The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Win Whittaker and the Five Day Summit Climb led by Lindsay Fixmer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The teams were able to spend an hour on the summit before starting their descent. At 7:00 am they were approaching the top of Disappointment Cleaver on their descent. The weather is beautiful with clear skies, warm temperatures and light winds.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
I'm not too big of a man to admit...our adventure is officially over...and I'm actually sad. Our team took off early this morning after a grand finale here in St Petersburg. We had a tour of all the historical sites and finished with a great canal tour.
I want to thank every team member who I now consider friends. And ask my 3rd grade school teacher Ms. Buchanan, I have a tough time making friends!
Yes, we climbed Elbrus. Yes, we all made the summit. And yes, we all had a safe climbing experience...always number one on the list.
But for some reason this team was pretty much the same as all my RMI teams from the past. They were AWESOME!! I can't wait to climb with all of them again. Plans are already being made for Vinson and Aconcagua.
In the meantime, here is a short video of how we ended our time on this incredible adventure...
RMI Guide JJ Justman
July 15, 2014 - 4:21 pm PT
Hello again from Huaraz!
Relaxing day we had after all the travelling today... A two hour walk after breakfast took the team the overlook above town from where we devised the closest peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. It served also to get the blood pumping, on this the first day above 3,000 m, elevation we reached yesterday by car, so all benefits. We had a great meal afterwards (pizza from the stove oven restaurant of "El Horno", a classic in Huaraz) and an easy afternoon of pre-packing the duffles prior to tomorrow's departure to the trailhead.
We´re getting ready for dinner and an early bed time; Cashapampa trailhead and eventually Llamacorral Camp await tomorrow. Next post will be from the trails.
Best regards,
Elias de Andres Martos
Cool. Keep the updates coming. We’re watching closely and I’m posting everything to Facebook. These updates are my only link to what you guys are doing and where you are. I’m sending everything to Kenzie’s family and friends so they can follow too. Good luck fellas! Enjoy the mountains and stay away from getting caught doing the Alpine Starfish :)
Posted by: Rhea Campbell & Alex Lickerman on 7/16/2014 at 9:36 am
July 15th, 2014 - 7:16 pm PT
Yesterday's storm hit hard at 17,200 ft. The heavy snow continued through dinner and the night, with plenty of wind to make things noisy. The team took turns through the night, going out to dig snow in order to keep tents from being crushed. The hard workers would come back into the tents coated head-to-toe in rime ice. By morning, several things were clear. Significantly, the sky wasn't one of them. Our climbers were wet and cold from the rough night and our summit ambitions were now going to take a back seat to getting down the mountain safely. Even before we could see the Autobahn, we knew it couldn't receive two plus feet of snow overnight without gaining a significant avalanche risk. Sure enough, after the morning shovel session and breakfast we did get some clearing and couldn't see any evidence of our track to Denali Pass. The slope had dramatically wind sculpted snow slab from top to bottom. We won't mess with it. Winds died in the afternoon, which made it a little easier for the team to dry out and get some rest. We'll give the slopes below us a day to cook in the sun and stabilize and we'll hope the next storm pulse holds off long enough for us to get down from the ridiculously high West Buttress.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Job well done to the whole team! Wish you could have made the summit, it is much better to be safe than risk get into trouble. Have a wonderful and safe journey down. Joe and Sean, can’t wait to hear about it. Cheers to all of you!!!
Posted by: Tower on 7/16/2014 at 11:12 am
It’s been fun learning about your trek. Be safe out there. Kb, I look forward to hearing a bit more about everything.
All is well here in the Baksan Valley, at the base of Elbrus. We've settled into our comfortable hotel here in Cheget, which doubles as a ski town in the winter. It reminds me of Jackson Hole with Mt. Rainier instead of the Grand Tetons.
We woke to a beautiful morning and finally we were able to get out and stretch our legs a bit. We made the most of the local ski lifts, (to save our knees of course) and hiked up the neighboring peak to start our acclimatization. It started off a little cloudy today, but eventually cleared for some decent views of Elbrus. After our ascent we headed back down to town for a nice lunch and headed over the local climbing shop to pick up a few last minute things. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, getting our bags packed and just wrapping up another enjoyable Russia dinner with plenty of borscht.
