Entries from Expedition Dispatches
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Today we woke to a calm, warm and partly cloudy morning at our 11,000' camp! A 7am wake up had us working our triceps downing a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal. Then the hard work with the legs began for our 3,000' climb. Starting with the grind of
Motorcycle hill where the ridge provides amazing views of the Washburn wall and Father and Sons wall. Both walls are enormous, sporting 8,000' of vertical relief. With strong efforts by all the team we continued up through Squirrel Hill, across the Polo Fields with the magnificent end of the direct West Buttress looming above. Our ascent around the infamous Windy Corner was just a cool light breeze, a welcome reward. The crew arrived to the 14,000' camp in good shape and we dropped our supplies for the coming days. It was the longest and most work of our trip putting in 7 hours on our feet. The descent was smooth with new blown powder covering the trail, making for soft crampon walking back to the rest and relaxation of the tents for a while before we move in to the disco circus tent we call our living room and kitchen for a very well earned quesadilla extravaganza. We plan to take a day of rest tomorrow and count on our recovery at this lower altitude with continued acclimatization to be hugely beneficial to our success up higher on the mountain. That's all - got to go now, catch you all on our rest day tomorrow!
RMI Guides
Tyler Jones &
Garrett Stevens
On The Map
Monday, June 3, 2013
Our first encounter with snow and wind came after we hit the sack last night. Comfortably tucked away in our well anchored tents, and snug in our mounds of down that encapsulate us each night, we knew we weren't in any danger, and by Denali standards our visit with foul weather was fairly mild. But the winds still kept many of us up more than we would have liked.
So, when I checked the weather at 7:30 and didn't like what I saw, I don't think there was a one of us that missed hearing my wake up call for a
summit bid. An hour later the winds calmed and things did look better, but not perfect, so I let the team sleep in.
At breakfast we all confided that we were happy that the day did not turn out good for the summit. Even some of our studs of the trip admitted to feeling the altitude and having some fatigue left over from yesterday's efforts.
Our morning was spent building up walls to protect us from the annoying wind, then by lunch we were back in the tents enjoying the incredible warmth that the suns rays produce at this elevation. Even though outside it was chilly, inside our watch thermometer got as high as 113 degrees. OK, it was measured at the ceiling and we had all the doors closed, but though a little excessive, the heat felt wonderful soaking through our bodies.
Right now the weather looks good. The ominous cloud cap that had settled on the mountain for most of the day has disappeared and I am more optimistic than I have been. The forecast remains the same, for whatever that's worth.
I think we're all thinking that it might just happen tomorrow, but who knows. All I really know is that we're all ready if the day dawns fair. Which means that I too should probably get some sleep.
Goodnight from 17,200' camp.
RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah
On The Map
Monday, June 3, 2013
Today was a day of light work and much chilling. We were able to sleep in later than any other day so far, which is always a nice treat i
n the mountains. We did get some fresh snow overnight, so we spent the first few minutes of the day clearing off tents and backpacks. But by 9:30 we were all feasting on righteous breakfast quesadillas filled with fluffy eggs, crispy bacon, melted cheese and topped with hot sauce, which fueled the crew for our back-carry.
We headed back down to our cache and retrieved all our gear, and began the grind back to camp. While the oblong sleds dragged a little in the new snow, we were still able to complete the trip quickly, and before 1 o'clock we were back in camp. Now we are enjoying all the delicious lunch food we had cached, gorging on tasty morsels.
The team is currently resting and getting ready for a hard day of work tomorrow. We're planning to carry a load up to 14K' camp, and the stretch of mountain between here and there will be the most difficult terrain so far. While it may seem like mountain climbers have some strange fetish for being cold, smelly and sore, there is no substitute for the reward you feel at the end of hard day of climbing. We'll check back in tomorrow with an update, so until then keep sending positive energy and wishes for high pressure!
RMI Guides Tyler, Garrett, and the Crew
On The Map
The
Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Andres Marin and Geoff Schellens were forced to turn at the traverse to the nose of the cleaver (11,000’) due to unstable snow. The teams performed snow tests which confirmed the snow instability. The weather this morning was clear but windy with gusts of 45 mph as the teams descended back to Camp Muir.
The
Expedition Skills Seminar – Muir led by RMI Guides JJ Justman and Pete Van Deventer are making their ascent to Camp Muir today to begin their week of training and climbing.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
The weather has finally changed. No more perfectly sunny , windless days. Instead, this morning we saw some clouds both below us and above. But they were fairly light clouds and the winds remained calm. A change none the less. After sixteen days of perfect weather these clouds might seem ominous, but in reality the weather was fairly nice. So, we picked up and moved up to
high camp at 17,200'.
Gambling on the weather is one of those things that is just a part of mountain climbing. Do you stay or do you go? Given the relatively benign weather forecast I opted to take advantage of a nice day to move up.
An early start allowed us to reach camp by 3:00 where we were able to have our pick of walled tent spaces. We were even able to dig in the Posh House. After a little while some snow started falling and we figured we'd just have a simple dinner and allow the team to eat in the comfort of their tents. After all, we had had a big day with heavier packs that our previous climb and folks could feel the effort. But, not this team. It's impressive that when offered room service at 17,000' everyone of the team chose to get together for dinner.
