The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Seth and Solveig Waterfall were unable to reach the summit today due to route conditions. The teams reached 12,700' before deciding to turn back. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing down to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the RMI Mt. Elbrus July 11th team reached the summit of Mt.Elbrus, Europe's highest peak on July 20th. The team had a great day and will check in again when they are back at camp.
Congratulations to the team!
After a great day of climbing yesterday, we had high hopes for a summit push today. Unfortunately, the mountain had other plans and the weather kept us in our tents all day as it has been consistently raining and windy. Things are seeming to ease up a bit this evening, and the forecast shows an improving trend. We'll see how the situation progresses, but right now we are hoping to go for the top early tomorrow morning.
Either way, we'll be climbing back down through the Fisher Chimneys tomorrow and headed back to the trailhead. Hopefully we'll get a chance to climb up before we climb back down.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Good afternoon from Alpamayo Base Camp. We are checking in from our rest day. We had an uneventful day today, just took our time to eat and drink, and rehydrate. And we witnessed a little bit of rain and light snow with hail today -- the first one of the trip. But the weather hasn't been very bad. It's just been normal Andean weather. We don't have much to share today. We're just excited to head up tomorrow to Camp 1, and other than the sighting of the birth of baby sheep that happened right here at base camp, nothing major today. So again we are just so excited to get packed tomorrow morning and head up to Camp 1, from where we will be checking in tomorrow. And so we are letting you know that the next day we are going up to Camp 1. That's it for now. We'll check again later. Bye.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos checks in from Alpamayo Base Camp.
Not that we needed it, but yesterday's thunderstorms with hail, lighting, and strong winds only confirmed we'd made the right call to delay by one day. By morning today the clouds had blown off and the sun was back out but you could still see the wind up high blowing strong. Rather than rest all day again, we went for a nice hike after breakfast to stretch the legs and exercise the lungs a bit. Being a Saturday there were dozens of snowcats full of people and endless snowmobiles flying past as we hiked.
After our hike we enjoyed another nice meal cooked by Albina and then sat together to discuss our upcoming climb. We have gone over all the details and are already packed up ready for morning. Our plan will be to wake up around midnight, have breakfast at 12:30 and hopefully be riding our snowcat by 1:30. The snow cat will drop us off basically where we ended our highest acclimatization hike two days ago. From there it should takes us about 6-8 hours to reach the summit of Mt. Elbrus if all goes according to plan. The forecast looks better than yesterday's and the team is very ready for the climb.
We'll do our best to call from the summit, and will undoubtedly check in when we return.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
It is 10 am Seattle time so by now you have reached the top and come back down with lots of stories and good thoughts. Kevin are you keeping a journal for a great book? Love to all Mom and Granny
Posted by: Cornelia Granny on 7/20/2014 at 9:49 am
By now you must be climbing, or maybe already there. So glad the weather broke for you, and looking forward to many good pictures. Be safe—MA
The Four Day Summit Climbs led by RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Lindsay Fixmer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams experienced very high winds upon approaching the crater rim. The team enjoyed some time on top before starting their descent around 7 am. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing down to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
We had a great day of climbing today on Mt. Shuksan. We started at the Lake Ann trail head (4700') and climbed up through the Fisher Chimneys, which consisted of a couple thousand feet of 3rd and 4th class rock climbing. The weather and climbing conditions were perfect for us, and we climbed at a leisurely pace, making it to high camp in a little over 6 hours. Our spectacular camp is at just below 7000', on a rock ridge nestled in between the Upper Curtis Glacier and the White Salmon Glacier. We've got views southwest to Mt. Baker and north into Canada; it is truly a stunning alpine setting.
We're hoping the weather cooperates with us (the forecast is calling for some rain) and let's us climb to the summit tomorrow. We'll be in touch tomorrow to let you know how it goes.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Hello, this is the Alpamayo climbing team. We are calling from Base Camp. We had a really nice day. We went up to Camp 1, also known as Moraine Camp, to do a carry. We climbed about 600 meters of elevation, some 2,000 feet. We dropped off the gear, set up camp, and we came down. We’re now relaxing here. It’s about 1:30 local time. And we’re going to have another awesome meal prepared by our own cook, Emilio. The plan for the remainder of the day is to rest, and we will do that tomorrow, as well – a rest day before we start moving up. That’s pretty much it for now. Kensie, Parker, Tony, and Pete are doing great, and we are psyched! That’s all for now. ElÃas speaking here. We’ll keep you posted on our next moves tomorrow. Hope everyone’s doing well back home.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
Elias de Andres Martos called in from Moraine Camp.
Wishing you a great climb with views that define breath taking and air that feels good to breathe deeply. Hope you all continue to feeling good as ur elevation increases. And that your weather behaves nicely through out your ascent. Happy for each step that brings you closer to the summit. And then again back down. Stay safe!
Today the team got up a little early to make use of the firm snow to practice using our crampons, and we revisited how to self-arrest also. After our morning session we enjoyed breakfast and then relaxed near camp till lunch. The weather has slowly been changing here and shortly after lunch we decided to postpone our climb by one day as the forecast is showing a slight improvement for tomorrow evening. So that means another day of rest tomorrow!
Not much new to report here, but everyone is doing well and we have our fingers crossed that the weather improves enough to allow for some amazing views.
We'll check in again tomorrow before our big climb!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Am sure you are anxious to start the climb but glad you can wait a day to get better weather. Prayers and good thoughts for you all Love Mom and Granny
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise led by RMI Guide Mike Haugen reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team spent several nights on the mountain training for their summit attempt on Rainier and gaining knowledge and experience for future climbs. Today is the sixth and final day of this program putting their new skills to use.
RMI Guide Tyler Reid led the Four Day Summit Climb to the summit this morning. As of 7:30 am both teams were at the top of Disappointment Cleaver on their descent. It's a bluebird day on Mt. Rainier, clear skies and warm temperatures. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing both teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's climbing teams!
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Yayyyyyy!
Posted by: Tamara on 7/20/2014 at 6:21 pm
Congratulations Bill! Looking forward to hearing your stories about this latest adventure. Love, Gerry & Sharon
Posted by: Gerald Hill on 7/20/2014 at 8:48 am
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