RMI Expeditions Blog

Well, yesterday the first climb of the season had to grit its teeth in high winds and low visibility. Low and behold, the team did great making it up to Camp Muir at 10,000 feet. Today the teams woke up to gorgeous weather and a view stretching well into Oregon. We will rest, relax and go for a little walk uphill to do some photo taking. The plan then will be to get ready for our summit tomorrow. RMI Guides JJ Justman & Brent Okita

Yesterday we all met at the Anchorage Airport, drove to Wasilla and bought some food before reaching our final destination of the day, Talkeetna. Once we arrived and settled in, the group had the opportunity to check out Talkeetna and enjoy their great food. Today we have a super busy day ahead of us. Breakfast, check in with the National Park Service, pack our gear, and if weather permits, fly onto the Kahiltna Glacier and set up camp. Sounds simple but believe me it is a lot! We are all very excited for the flight to the glacier. In my opinion, it is one of the many highlights of climbing in the Alaska Range. We will be checking in later on. All best, RMI Guide Andres Marin and the Alaska Expedition Seminar

On The Map

Hello again from the 11k camp on Denali! We decided to take another day to rest and acclimate to the altitude. We spent most of the day lounging around, reading, listening music, napping, and telling lies, all the while getting stronger for our forays up higher. The weather was cloudy, cooler, and windier today, and a trace of snow fell overnight. But as I lie in my sleeping bag typing this dispatch, a cloudless sky sits above us. We're hoping for good weather tomorrow so we can carry supplies up to around 13,600'. We'll stay in touch. RMI Guide Mike Walter & team

We took advantage of a beautiful morning for a day of tough competition around the horseshoe pit. After some close games, lots of fun and prizes for all, we awarded our winners. Congratulations to Dave & Pranav - our 2013 RMI Expeditions Horseshoe Tournament Winners! We also played an inter camp Sherpa Tourney which was won by Jeta. Thanks to all the participants for a fun day of friendly competition. There were a few more teams that reached the summit of Mt. Everest today. The weather is still a bit unpredictable but a few strong and smart teams have reached the top. There are many teams leaving from Base Camp today and heading to higher camps. This will put them in position for their summit bids later this week. We are sitting tight at Base Camp for a bit longer as the weather forecasts are showing some heavy snow arriving soon. We are continuing to watch the weather patterns and predictions and will move up hill when the timing looks good for us. As the afternoon clouds rolled in the snow began to fall at Base Camp. We will keep you posted. Cheers, RMI Guide & Everest Base Camp Manager Mark Tucker

On The Map

EXPEDITION PHASE: PULSE CHECK As we discussed in the summary of the last week, you really can’t build any more fitness between now and the climb. The other side of that point is there really is the potential to squander the benefits you’ve worked for by doing too much in the coming weeks and arriving to the climb thoroughly exhausted. You’ll note that there is no crux workout this week. For some people, the crux of the week is managing the reduced amount of effort and intensity. In a very similar way to being stuck on a mountain waiting for a storm to pass, this week may test your patience, but you have to recognize that to overdo it now would be akin to stepping out into the storm. There is just no point. Roughly speaking, the training intensity and volume are reduced by 50%. Some ways to manage the additional downtime can be reviewing your gear, reading about the climb, watching a movie or catching up with friends and family. The last few weeks have been busy and your climb is coming up at the end of next week. It’s time to relax. Given that your climb is coming up very soon, this week’s and next week’s preparation really blend into each other. As you look ahead at your schedule for the next ten days, bear in mind that it’s perfectly fine to juggle around the days to suit your needs. Another important thing to bear in mind is that it’s certainly okay to skip training days. The goal from now onwards is rest and preparation. Week 16 is the week all the training has been leading up to. Most people are going to be a little nervous. If your nerves are getting the best of you, now is a good time to start actively practicing relaxation and anxiety management skills. My frank observation is that no matter what concerns or doubts come up between the start and the end of this week, the right thing to do in almost every case is to relax and focus on the next hour. You will need all of your energy to climb this mountain and you should feel confident that the training you have will afford you the opportunity to reach the summit of Mount Rainier. There are, however, many things that cannot be controlled, weather and snow conditions being the biggest factors. It is easy to worry about both of these things, but I can promise you as a guide I learned not to worry about those things until the time is actually right. The determination of whether to continue or turn back is always a calculated decision made in the moment, and this is one of the fascinations of the challenge. A climbing team can have a hundred percent perfect weather forecast and if there's a slight air pressure change two hours from the summit, this can result in white-out conditions and winds so high that turning around is the only reasonable option. It is also true that many successful climbs start out in poor visibility and inclement weather which dissipates as the team climbs higher. No one knows what the conditions will be like on your summit day and this is why the gear list contains clothing and equipment for all conditions. What you can count on is the knowledge that no matter how many times your guide has walked out of Camp Muir in the middle of the night, she or he does not forget what it was it is like the first time. Try and suspend thinking about what is happening above the clouds; I say this with absolute assurance, you will be supported by a world-class guide team. On this note, many people report that the experience of being part of a team is one of the most memorable aspects of the climb. Being connected by carabiners and a thin nylon rope is certainly a bonding experience. The famous French guide and writer Gaston Rébuffat often spoke of the "Brotherhood of the Rope" to symbolize the connectedness of everyone on the team. It’s an amazing experience to share the mountains with like-minded climbers! If at the end of next week, you stand on the summit of Mount Rainier, it will be because you put one foot in front of the other, over and over again, and met the challenge of climbing 9,000’ from the alpine meadows of Rainier’s foot to the glacier capped summit. Along the way, you will find synchronicity with your teammates. You will boost them when they are tired and they will do the same for you. Fit to Climb: Week 15 Schedule

