RMI Expeditions Blog
The
Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by RMI Guides Ben Liken and Paul Rachele, turned just above Ingraham Flats this morning. A storm during the night dropped one to two feet of snow at Ingraham Flats, which also caused a high avalanche danger on the upper mountain.
The teams are safely off the mountain and enjoying some time here at Rainier Basecamp with their teammates.
May 12, 2017 - 10:49 pm PT
We rose early this morning to bitter cold temperatures and clear skies, with just a light breeze blowing through camp. Reluctantly we left the comfort of our sleeping bags and fired up the stoves. After a few hours we were fed, hydrated, and had camp broken down, and we were off climbing up
Motorcycle Hill. We were the first group out of camp by a long shot, so we had the mountain to ourselves.
After cresting Motorcycle Hill, we tackled our next challenge, Squirrel Hill. After Squirrel Hill, we had a little reprieve on the relatively flat Polo Fields. We climbed up and around Windy Corner, passed our cache site from yesterday, and continued into Genet Basin, the 14,200' camp.
It was a hard day with heavy packs, but everyone climbed hard. We arrived in camp with plenty of time to build camp in the sunshine and get some rest before dinner.
Tomorrow's plan will involve sleeping in before breakfast to let the sun warm our chilly tents. Then we will head back downhill to Windy Corner to retrieve our cache.
We'll check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 12, 2017 - 9:13 pm PT
Nice day here at 10,000' on the upper Kahiltna Glacier. The team slept in a bit after the hard day yesterday. We kitted up and waddled through a few feet of snow to the base of the ridge for some fixed line travel and snow science. A few of us kept our snow shoes on and put in a track up the ridge of
Kahiltna Dome for an eventual attempt early tomorrow if the weather holds. All is well here in Alaska. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!
RMI Guide Leon Davis
On The Map
All good on the
Alaska Mountaineering Seminar front! A cold and clear wake up had us briskly packing up camp and beginning the sun-baked hike up to the base of Kahiltna Pass at about 9,800', where we established our next camp. The way was smooth but hot, and we are rewarded with sweeping views of Mount Capps, Kahiltna Dome and the entire Kahiltna glacier. Some snow is faintly swirling through the air adding to the grandeur of our setting as we prep dinner. Tomorrow we look forward to an active rest day with a whole set of new mountain travel skills to take in.
RMI Guide Jessie Poquerusse & the team
The
Five Day Summit Climb May 8 - 12, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Chase Nelson led a small group of climbers to the summit via the Ingraham Direct route. Elias reported strong winds with clear skies with improving conditions and a nice day. After a windy first night at Camp Muir and poor weather yesterday, we are glad this team was able to make a summit attempt.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
May 11, 2017 - 11:07 pm PT
The weather was perfect and we took advantage of it by carrying heavy backpacks loaded with supplies to our cache at 13,700', on the far side of
Windy Corner. Climbing conditions were great and everyone did well. After burying our cache, we returned back to our camp at 11,200'. Hopefully tomorrow's weather will cooperate and we can bump camp up to 14,200'. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 10, 2017 - 9:12 pm PT
The forecast threatened an 80% chance of more snow but we woke to clear skies. This morning was busy with packing, digging and more packing for our
move to Camp 1. We hauled our sleds out onto the main Kahiltna under a hard sun and played leapfrog with a German team. By 5 pm we were cooking dinner outside in great weather. The team suffered under the hot globe with grace and we are going to do it again tomorrow to Camp 2.
RMI Guide Leon Davis
The snow has stopped and the storm has passed. We ended up getting 3-4 feet of snow. Today was beautiful with plenty of sunshine and light winds here at 11,200' Camp. We decided to take another rest day today to let the snow settle and reduce the avalanche hazard. We spent the day drying our gear and getting ready for our cache tomorrow. Tomorrow (weather permitting) we will carry supplies up around
Windy Corner and make a cache at around 13,700'. Or at least that's the plan. We'll keep you posted.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
May 9, 2017 10:19 pm
Today was action-packed as we rotated through a series of skills sessions. Sled rigging, avalanche awareness and practice beacon searches, and a more realistic and elaborate crevasse rescue scenario made for a
full day of mountain skills. About mid-day we even had the pleasure of clear skies for the first time in a couple days. Dinner burritos and fruit pie to top it off!
RMI Guide Jessie Poquerusse
On The Map
The first program of the 2017 Mt. Rainier season reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning!
RMI Guides Brent Okita and Solveig Waterfall led their Five Day Summit Climb teams from Camp Muir to the summit. Brent reported clear skies with windy conditions. Both teams began their descent shortly after 7 am. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to the
Five Day Summit Climb teams!
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Go go Mike + crew ~ Wish you great / safe climb…Best and Bless Waltero…Just back from Peru ~ Summit Rainbow Mtn / Vinicunca
Posted by: Waltero Glover on 5/14/2017 at 6:34 am
Well done - Thom Todd David and team. Following you all like a real stalker. Wishing you all the best.
Adelle
Sunny South Africa
Posted by: Adelle on 5/14/2017 at 5:17 am
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