Four rope teams on the Four Day Summit Climb June 29th - July 2nd tagged the top of Mount Rainier at 6:30 a.m. By 7:40 a.m., the teams were starting the traverse at the top of Disappointment Cleaver on their descent to Camp Muir.
The teams have beautiful, bluebird weather and moderate winds. Congratulations!
This is Dave Hahn calling from the last RMI trip on Mount McKinley this season. We are still at Basecamp. We got up again this morning at 1 AM and in fact, this time we got up and had breakfast. We were in clouds, but it didn't seem that bad. Before we were done with breakfast, it started snowing and we had to get back in the tents and it didn't stop snowing for another 5 or 6 hours, and stayed cloudy and inclement for hours after that so we weren't able to move today in a white out and wet conditions. But by afternoon it cleared it up. And this evening things are crystal clear blue sky above and we're really hoping that it freezes up good and solid tonight and then we'll be on our way. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
We woke up to howling winds, blowing snow, and cold temperatures. Not a good climbing day. We stayed in the tents most of the day and did some sport eating to make sure that we are energized for our summit bid when the weather clears. The sun finally came out and the winds died down in the afternoon. It turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon and evening. Keep your fingers crossed for us that the weather holds through tomorrow!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
We have been following your progress and think that you have been fortunate so far in the weather gods! Keep it up! Stay safe and we wish you great luck on your summit climb.
Posted by: Ruthann Rossiter on 7/2/2011 at 8:12 pm
After a long day moving from 11 Camp yesterday we took advantage of some excellent snow walls left for us by Mike Haugen and the RMI team ahead of us as we set up camp at 14 Camp. After a quick dinner we were soon sawing logs in the tents, a rest well deserved after the day. We had a relaxed agenda this morning, hanging out in the kitchen tent over breakfast as we waited for the sun to climb higher in the sky and warm up the basin where 14 Camp sits a bit. Around mid morning we grabbed our mostly empty packs and clipped into the ropes, heading back down the route to the cache of gear we left near Windy Corner at 13,600' back on Tuesday.
We made great time down there, retrieved everything from beneath the snow surface where we buried it, loaded our packs, and headed back up to camp. It was another perfect day for climbing, occasional clouds swirling up from below and obscuring the sun helped keep the temperatures moderate and I never got too hot on the climb back to camp.
We returned to the tents just after lunch and then spent a few hours training, rigging up our mechanical ascender systems and practicing how to safely use them on fixed ropes. This is in preparation for our next carry of gear to 16,200' which will bring us up the fixed lines that sit above 14 Camp. We hope to accomplish this in the next day or two, after which we will be able to turn our attention to moving to high camp at 17,200' and making a subsequent summit bid.
We will check in tomorrow and let you know if we are able to pull it off. Happy July 1st to everyone back home, we're pretty sure those backyard barbecues aren't nearly as exciting as our snow kitchen and camping stoves...!
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Hope all went well today and wishing you a happy 3rd of July. We’ll set off some fireworks for you guys. Did anyone remember a flag to fly on the 4th? Keep up the good work.
Posted by: John and Lorraine on 7/2/2011 at 6:13 pm
...snow kitchen and camping stoves? It beats playing “Bocce on the beach” , but we’ll be thinking of you!
Our Four Day climbs led by Brent Okita and Andres Marin stood on top of Columbia Crest at 7:20 am today. It was clear with winds at about 15 – 25 mph. It's a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest. The teams will enjoy amazing views on their descent.
Congratulations teams!
Hey RMI, this is Linden Mallory calling from 14,200' up on Denali. The team made it from 11 Camp to 14 Camp today. We woke up pretty early at 11 Camp and had a cloud deck right about at camp. Everything above us was clear and everything below us was socked in. So we packed up camp and it was pretty cool in the morning as we are on the shaded side of the mountain. Got everything thrown in the bags and started climbing and just had a spectacular day of climbing. Got above those clouds and stayed above them all day. It was a long day getting to 14,000'. We made it in by late afternoon, got settled and had a big dinner and crashed in the tents. The team is doing well. Everybody is healthy and we're all happy to be here.
The plan for tomorrow is to head back down to Windy Corner if we can and retrieve that cache we put in a couple days ago and then come back to 14 Camp. So it shouldn't be too big of a day. We'll try to check in tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Thanks.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
Good work! It’s great to hear that everyone is healthy and enjoying the trek. We are so glad to have your entries to follow
. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Lorraine on 7/1/2011 at 6:40 pm
So glad to hear you are all healthy! Lots of relatives are following you along your route…(via this blog). We are all learning a lot and joining in the excitement!
Posted by: Laurie Colaneri on 7/1/2011 at 12:18 pm
We are at high camp...17,000'! No more caches, carries, or moves. We are in position to go for the summit when the time is right. People finally started summitting yesterday after the weather no bueno that we had a few days ago. We are going to watch the weather and see what are gut tells us to do. We could go for it tomorrow if the weather is perfect AND we feel like it. We won't know until Elias and I wake up in the morning and rock, paper, scissors to see who has to stick our head out of the tent first. It tends to be a bit cold in the morning at 17,000' in Alaska.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
Hello, this is Dave Hahn checking in from 7,200' on Mt. McKinley.
Sure enough, we lucked out yesterday morning and flew onto the mountain first thing. By 10 AM, our K2 Aviation pilots, Randy and Tony, had the team unloading the big red ski-equipped Otters at 7200 ft on the Kahiltna Glacier. There was plenty to do for the duration of the day in establishing a camp and reviewing glacier travel techniques. We did take breaks from our labors in order to gaze up at the gargantuan flanks of the surrounding mountains. Denali itself even made a few appearances, shaking off low clouds from time to time and attempting to give us the big stare-down from long distance.
Our intention was to get to sleep early and to wake at 1 AM in the hopes of traveling through the heavily crevassed sections of the Kahiltna while the snow surface was frozen up solid. But due to low clouds rolling in, the surface never came close to freezing. In fact, throughout the night there were persistent rain and wet snow showers that convinced us to postpone our travel plans for a day. So today we are resting and casually sorting gear at basecamp. There is only one other team in base today, camped a few hundred feet away and presumably sharing our hopes for better weather tonight. We've got a mountain to climb.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Stay safe and warm. That mountain has no problem making you a permanent resident. Seem to be making good time though, I been in that area my self. Stunning!
The Four Day Summit Climb June 27th - 30th reached the summit of Mt. Rainer today. The teams were greeted with clear skies above 9500' and strong winds. RMI Guides Dan Windham and Tyler Jones and teams began their descent from the crater rim at 9:20am in route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams.
Hi, this is Mike Walter it’s 8 a.m. and we are standing on the top of Cotopaxi!
Beautiful day light breeze, great views of Antesana, Cayambe, Chimborazo, the Illinizas and all the mountains in Ecuador.
It's a beautiful day and I’ll give you a shout when we get back down.
See ya!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
RMI Guide Mike Walter checks in from the summit of Cotopaxi!
Hoping that third day lucky worked this time. Best to all as you move up thru the glacier. All well in my world Wayne, loving, Dinah
Posted by: Dinah Rogers on 7/2/2011 at 12:14 pm
Thanks for the update. One bright side in the delay is that everyone will be well rested.
Cheers to everyone on the team!!
~Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer McKnew on 7/2/2011 at 10:30 am
View All Comments