It is a beautiful day on Mt. Rainier. The Five Day Summit Climb July 7 - 11 led by Eric Frank and the Four Day Summit Climb July 8 - 11 led by Mike Haugen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The teams reached the crater rim around 7:30 a.m. They reported clear skies, great conditions and winds ranging from 0 to none.
The Five Day Kautz Climb is descending to Paradise this morning. Their entire team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier yesterday morning.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
SO VERY EXCITED TO JUST READ THE NEWS!! WE ARE BOTH VERY PROUD OF OUR SON, MATTHEW AND HIS FIANCE, ELLA!! CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE IN THE GROUP, AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE GUIDES FOR LEADING THE ENTIRE BUNCH SAFELY UP ...AND BACK DOWN!! NOW GO AND CELEBRATE!
Posted by: BRENDA & LOTHAR on 7/11/2012 at 10:12 am
Congrats to Scott, Alex and the rest of the team. What a huge accomplishment! Looking forward to hearing all about your adventure. Safe travels back to civilization.
love, Michelle and the entire clan
Posted by: Michelle Rico Wilsdon on 7/11/2012 at 9:53 am
The thick rain clouds that have been covering the region for the last several days began to dissipate overnight. Leaving our hotel this morning, the sky above was a patchy mix of clouds and blue sky. We loaded our mountain gear into our van and made the ten minute drive up the valley to the tiny village of Azau. In Azau we hauled our gear from the van and through the base terminal of the tram station. A few minutes later the red cabin dropped down from the station above and we piled our team and gear into the tram.
We made two tram rides, going from the green valley floor to the top station, sitting on a rocky morraine along the edges of Elbrus' glaciers. To get our gear the final 700' we took turns loading our duffels, packs, and climbers onto a little single seater chairlift. Despite the slow moving chairs it was still a tricky transfer to put on and pull off the bags from the chairs as they swung by.
Nevertheless, it was a smooth process and by midday we were settled into out bunks in the Garabashi Huts, a series of old diesel tanks that have been converted into bunk rooms. Despite the long cylindrical shape, they are quite comfortable inside, especially when the hail and rain starts up outside.
After a great lunch of borsch, meats, cheeses, and French toast we set off on an acclimatization hike. The clouds once again settled onto the mountain, although with no moisture in them. We climbed for a couple of hours, ascending the glacier right above the hut and getting used to hiking in climbing boots and traveling on snow. After reaching just over 13,000' we turned around and descended back to the hut.
We are resting in the huts now before dinner. Everyone climbed well today, making the transition from low elevation trails to the high altitude snows well. After close to a week of traveling to reach this mountain, we are happy to be here and comfortable in the huts. Tomorrow we are planning on making our final acclimatization hike up to Pastuhkova Rocks at 15,000' before resting on Friday. We will check-in when we return from the hike.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Another unwelcome pulse of moisture and wind came through in the night. The wind was far more significant than the new snow as it worked to slab up the substantial snowfall we'd already gotten on the steep walls above. While things died down and the sun showed up on time this morning, it didn't take very long for folks to realize we'd suffered a setback in the snow stability department. But there wasn't so much that could be done to change that reality and so we made the best of things. We geared up, roped up and took a hike to the edge of the world, which is what everybody calls the rocks a short distance from camp that mark the edge of the 14,200 ft basin we're in. From that edge one can look straight down thousands of vertical feet to the Northeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. Except we could not, due to clouds and murk, and plowing through above the knee powder made it feel like a little more than a short distance away. We went for the workout and to keep our minds focused on climbing during this big delay. And that seemed to work nicely for us. One could sense the great drop-off and the immensity of Denali's South Face lurking in the clouds.
Back at camp, we did more of the things we've already been doing so well... eating, drinking, resting, chatting and watching the snowy slopes above when the clouds permit. What we really need is a few hot, very sunny, stable days to settle the snow.
Several of the teams surrounding us in camp were running low on food and fuel and could wait no more. They began their descent of the mountain as we were sitting down to dinner. Things actually cleared up quite nicely about then with calm, blue skies above and a thick sea of clouds below us stretching to all horizons. It may be a tricky situation but it remains beautiful.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hey Mark,
I am really enjoying your trip from sunny Denver!!! Mary and I have been walking everyday! I sure hope the weather cooperates with you. I can’t wait to hear all about your trip! ENJOY! Dorothy
Posted by: Dorothy on 7/12/2012 at 7:16 am
Will, I wish I could send you some heat from the glassblowing furnace…the campers are working in the 90’s ea. day. I am just a big salt lick for Nicki when I get home at night. Stay safe! Love you. Jenny and CaliRose
Just because we climbed Europe's highest mountain Mt. Elbrus, it doesn't mean the adventure is over. After a great celebration dinner last night we boarded our flight and we are now in St. Petersburg. It has been a tiring day flying so we are going to relax tonight, order a little room service and maybe have a little spa time. Tomorrow we are going to begin exploring this amazing Russian city. We will have some photos and video to show you.
