Entries from Expedition Dispatches

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 10:02 pm PT

The alarm rang at 12:30 AM today.  We sprang right up, ready to escape basecamp and truly get this expedition underway.  Skies were clear -which was exactly what we were hoping for in order to get the glacier surface well frozen.  Travel is easier when walking atop the snow rather than sinking in, travel is safer when the snow bridging crevasses is frozen solid, and travel is more pleasant when it is cool.  We dressed up, had a breakfast together and then we split up to knock down tents and get geared for travel.  There is plenty to do on such a morning.  Especially the first morning for a team.  We were still getting ready three hours later and finally the rope teams started moving at 3:40 AM.  We began by going downhill to the main Kahiltna Glacier.  It was hard work, trudging along on snowshoes under heavy packs and pulling fully loaded sleds.  But it was made pleasant by the incredible scenery  - it was particularly beautiful seeing the colorful early morning sunshine lighting the upper slopes of Mt. Foraker.  We met a handful of guided teams “heading for the barn”.   They’d been successful in reaching the top and were excited to be in the final stretches.  Always enjoyable for the guides on our team to see friends from other companies and other continents. 

Progress was steady and conditions were good enough.  The glacier has obviously lost a lot of snow in recent warm and dry weeks and so crevasse bridges were  sagging, but workable.  We pulled into our intended camp at the base of Ski Hill (8000’) after about six hours.  There was a fair bit of work -as always- to dig a new home in the snow, but we got it done and we’re able to dive in the tents so as to get some well earned naps and some time out of the sun.  By our dinner in the dining tent, snow clouds were pushing in from the north and spitting moisture our way.  Temperatures were on the chilly side as we did final chores and turned in for the evening.  We hope to do a “carry” tomorrow, if given half a chance. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 9:56 pm PT

Hey hey hey,

You freeze, you fry they say in the mountains and oh did we do both. A frosty morning greeted us as we packed for our carry and ate our cherrios. Hot coffee brings you to your happy place as you thaw your fingers on the vessel. It's a quick walk to the edge of camp before the terrain steepens and we approach the bergschrund where the fixed lines begin. It's steep gaining the West Buttress but man are the views great. A birds eye view of 14,000' Camp give perspective along with the grandeur of everything around us. We bumped just another couple vertical feet up the Buttress before digging our hole for our cache. The morning started cold but soon turned to hot when the sun arrive. By time we got to our cache it was windy and clouds were swirling around us. As we retraced our steps back to the fixed lines we lost the wind and then entered a mega heat bubble. The temps swing so drastically, so quickly out here. It was a solid day of work today that deserves a rest day tomorrow. We are now in position to wait for a weather window to go for our summit bid.

Here's to waiting and being pateient,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 - 8:49 pm PT

The weather couldn’t make up its mind today-  it was cold, it was hot, it was sunny, it was cloudy, it was clear, it was snowy, it was windy, and it was still. It literally couldn’t make up its mind from minute to minute. This of course necessitated putting on and taking off layers, putting on sunscreen, and opening and closing the vestibules. Our heads are still spinning.

Today was what we called a reverse carry day which means we headed down hill to retrieve our cache from 10,000' and hoofed it back up the hill to camp. Andy called this a rest day. His idea of a rest day is a little demented in my opinion. On the Appalachian trail, we would have called this a Nero day (translation- nearly a zero day). 

We also prepped for tomorrow by deciding what we are going to carry up to 14,000' Camp for caching. The strategy is to split our load so no one day is heavier than the other.

Camp life today involved consuming large volumes of food while we still have an appetite which also means we don’t have to carry it. Many of us are finding out that we packed way too much food and are excited when anybody is willing to eat some of it. We also tossed around some deep questions like -if you could go back in any period of history when would it be? My answer was the future, specifically the day we summit this massive mountain. You may have also heard that one member of our team is carrying a hula hoop up the mountain. After a little research project from our followers, we learned that if our team member is successful in hula hooping for 30 seconds on the summit, they will break the record for the highest hula hooping. The current record is on Kilimanjaro at 19,300'.  Stayed tuned.

RMI Climber Mary-Beth

After several days of training and ascending to Camp Schurman, the Expedition Skills Seminar June 17 - 22 led by RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier on Tuesday.  The team enjoyed good weather and route conditions.  After reaching the summit they returned to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.  The team will descend to the trail head and return to Rainier BaseCamp on Wednesday afternoon.

Congratulations to the Emmons Seminar team!