All is well here and we'll check in again tomorrow!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Crew
Good morning from Huaraz!
The team is on its day one of the expedition. After meeting in Lima, we took the mandatory 8 hour ride to Huaraz and checked into the hotel. We met with Peter, our outfitter and best asset in Peru, and headed for a much needed dinner. Early bed time to overcome the many hours of international (and domestic) travel and we´re now ready for breakfast. The plan for today? A 2 to 3 hour walk in the vicinity of town, a thorough gear check and pack for tomorrow's departure to Cashapampa, the trail head for Alpamayo.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Elias deAndres Martos & Team
RMI Guide Peter Whittaker and the Four Day Summit Climb team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 5:20 am. The team is making their descent back to Camp Muir and enjoying a light wind. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon.
The Expedition Skills Seminar – Emmons led by RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 7:00 am. Pete reports clear skies on the summit and 15 mph winds. He says it is fairly warm and a really nice day to climb. The team is enjoying some time at Columbia Crest and will begin their descent to Camp Schurman around 8:00 am.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
We ARE SO PROUD and HAPPY that you reached The Summit John! Can’t wait to see that photo!! Safe return during the descent!!! See you soon! Love, AM and Biscuit
Posted by: Mary Ann and Carter Boicourt on 7/16/2014 at 6:02 am
Way to go Jimmie D.
This Rainier summit business is getting to be old hat to you.
July 14th, 2014 - 7:45 pm PT
At seven this morning, a good chunk of the sky was clear. We could see way out into the tundra to the West and there were mountains visible in the South that we were seeing for the first time on this trip. Our objective, Denali's South Peak, was in the clear and there didn't appear to be any wind blowing at Denali Pass. We geared up to climb for the summit. There was a bit of cloud to watch in the Northwest though. As we broke trail toward the base of the Autobahn (the route to Denali Pass) we watched that cloud in the NW come a little closer. We climbed some of the steeper terrain of the Autobahn while still in morning shadows. It was cold and progress was slow due to our need to re-establish the snowed over route. The clouds encroached on the North Peak. Then they formed a cap on the South Peak. We were still in relatively calm conditions, so we pushed on to about 17,900 feet, in order to give the clouds a chance to change their mind and flee. This didn't happen. The clouds became a snowstorm and so we spun around and worked carefully back to high camp. Since the storm showed no signs of abating, it seemed a good time to retrieve our emergency cache of food from 16,200 feet. A few intrepid guides accomplished that mission just in time to avoid strengthening winds on the West Buttress. We're safe in our tents now at 17,200 feet, waiting for the storm to go elsewhere before we try once again to climb Denali.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello again Everyone,
It was anyone long day of travel here in Russia for us again. We departed Moscow moderately early and flew southward to the town of Mineralnye Vody (which means mineral water) where we were meet by our local guide Alexander. We loaded all of our duffels into the waiting van and continued heading south towards Mt. Elbrus. This part of Russia is very rural and the countryside is mostly used for agriculture purposes, especially sunflowers! It has been heavily influenced by the Turkish and is therefore predominately Islamic. It's beautiful here, but it also seems a bit behind the times when compared to Moscow or St. Petersburg. The team enjoyed the views, had a little fun, but everyone is ready for some exercise!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Crew
The Four- and Five- Day Mount Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Seth Waterfall and Billy Nugent, were on the summit to watch the sunrise. Both teams called in at 7:30 on the descent and they were at the top of Disappointment Cleaver. They reported no wind, blue skies and a low cloud layer just above Rainier Basecamp in Ashford. It’s a beautiful day on the mountain and getting hot!
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So happy you and the team made this trek! Looking forward to your stories and photos.
Posted by: Cindy and Ken on 7/16/2014 at 4:24 pm
Great work Rees! Scenery looks stunning. Janet and Murray.
Posted by: Janet Pascoe on 7/16/2014 at 1:54 pm
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