Long-time RMI Guide, Alex Van Steen, visited a local second grade classroom at Columbia Crest STEM School as part of RMI’s Community Outreach program. STEM schools, a relatively new concept in Washington State, have a distinct emphasis on hands-on learning and the integration of science, technology, engineering and math into student lessons. RMI has partnered with Columbia Crest STEM to bring our mountaineering experiences right into the classroom. With Alex, the second graders studied the essential question, “What causes a volcano to erupt?” Students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and learned ways to explain and create their own shield, composite, cinder cone and caldera volcanoes!
RMI Guide Alex Van Steen
Our last night in base was made dramatic by a lightning storm rolling through. A few inches of snow fell thick and fast, making morning, bright, fresh and beautiful. At 11:15 AM we filed out of the ghost town that Mount Everest Basecamp has become. The climbing team, accompanied by Lam Babu, made good time in losing three and a half thousand feet to reach Pheriche in four hours and forty-five minutes. We each paid Everest's summit a couple of last longing looks during the march, but then paid more attention to the task at hand; walking an uneven, slippery mountain trail while dodging trekkers, yaks and porters. The gang stuck together wonderfully, demonstrating what a close knit and fit climbing team we've become. With each village on the descent, through Gorak Shep, Lobuche and Thukla, we each noticed the thicker and easier air. We coughed less and walked faster. All enjoyed seeing the baby yaks trying out their legs on our homestretch into Pheriche. Tonight, we are indoors again... safe, enjoying each other's company, and quite comfortable. We hope things are going well for Mark Tucker and the bulk of our Sherpa Team, back at EBC for a last couple of days to button things up properly.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
What a pitiful attitude Bob has!! Wishing your team a safe journey back home. That is very admirable for Mark to have stayed back with the Sherpa team! Again it says a lot about the quality of a team you all are!! God Bless each and everyone of you!!!!! Tammy
Posted by: Tammy Doppenberg on 4/26/2014 at 4:47 pm
Oh Spen,
Tuesday’s not gone. There’s a lifetime of Tuesdays left for you. That mountain is not going anywhere. You’re young and strong and we got your back. Love you, Weasel,
Momma
We began the day with hope that we might be getting closer to resuming climbing. Billy and JJ took the climbers hiking while Mark Tucker and I met with a number of other climb leaders and Sherpa sirdars. Those meetings convinced us that the right course was to give up on Mount Everest for Spring 2014. In future dispatches, we'll try to quantify the reasons for such a decision. But for now, suffice to say that the risks outweigh the possibility of success.
This week has been a roller coaster of emotion for many of us, from the horror that came with the avalanche of April 18, to the confusion that followed it regarding the right course to take for balancing respect for the dead, concern for team safety and summit ambitions. Following the accident, our list of serious obstacles to an Everest summit was always significant, but we believed it worthwhile to continue looking for some way forward. Our climbers, Sherpas, guides, and outfitters had put too much into the planning and execution of this trip to let go of the goal with less than our best effort. We've given that now.
We'll start heading for home soon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI guides make great decisions. Dave, Billy, JJ. This is why I’ve climbed a number of summits with RMI—you literally are trusting them with your life to make good decisions.
While I’m sure this was an extremely difficult decision, I believe it was the right one. Sometimes you have to listen to what the mountain (and circumstances) are telling you.
Safe travels home.
Posted by: Dan on 4/25/2014 at 7:38 am
So sorry for the loss and for the tough situation it put you all. I’m glad you are safe and coming home. JJ—you’ll have many, many more climbs….
Posted by: Randy Christofferson on 4/25/2014 at 5:23 am
The skies were sunny with warm temperatures today at Everest Base Camp. Our climbers took a few short hikes around the lower glacier and then a bit of cards and board games to keep our minds busy. There is community gathering for a remembrance scheduled for tomorrow.
RMI Guide & Base Camp Manager Mark Tucker
Nicole Lobiondo: Hope you are okay during this tough time. My Dad and I took our Walk in Long Branch and drove by your house. All looks good! Mufasa must be a good guard cat if he is there! Thinking of you and the team and wishing you all positive thoughts for what lies ahead. XOXO, Nicole
Thank you for your calls, inquires and support regarding the tragedy on Mt. Everest last week.
If you would like to make a donation to be used to help the families who lost loved ones in the avalanche and those who were injured, you can do so through the American Alpine Club - Sherpa Support Fund.
Thank you,
The RMI Expeditions Team
Nicole Lobiondo: Hope your trip is a once in a life-time event. The Kenny’s wish you a safe trip home and are praying for your safe return. I am sure you are taking lots of photo’s.Love Terry Kenny, Adriana and Gabby
Posted by: Terry Kenny on 4/23/2014 at 8:55 am
Nicole Lobiondo: Thinking of you all during this time. Stay safe and positive. Love, Nicole
How do you utilize rest breaks in your training and climbs? Do you take a break to eat? And another when you are thirsty? Perhaps when your legs get tired and uncomfortable? A quick bathroom break on the side of the trail? It's important to take care of all of these needs but they need to approached strategically to prevent rest breaks from turning an otherwise long endeavor into an epic. Learning to manage your rest breaks and keep them efficient makes a big difference on summit day.
At RMI, the oft-used cliché is that we take "maintenance breaks," not rest breaks. Consider all of the needs that need to be taken care of mid-climb: you need to relieve yourself, take in enough calories to maintain your energy output, hydrate, adjust your clothing layers to changing conditions, perhaps take care of a hot spot so that it doesn’t become a debilitating blister, get a few minutes off of your feet, and just maybe snap a couple of photos. This list can easily turn into a half an hour of tasks, even if each only took just 4-5 minutes to accomplish. After thirty minutes your legs will likely start to stiffen and your temperature start to drop, not to mention that a few half-hour breaks together can turn a 10 hour day into a 12+ hour day in the mountains, stretching the limits of how long we can climb safely and maintain our focus.