DAY	WORKOUT	TOTAL TIME	DIFFICULTY
1	Rainier Dozen / Easy Hiking ( 30 min)	42 min.	Medium
2	Rainier Dozen / Stair Interval Training (60 min)	72 min.	Hard
3	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
4	Rainier Dozen / Stair Interval Training (60 min)	72 min.	Hard
5	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
6	Equipment and Food Preparation Day	-	-
7	Hike (4 hrs)	240 min.	Medium
	Total	7 hrs 30 mins.

BRIEFING This week you scale back the volume all of your training sessions and switch back to the easier stair training at a consistent pace. You’ll still do a hike this week, but it will be only 4 hours. After the last week, this should be a walk in the park! Take an extra day of rest from physical exertion on Day 6, but you spend that time in the valuable activity of checking all your gear and making a list of all the food you’ll need for next the climb at the end of the next week. DESCRIPTIONS OF WORKOUTS Day 1: Rainier Dozen + Easy Hiking (30 Minutes) Today’s hike is a recovery workout and you can always substitute it with a different activity, such as running, biking or swimming. The important thing is to move at a moderate pace for 30 to 45 minutes. The pace can be conversational and you do not need to be dripping with sweat at the end of the workout. Day 2: Rainier Dozen + Stair Interval Training (60 Minutes) Warm up for about 10 minutes, and then climb up and down a set of stairs at a consistent pace for about 50 to 60 minutes. Cool down with some stretching. Day 3: Rainier Dozen / Rest Begin your day with the Rainier Dozen. Feel free to take another 30 to 60 minutes of light exercise if you feel like it (a brisk walk is a great option). If you feel tired, today is a good opportunity be good to take a complete rest day instead. Listen to your body. Day 4: Rainier Dozen + Stair Interval Training (60 Minutes) Warm up for about 10 minutes, and then climb up and down a set of stairs at a consistent pace for about 50 to 60 minutes. Cool down with some stretching.. Day 5: Rainier Dozen / Rest Begin your day with the Rainier Dozen. Feel free to take another 30 to 60 minutes of light exercise if you feel like it (a brisk walk is a great option). If you feel tired, today is a good opportunity be good to take a complete rest day instead. Listen to your body. Day 6: Equipment and Food Preparation Day If you already have all your gear ready, just use this as a rest day. Otherwise, using the lists provided by your guiding service, make sure to go through all your gear and to ensure that you have everything that you need and that everything is in clean and proper functional condition. Make sure to practice packing all this gear into your backpack so that you know how to easily get everything to fit correctly. Day 7: Hike (4 Hours) This is your last substantive hike before heading up the mountain. All you’re aiming to do with this hike is to maintain the level of fitness you’ve worked so hard for over the last sixteen weeks. As always, after warming up, hike at an even pace for six to eight miles, or four hours, and bring the proper amount of gear and food to keep you safe and comfortable. SUMMARY By this time a week from now, you’ll be at Camp Muir, just one day shy of your summit climb. For now, get plenty of rest, pay attention to nutrition, and know that you are ready. - John Colver Have a question? See the Fit To Climb FAQ for explanations of specific exercises and general pointers to help you through the Fit To Climb Program. John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle, and is working on his second book, Fit to Climb - a 16 week Mount Rainier Fitness Program.