No, today there was no singing, but everyone was in good spirits and hoping to get a good nights sleep. Our plan is to check out the weather in the morning and go for it if things are good. Otherwise, we'll have a good rest day.
It's great to be in position for a summit bid finally. All we need now is one good day.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah
On The Map
Our team met this morning for our six day
Mt. Rainier program. It was the first day of orientation for our Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir. We spent the day ensuring we had all the right equipment and could pack efficiently. In the afternoon we grabbed our harnesses, boots, ice tools and crampons and spent time on the climbing walls at Rainier BaseCamp.
Just because we are not on the mountain doesn't mean we can't have fun.
Stay tuned as our team ventures on the mountain starting tomorrow!
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Today we woke to a splitter red sky, the most beautiful morning of our trip. As the saying goes, though: red sky in morning, climbers take warning! The weather continues to cloud up and a few snow flakes have fallen between breaks in the clouds. This change is rather abstract compared to the last few week of very high pressure over the region. With an early start the
team climbed well for 5 hrs. We now find ourselves enjoying some well earned down time back in the tents eating, drinking, sleeping and chatting. Most importantly hiding from the seemingly gorilla strength sun rays in our new home at 11k. Tomorrow we plan to sleep in, have a deluxe breakfast, and retrieve our luggage just a short way down the hill. Each of our team members want to say hi to family and friends; we are doing great and love you all! We'll check in after our grocery shoppe and petrol refill.
RMI Guides Tyler Jones and Garrett Stevens
On The Map
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by Walter Hailes and the
Five Day Summit Climb led by Linden Mallory reached Ingraham Flats (11,200') this morning before making the decision to turn the teams around due to unstable snow conditions.
The teams will descend from Camp Muir and return to Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford this afternoon.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Just knowing that today we had absolutely nothing to get accomplished gave us all that sense of ease and happiness often felt on the first day of a great vacation. Breakfast (yes, smoked salmon, bacon, fried bagels and cream cheese) didn't even start until the sun had warmed up camp, and lingered almost to lunch.
We relaxed outside in the sun and inside away from its strong rays. Some got horizontal and read or napped, while others of us hung out in the Posh talking about everything from music and movies to food, wine and other delicacies.
Those of us with FM radios gave a brief news summary, and like many discussions of any depth, eventually the tide of our conversation turned to politics. But with such a nice group of folks who are fast becoming good friends, the talk was of a healthy sort and not the ugly type seen all too often elsewhere.
I don't know if it was the Indian cuisine we had for dinner or what, but dessert was accompanied by song, poetry, comedy and a lot of good natured ribbing. The day has ended all to quickly, we all agree.
We ended our day by listening to the evening weather forecast, which has been calling for an end to the incredible high pressure we have been enjoying and calling for clouds and some snow, but all with fairly light winds. I've certainly heard of worse forecasts, so we'll just wake up in the morning and see what we see. If the skies are anything like they have been, we'll break camp and retrace our tracks back up the fixed lines and
West Buttress, having the added confidence that comes with having climbed it once before. But we'll need good weather to tackle that climb again. Otherwise, another day or two here will only make us stronger for the summit later.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guides Brent, Logan and Leah
On The Map
Saturday, June 1, 2013
This morning we got up at 4 am as planned to carry our first load of luggage up towards 11,000'. Breakfast was a quick affair of granola cereal and bars, and by 5:30 the team was underway. Our slow, steady pace helped us gain elevation, while the moderate breeze blowing down the glacier kept anyone from overheating. The peaks of the Alaska range glowed at the tops as the sun crept higher in the east, lighting the summit ridges of
Mt. Crosson and Kahiltna Dome. Looking back down the main Kahiltna Glacier at our breaks, we were treated to a morning view few people get to enjoy: snow, ice and rock in every direction, sculpted by nature into a cathedral worthy of reverence.
All too soon we arrived at our cache location, but we enjoyed the acclimatization benefits of working a little bit at 10,000'. The crew all worked well and within minutes we had safely buried all our gear and turned back towards our warm tents at 7,800'. The pace was quicker as we dropped back down, and we were soon dropping our packs and crawling back into our tents to avoid the ruthless solar radiation. The team is now focused on rest and rehydration, preparing for our move to camp at 11,000' tomorrow.
We'll keep you posted as we continue to climb higher, stay tuned!
RMI Guides Tyler, Garrett and the Crew
On The Map
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Great job everybody!!! A special hello to Lori. :) You are all an inspiration. I hope you stay warm and safe! Good luck!!! Love and hugs,
Maggie and Casey
Lori-P.S. Keep God in your heart.
Posted by: Casey Hansen on 6/6/2013 at 8:43 am
Robin and Team
Congratulations on your trek to 14k. Sounds like you guys had a difficult day but some amazing views! Hope you get some well deserved rest today. Take care and good luck tomorrow. Looking forward to updates. Praying for your safety and success. Stay warm.
Robin - P.S. got your Father’s Day Cards :)
Love, DAD
Posted by: Matt Prosser on 6/5/2013 at 11:00 am
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