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 10:17 pm PT

Today we moved camp from 7,800' to 11,200'. The weather has been in our favor, and we are right on schedule. This move was a big effort. We gained 3,400 vertical feet over about 3.5 miles with backpacks and sleds in 5.5 hours. Steve’s hula-hoop proved to be a challenge in the 6 inches of fresh snow we got overnight as it acted like a West Virginia earth mover until he put it were it belonged - around his waist. Over the last 1,000', we encountered the rare Type 2.9 fun but RMI Guides Andy, Grayson and Ben kept us moving and motivated. Andy only threatened to turn the car around once. One of the benefits of later season trips is moving into tent platforms and toilet facilities that were already built by teams ahead of us on the mountain. So, like stinky cuckoos, we rolled into 11,200' Camp and got set up quickly. Huge amounts of carbs and electrolytes were consumed. Then we napped. And napped some more.

Tonight we dine in a proper posh. Bacon Mac & Cheese is the main course followed by sleeves of Oreos and mini Snickers bars. Everybody is happy and healthy and the weather is lining up. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

For the comments, what do you call a huge pile of cats?

-Hyde

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 8:39 pm PT

Hello all,

Well today is a low reporting day. It was a rest day. We rested. We ate. We napped. We reviewed skills. And we ate dinner. Rest days can be hard. Hard to not think about home. Hard to not think about the summit, on whether you have what it takes or not. Just hard to not get inside your head too much. That's where napping comes into play. One can simply dream of something else. These rest days are important though for our bodies to recover. Recover so we can have a good carry day and later a good move and summit. Tomorrow, as long as the weather holds, we will carry our gear higher so that we are in position to move to High Camp. Snow flurries have danced all day, so hopefully they take a rest from their twirling, dancing fall from the sky and allow us to have a good day.

Talk tomorrow,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and Team

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 7:37 pm PT

Final Dispatch! Final Jeopardy! 

The sound of Lisa the Basecamp Manager waking us up by saying “Planes are coming!” 

What is the greatest sound in the world?

Correct!

The team has never packed up camp so quickly. Too quickly it ended up because we played hurry up and wait for about three hours before our ticket to town arrived. It was worth the wait for hot showers, running water and flushing toilets. 

So to end our adventure together dear reader, here is a group photo of the team.

Thanks for following along!

RMI Guide Jak Delaney

Monday, June 20, 2022 - 8:39 a.m. PDT

So we did it, well almost. We’re right back where we began our journey but this time we are stuck here. I’m of course talking about Kahiltna International Airport. How did this happen? Let’s start at the beginning of our day.

BEEP BEEP BEEP. The 1:00 a.mm alarm goes off, the guides rub the sleep / snow out of their eyes. Oh wait, did you say snow? Yes, yes I did because the guides decided to roll the dice and open bivy instead of set up a tent for our “last” night out. Anyways not a big deal, snow brushes off and sleeping bags dry eventually.

The rest of the team quickly rallied and broke down camp and we headed out on the mushy trail. Slightly less mushy though thanks to a slight refreeze from the night. Thank goodness for that because we crossed a lot of snow bridges over crevasses. The walking was easy and the team was traveling well, until Heartbreak Hill, the final slope up to the airstrip. It’s just steep enough to be terrible and just shallow enough grade to last for what feels like forever.

Finally, finally we made it to the airstrip. Our time to get back to civilization was here! Except not, because we didn’t fly out. Now here’s how we got stuck. Clouds. Clouds everywhere. First clouds at the airstrip prevented them from flying, then clouds in Talkeetna, then more clouds at the airstrip, then clouds both places.

So as I write this we’ve missed our window for flying out today and await patiently for a break in the weather tomorrow. Let’s hope the next dispatch is a picture of us clinking glasses and celebrating in Talkeetna!

To be continued….

RMI Guides Avery Parrinello, Jack Delaney, Liam Weed and the team

The Five Day Climb June 16 - 20 enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain and view from Muir Peak.  Route conditions prevented the teams from going above Camp Muir today.  The teams began their descent from Camp Muir around 9 am in the sunshine with a cloud deck below them around 7,000'.  All climbers will return to Rainier BaseCamp early this afternoon.

Sunday, June 19, 2022 - 11:29 p.m. PDT

We got a lot done today! Lots and lots of work to get gear checked and ready for loading on airplanes, but it was the kind of labor that -- when you get it behind you -- makes you realize that fun is just about to start. It was rainy and drizzling in Talkeetna today, and there wasn’t any airplane traffic to and from Kahiltna Base Camp. The pilots we spoke to said it was only their fourth “down day” of the season -- which is a pretty remarkable testament to the good and stable weather that climbers have enjoyed. 

We got started with a fine breakfast “meeting” at the hotel, introducing ourselves to one another. But then we moved out to the hangar to give gear checks and get sorted. We received our briefing from the National Park Service and caught up with current events on the mountain. Finally we weighed and labeled all the loads and with everything ready to go we quit for the day and had a nice relaxing outdoor dinner at the brewery in town.

Forecasts suggest we’ll get lucky in the morning. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn and team