulation. It was very cold around camp this morning as we waited for the sun to hit us. With things warming up we walked across the plateau of Genet Basin where 14 Camp sits to a rock outcropping on the southeastern side known as "The Edge of the World." There the mountain side falls away more than 6,000' to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier below. We peeked over the edge there, appreciating the first truly clear views below us that we've had yet. We stared out over the lower Kahiltna where we were traveling our first few days of the climb. Mt Hunter and Foraker rose proudly above the glacier below. It was a spectacular view.
The weather remained nice so the team took a little hike above 14 Camp, stretching the legs after a few sedentary days here before returning to camp to finish preparing our gear for tomorrow's move to high camp. We are rested and ready to head up to high camp to make our summit bid. The weather appears to be improving and we are all keeping our fingers crossed - we'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
Thanks for all the blog comments and 4th of July wishes, we appreciate hearing from everyone, the team sends their best to everyone at home.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
The weather sounds great. Hope you were able to move on up. It must be so exciting!!! We are excited for you. Good luck as you continue your adventure.
Posted by: Lorraine and John on 7/6/2011 at 1:56 pm
Great to hear the weather is improving! Onward to the summit! Go team!
The Four Day Summit Climb July 2 - 5 led by Chad Peele reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. It's a beautiful day with light winds, warm temperatures and clear skies. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 8:30 a.m. en route to Camp Muir. They will return to Paradise later today.
RMI Guide Casey Grom led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz July 1 - 6 to the summit today. The team reported great route conditions and a beautiful day on the mountain. This six day seminar will return to their high camp at approximately 10,000' for their final night on the mountain. The group will finish their training and descend to Paradise tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
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Dad, heard about your summit, congrats! Hope the trip down goes well, thinking about you as always.
Posted by: Nick Marini on 7/8/2011 at 8:45 pm
For Frank - Praying for the good weather to continue for the team. Can’t wait to see the photos you bring back!
Posted by: Michelle M on 7/7/2011 at 4:23 pm
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