RMI Guide J.J. Justman
What an exciting time for this group! The wait is finally over and your adventure begins! I wish complete safety and totally success for everyone in the group! I look forward to updates! Peace!
Posted by: Mary Helen Martin on 7/21/2012 at 4:39 am
Hey JJ Whoo Hoo congratulations JJ and team!! What an accomplishment. I have been following all your posts and climbs. You seem like an awesome upbeat guide. I’m doing the 4 day climb of Rainier August 11-14th. I was hoping you would be one of the guides. I heard great things about you. So hurry back to the states!!
Posted by: Kristen Farris on 7/11/2012 at 10:08 am
We woke to the steady patter of rain falling on the village of Cheget this morning. The clouds hung low in the valley, all of the mountains above still obscured. But to the west the clouds were thinning and the rain let up as soon as we finished breakfast. We left the hotel and walked over to the base of the ski lifts to catch a ride higher into the mountains. We hopped onto the lift, each chair painted a different color, and slowly rose into the clouds. At one point the lift stretched across a high point and all we could see was the little yellow and red chairs bouncing along into a sea of grey. By the time we passed the switched lifts at the mid station the clouds began to part and soon the views were improving.
Near 10,000' we unloaded from the lifts and began hiking above the resort towards the summit of Peak Cheget. We navigated the narrow climbers' trail, scrambling across the big rock slabs and over boulders, quickly gaining altitude on the narrow ridge. The weather continued to improve and we were soon shedding our rain jackets in favor of sunglasses. Close to 11,500' the skies briefly parted and we caught our first views of Mt. Elbrus across the valley. The view was fleeting, as the window in the clouds quickly closed, but we were able to see our entire route to the summit.
By midday we reached the summit of Peak Cheget near 12,000'. The change in altitude from Moscow (~500') was noticeable, but everyone on the team felt strong. We stayed on the summit for a few minutes before descending back down the trail to the lifts and returning to town for the afternoon.
We spent the rest of the day sorting and organizing our gear in anticipation of moving onto the mountain. Tomorrow we head up to our hut along the edges of Mt. Elbrus' glaciers where we will spend the next four nights. We are excited about getting on the mountain and looking forward to trading our hiking shoes for climbing boots and crampons. We will check in tomorrow from the Garabashi Hut.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Planning to spend some time with heavy-drinking Russian soldiers on this climb? Or was that a one time thing? Is there a plan to introduce those chairlifts on Denali?
Posted by: Madhu Rao on 7/14/2012 at 4:56 pm
Have a great time. Be safe, have fun and drink soup at the barrels, and catch a fish! Bill M.
We all thought it was a little colder than predictions called for last night. It might have been as low as 10 below zero Fahrenheit, but that is just a guess. But that would have been because the sky finally cleared. It was clear through much of the morning and early afternoon, but nobody went climbing. There are perhaps eight or ten groups here at 14,200 ft, between guided and smaller non-guided teams, but all of us shared a great respect for the new fallen snow and its need to settle. Neither the teams that are throwing in the towel and looking to go down, nor those of us that are looking to go up, want to get impatient and get avalanched. So we took it easy today and hoped that the sun would shine hard enough to heat up the snow and settle the hazard. We watched the last National Park Service Ranger Patrol of the season work with their B3 helicopter for a good chunk of the day to sling load all of their equipment and personnel out of camp and off the hill. My gang practiced the techniques we plan to employ for getting up the "fixed ropes" on the steep terrain between 15,000 and 16,200 ft. We also built a new walled latrine with all of the modern conveniences. And we waited. Patiently. We received a bunch more great messages from the blog (they were relayed to us as we don't actually surf the web up here) and those produced plenty of smiles and laughter. Thank You.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Richard,
In this morning’s devotion..sending prayers & optimism
your way. Silver linings in the clouds are not hard
to find, on the way to dreams coming true. Warmth & perfect weather from
the center of the heart of a Santa Barbara girl is yours. One step at a time….
SOUL, Denise:.