We got a good night's sleep last night, and even slept in until the sun warmed our tents. Then we indulged in a hearty brunch of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and plenty of coffee. We took a much needed rest day today, and enjoyed lounging around in the sun. We also did some work, like building walls around our camp and improving our kitchen area, as well as preparing our equipment for our cache tomorrow. Barring poor weather, we will carry supplies up to around 13,600' and then return to our camp for the night. Tomorrow will bring a much anticipated change, as we trade our snowshoes and trekking poles for crampons and ice axe. Motorcycle Hill, right out of camp will provide the first of many challenges tomorrow, we'll let you know how it all plays out. Cheers, RMI Guide Mike Walter

On The Map

Well, the summit buzz is starting here at Everest Base Camp. A few teams had planned on heading up this morning but a pulse of snow in the early morning hours shut most of them down. Everyone has been milling about camp trying to piece together what the other teams are doing. It's all pretty exciting. The main focus for everyone is on the weather forecast. There is a tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal and that could mean a lot of snow if it comes our way. Everyone is hoping that it dissipates over the next several days of course. As for us we're not rushing up the mountain just yet. We're still healing up a bit and being in the first big wave if summiteers was never in our plan. Better for us to hang back a few days, wait for a solid forecast and hopefully get the summit without a big crowd. So its at least a few more days of Base Camp life for us. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

We've been enjoying good weather on the Kahiltna Glacier, and today was no different. After a trace of new snow overnight, we awoke to partly sunny skies. A breakfast of smoked salmon with bagels and cream cheese started off our day. After breakfast, we packed up camp and began the climb up towards Kahiltna Pass, en route to the 11k camp. We're taking advantage of the good weather and making good progress so far. Tomorrow we'll sleep in and take a rest day and prepare a cache of supplies to carry up around Windy Corner. We'll keep you posted on our next move. Until then, we'll be resting...we've earned it. Mike & team

On The Map

RMI's guides would like to recognize the special women behind the scenes at RMI Expeditions. Autumn, Sarah, Lacey, Melissa, and Bridget are our office support system, ensuring that all of our trips run seamlessly. Thank you for your hard work, reliability, and flexibility. Your contributions to RMI are appreciated and recognized by all of us. Other special mothers on staff include our shuttle drivers, Mara, Jennifer, and Lola! We could not be more grateful for your enthusiasm, support, and for your treats on warm summer days! Finally, a special thank you to our mothers. Thank you for continually supporting our passion for exploring the mountains. From Everest to Ashford, we wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day.  - The RMI Guides

Another quiet but interesting day at Basecamp. Everything seems a little different now with the news that climbers made the top yesterday... And indeed, a few more went there today if the radio grapevine is correct. The mountain is not impossible. But we do hope those most recent summit climbers got down fast, since by late afternoon we've experienced a thunderstorm and a few inches of quick new snow. And that roar is back... The one that sounds like Niagara Falls as a ribbon of the jet stream does battle with the parts of these mountains that dare to stand out and in the way. We are all watching weather and weather forecasts now and there is plenty of interest in the calendar. Many climbers are still down-valley taking a vacation, but they are starting to trickle back by helicopter and by foot with summit dates in mind. Some are packing bags and heading up in the next day or two. We are biding our time. Waiting out the cough. Hiking and exploring and playing games in camp. We'll have to pick summit departure days soon enough, but for now it just isn't right for our team. We get a little anxious to know that the route is open, but we also know that it wouldn't be a bad thing to let a few hundred other climbers have their way with it first. Things get a little warmer with each passing day in May and we hold out hope that calmer days materialize. And we cross our fingers that cyclone O1B -spinning menacingly down in the Bay of Bengal- fizzles out and finds a place to go that doesn't interfere with climbers... or with humanity in general. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn