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!
July 13, 2014 - 10:58 pm PT
Yesterday was a tough climb to reach high camp at 17,200 ft. Bad weather at the start of the day caused us to get on the trail later than we'd have liked and a couple inches of new snow on the route made the steep pitches a little more exhausting than they might otherwise be. Even so, with heavy packs and tired legs, we were thrilled to balance along on the crest of the West Buttress, enjoying an endless sunset of golden light. We pulled into camp at 9 PM, just as the sun got tangled in thick cloud. It was a scramble to build camp and get stoves going before the real cold took hold. We ran stoves until 2:30 AM in order to have enough water. As we worked hard to get dug in, we watched a team of two guides and one climber make a late descent of the "Autobahn". They'd managed to thread the needle and hit the summit and as they neared camp, the weather came in again with clouds and wind. Our tents stood up to a few good gusts in the night and the usual blowing snow but as tired as we were, it didn't keep us awake. Morning was calm and easy where we were but too windy and mean up above, so we finished getting our camp in order and took it easy instead of climbing. The team of three has descended now and we are left alone in our quest... Likely the highest people in North America, even as we simply sit in camp on what has become a beautiful evening. If the good weather lasts until morning, we'll know how to use it.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello from Russia everyone!
The team arrived yesterday, and after the long flights we took it easy with a brief team meeting and a quick bite to eat. We then retired to our rooms to sleep off the jet lag.
Today we woke up rather leisurely, had a continental breakfast, and walked just a short distance to meet our tour guide at the Red Square and Kremlin. We spent the better part of the day walking around the Kremlin, Red Square, and the famous St. Basil's Cathedral. Along our walk we also passed by the tomb of the unknown solider and had a brief lunch at the G.U.M.
After our tour we took a short break to do a little exploring on our own, or snuck off for a quick cat nap. We wrapped up the evening with a nice walk down to a diner to grab dinner where we enjoyed mingling with the locals and getting to know each other better.
All is well and everyone is looking forward to heading to the mountain tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and team
Greetings all,
After spending the last 10 days above 14,000', our eyes and lungs relished in the sights, smells, and the oxygen-rich, moist ocean air we encountered on the drive back from Huaraz to Lima. A stop in Playa Barranca for ceviche, tacu-tato, and other local seafood dishes truly brought our expedition full circle as we enjoyed an ocean view from our lunch table. Upon arrival in Lima, the inevitable disbanding of the team began as some caught midnight flights back to friends and family, while a few have one more day in Lima to relax, catch the World Cup Final, and relive the wonderful experiences we've had over the past couple weeks in the Cordillera Blanca. Best wishes from sea level and thanks for following along!
RMI Guides Robby Young, Elias de Andres Martos, and the Peru Seminar Team
Good morning everybody. This is Leon and team calling from our way out of Boston Basin in this morning. Another beautiful day today, just like yesterday, and we climbed up the West Ridge of Forbidden. We had a successful trip, starting out at 2:30 in the morning under a full moon. It was beautiful, a perfect day. And yeah, we're all doing well heading out to the cars hopefully in time to watch the World Cup Finals. Talk to you guys later. Thank you. Bye.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
RMI Guide Leon Davis checks in from the North Cascades.
July 13, 2014 - 4:05 AM PT
Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling in from 17,000' we made it up today, a better than expected day. It didn't start out too good but we made good use of it. We left 14,000' at 1:30 in the afternoon and got up here at 17,000' at 9 PM, which was a little bit late but we managed to get all buttoned down before the storm started again. All are doing well at 17,000' and now we're ready to get lucky up here.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from 17 camp on Mt. McKinley.
At 7:25 AM, RMI Guide Garrett Stevens and the Four Day Summit Climb team radioed from the top of Disappointment Cleaver on their descent from the summit of Mt Rainier. Garrett reported warm temperatures and a light wind making for a perfect, bluebird day. We look forward to greeting the team in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations!
July 12, 2014 - 1:15 am PT
Hey - This is JJ. Well, this morning we did not play Eye of the Tiger. We did not play T-N-T. But let me give you a few of the lyrics we played this morning:
I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast. I do like jelly on my breakfast toast.
And do you know what else I like? Not one, not two but every single climber on top of Europe's highest mountain.
What do you say gang? (cheers in back ground)
It's an urgent news message, we are on the summit of Mt. Elbrus. Everyone did a great job. Strong as can be. And we are enjoying a beautiful day, a few puffy, happy clouds out in the distance, but that is about it
Stay tuned for some photos and videos. We are going to head back down. I do believe we have a well deserved dinner and maybe a little bit of a celebration back at camp. Take care and thanks for following along. We will touch base again soon.
Sayonara from the summit of Elbrus.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman and the team call from the summit of Mt. Elbrus.
July 11, 2014 - 8:15 pm PT
Hi Everybody this is Leon and Bryan in the Boston Basin, we climbed Sharkfin Tower today. It was a beautiful day. Everyone did great, everyone is feeling it but we got a lot of good training in.
Tomorrow our plan is to wake up early and get an alpine start and head up to the west ridge of Forbidden and climb that thing.
All is well, we will talk to you tomorrow.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
The Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Mike Walter & Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Just after 7 am the teams were approaching the top of Disappointment Cleaver on their descent.
They will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing to Paradise later today.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
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Way to go Megan! I am very proud if you! I can’t wait to hear stories!
Posted by: Anna O'Neill on 7/14/2014 at 6:50 pm
AMAZING!!! Way to go Rob!!! You are amazing! All your girls are so proud of you! Great job team!!! So incredibly cool! Rock on!!!
Posted by: Kathryn on 7/14/2014 at 3:12 pm
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