The moral of the story is that efficiency is key: we want to try to take care of all of our needs in the span of ten minutes to leave a few minutes to relax before getting back on the trail and making progress towards the finish line. Ultra marathoners do this with "walking breaks," slowing to a walk every hour to make sure that their body is primed for the next hour. Mountainous terrain doesn’t let us take breaks on the fly, but the principle remains the same. Taking short, deliberate, and consistent breaks keeps us climbing strongly throughout the day. Making rest breaks efficient takes practice. Learn to multitask in your breaks: take a couple bites of food while you shuffle clothing layers, relieve yourself before you sit down to start your other chores, and sip on water throughout the break. As you get better at it, you’ll find that you’ve taken care of everything in the first few minutes, and you can relax and let your legs get a bit of recovery for the rest of the break.
No matter how efficient you are, the time rest breaks take add up. Taking efficient breaks too frequently can drain just as much time as taking a couple of long breaks. In the mountains, we try to maintain a consistent pace for an hour or so before stopping for ten to fifteen minutes to refuel and take care of ourselves. This proves to be an effective interval for our bodies in terms of replenishing depleted stores yet still allows us to reach our destination. Practice this interval in your training too and by your next climb it will feel like second nature.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
Still at Everest Base. Still a very difficult situation for all involved.
JJ and Billy led the climbing team on a hike to Pumori Camp One today, where they enjoyed awesome views of Mount Everest (during our hike to the same point last week we had no views due to an ill-timed and swirling snowstorm). Mark Tucker and I attended a series of somewhat tense and serious meetings between team leaders, Sherpas, and the few government representatives present in camp. It is very difficult to say what will happen going forward but one cannot under emphasize the enormity of the tragedy to the Sherpa community. Each team, if it has not suffered death and loss directly, has lost relatives, close friends and neighbors to the icefall avalanche of April 18. In too many cases, survivors saw the friends perish before their eyes or else they dealt with the difficult aftermath of body recovery personally.
Our Sherpa partners love their jobs and love to climb, but nobody is climbing now and all are struggling to come to terms with how to proceed in a way that honors those lost and protects those left alive.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
My thoughts are with all affected by the tragedy. I can only imagine the impact it has had on you all personally. I have no doubt that you, JJ, and all the team members will make the right decision, whether that means retreating or pressing on to the summit, that most honors those lost and respects the memory and wishes of the Sherpa community. Stay strong and climb safe.
Hello, this is the Dhaulagiri climbing team on Sunday, the 20th. First of all we want to apologize for the lack of communication, but we're having serious problems with our SAT phone and charger and we are trying to solve that problem. We are also saddened by the news that arrived to base camp here of the tragedy on Everest. We want to send our condolences to the community of the Sherpa involved in this tragedy. Our progress here on the mountain continues. We have been able to reach almost Camp 2. We have been very unlucky with the weather. Until right now we have been the only team on the mountain, but we were able to make a carry to almost Camp 2 and spend a few nights at Camp 1. Right now the weather looks like it is favorable to us and we are hoping to take a few days of rest and make some more progress up high, hopefully getting to Camp 2 or 3 in the next week or so. Getting ready for a future summit push around the beginning of May. So we'll keep you posted on that and we hope everybody is doing well. We'll try to keep you posted as much as we can with the limited communications that we have here. Regards to all from Dhaulagiri Base Camp.
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos calls in from Dhaulagiri Base Camp.
Hey this is Dave Hahn calling from Everest Base Camp. Today was another difficult day dealing with the tragedies from yesterday. The team members stayed in Base Camp today, it was cloudy, a little snowy, a little cold. Three of our Sherpa team, Tshering, Lam Babu and Pemba helicoptered up, with others, to the accident site to continue the difficult and dangerous work that some of us were engaged in yesterday of well, body retrieval at this point. There are still three missing, is my understanding, and they were not able to find those three. But they did a great job in going up and working hard and trying to make a difference and we are very proud of them.
The team is well, obviously, it is a difficult situation, everything is somewhat in limbo. There is word of a number of teams that are pulling the plug and are not going to climb. But we will see how these next couple of days play out. I told my climbers to be ready for anything.
We will keep you informed.
Bye now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn checks in from Everest Base Camp.
Good day, I learnt about the tragedy few days ago. Even though I have never been to Nepal, I have always interest in the Everest. Please stay strong. My thoughts and prayers with the sherpas and their families.
RMI Guides Brent Okita, Zeb Blais and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Winter Team finished up a great week of training. The team has started their descent and will be back at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations Team!
If you would like to make a donation to be used to help the families who lost loved ones in the avalanche and those who were injured, you can do so through the American Alpine Club - Sherpa Support Fund.
Thank you,
The RMI Expeditions Team
What a pitiful attitude Bob has!! Wishing your team a safe journey back home. That is very admirable for Mark to have stayed back with the Sherpa team! Again it says a lot about the quality of a team you all are!! God Bless each and everyone of you!!!!! Tammy
Posted by: Tammy Doppenberg on 4/26/2014 at 4:47 pm
Oh Spen,
Tuesday’s not gone. There’s a lifetime of Tuesdays left for you. That mountain is not going anywhere. You’re young and strong and we got your back. Love you, Weasel,
Momma
Posted by: jan pipkin on 4/25/2014 at 1:46 pm
View All Comments