Posted by: denise:. on 7/12/2012 at 7:17 am
Mark, what an adventure. So proud of you and the Team. Keep that sun tan lotion on. Stay safe. Bill
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Seth Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier just after 7 am PT with 100% of their team! They reported light winds from the south and blue skies.
The Five Day Kautz Glacier Climb led by Jason Thompson also reached the summit this morning. They started their descent from the crater rim just after 7 a.m. The team will return to their High Camp for their final night on the mountain.
Congratulations to today's teams!
We left Moscow early this morning, leaving the city's quiet streets behind for the forest of pine that surround Moscow's Domodevo Airport. The calm morning was broken as soon as we arrived at the airport, with travelers packing the main terminal trying to check-in for their flights. With plenty of time to navigate the crowds, we found our check in counter and meandered through the serpentine line to the front, doing our best to keep our towering carts of climbing gear from toppling over on the unsuspecting passerby. Despite the complete language barrier checking in for our flight was smooth and easy and before long we were climbing the steps into our neon green 737 for the flight to Mineralnye Vody.
The two and a half hour flight took us from Moscow south across the farmland of central Russia to the foothills of the Caucasus. Thankfully all of our bags appeared on the carousel in Mineralnye Vody and we shouldered our duffel bags and navigated the chaotic parking lot outside to our van (conveniently parked, we all noted, in the farthest possible point from the door of the baggage claim). After cramming all of our duffel bags and 9 passengers into the narrow van, we took off down the highway bound for the mountains.
The drive from Mineralnye Vody to the village of Cheget in the Baksan Valley with the base of Mt. Elbrus took about 3.5 hours and brought us from the busy agricultural centers near the airport deep into the heart of the Caucasus. In the small towns on the way to the mountain we passed little markets and stores spilling out onto the streets, dozens of errant cows lounging in the roadway, and a tungsten mine and former factory used in the Soviet Space Program, long since shut down and now in the process of being reclaimed by the forest.The recent rains in the area still left thick clouds hanging throughout the peaks when we reached the little ski town of Cheget. We have yet to catch a view of the high Caucasus or Mt. Elbrus, but the clouds started to thin as we finished dinner and we are hopeful that the views will prove more rewarding tomorrow on our acclimatization hike.
We are staying in a small ski lodge at the base of the Cheget ski resort, where we will be until Wednesday. The rooms are comfortable and the food hearty. We are all very pleased to be in the mountains and looking forward to our hike tomorrow.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Hello friends and family of Rainier Mountaineering. This is J.J. Justman really happy to report that our entire team is on the summit of Mt. Elbrus as we speak at 18,510’. We had a great day today. We actually started out pretty iffy weather, there were a lot of clouds, winds, sleet, snow and rain but it parted ways. We started out about 3 in the morning and wouldn’t you know it, we toughed it out, we are in a little bit of a white out. We wish we could have better photos but we are on top.
Everyone wants to say hello to friend and family back home. I’d like to definitely give a shout out to the folks back at RMI: Autumn, Sarah, Melissa, Lacey and Casey for helping to get this trip started the right way. Definitely helps me focus on what I need to focus on and that was making sure our team was acclimatized and having fun. What do you say guys, are you having a fun time? [Cheers in background].
So, we are a little tired and we still have a little bit of work to do so we are going to start heading down hill. Chaio from Russia.
That was Vladimir our co-guide along here with me, it was great climbing with him. We will have some photos and videos for all of you of our terrific summit day. We will send them tomorrow when we descend to the village of Cheget at the base of Mt. Elbrus.
RMI Guide J.J. Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls in from the summit of Mt. Elbrus.
The Four Day Summit Climb July 6 - 9 teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 7 a.m. PT led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Tyler Reid.
Clear skies and beautiful sunshine today around Mt. Rainier National Park.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
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SO VERY EXCITED TO JUST READ THE NEWS!! WE ARE BOTH VERY PROUD OF OUR SON, MATTHEW AND HIS FIANCE, ELLA!! CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE IN THE GROUP, AND A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE GUIDES FOR LEADING THE ENTIRE BUNCH SAFELY UP ...AND BACK DOWN!! NOW GO AND CELEBRATE!
Posted by: BRENDA & LOTHAR on 7/11/2012 at 10:12 am
Congrats to Scott, Alex and the rest of the team. What a huge accomplishment! Looking forward to hearing all about your adventure. Safe travels back to civilization.
love, Michelle and the entire clan
Posted by: Michelle Rico Wilsdon on 7/11/2012 at 9:53 am
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