RMI Expeditions Blog

Update 5:27 p.m.: What a day! What a day! The team made it high up on the mountain and we finished the training with a Muir Peak rappel. After a full day it's time to relax, unwind and tell some stories! 8:33 a.m.: We made the summit!! Of Muir Peak. Yesterday the weather cleared and the team got out to play in the snow. While practicing cramponing we made the top of Muir Peak just above 10,000 feet. It is always a beautiful view looking down on the Mount Rainier glaciers below. Today we have another beautiful day to continue our expedition skills training. While we go through crevasse rescue, Brent and Katie are going to check out the conditions higher on the mountain. If all is good we will venture up the mountain later this afternoon. RMI Guide JJ Justman

Seth here at Everest Basecamp. It seems like the weather has fallen into a pattern of windy one day, calm the next. Yesterday we had high winds and a few inches of snow. Today when we awoke it was calm and sunny. We took to the glacier in the morning to practice crossing ladders in preparation for heading through the Khumbu Icefall. Crossing a ladder is definitely not the hardest thing we'll do on this trip but mentally it can be challenging to stand over a 100+ foot deep crevasse. That's why we practice down low before entering the Icefall. The practice session went well and now that we're comfortable with the component of tackling the Icefall, it shouldn't be more than a few days before we head up to Camp 1. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

The storm that seemed to be coming in yesterday afternoon got here. The morning wasn't actually all that bad. Just a bit breezy and overcast, but it was obvious that up high it was hitting a lot harder. For all of that, though, it didn't hold our team back. Lam Babu and the Sherpa team (Cherring, Kaji, Gyaljen, and Uberaj) were out in the dark, walking just after 4 AM bound for Camp One. The first carry went well and the boys established camp at close to 20,000 ft, reporting not much in the way of difficulties with the Khumbu Icefall (in truth though, our guys rarely report much in the way of difficulties). Not willing to be totally sedentary while the Sherpas were setting such a fine example, the rest of us set off on a hike to Pumori Camp One. We figure that camp sits at about 18,600 ft, so it is perfect for getting in a workout and getting a little time up high without exposing ourselves to hazard. We even got some great views of the black pyramid-top of Mount Everest fighting it out with monster storm clouds. The West Ridge was taking on its ten millionth storm, splitting wind and clouds with its jagged rock prow. As we got a bit higher, scrambling our way up a rocky trail, we were treated to views of both the North Col (23,000 ft in Tibet) and the South Col (26,000 ft in Nepal). We were able to see all the mountains we'd trekked through to get to Everest, and closer to home it was humbling to look at the giant hanging glaciers of Pumori and Nuptse, up close and personal. We didn't spend too long at Camp One, before dropping back down and joining the trekker traffic again on the main trail to Basecamp. We were well motivated by Chef Kumar's lunch scheduled for 1:30 PM. As we got in the tent for lunch, it began snowing outside and so we mostly just huddled up and slept, read and played games for the afternoon. Such is expedition life at the moment. We are getting stronger each day now... We hope. Several days ago a tragedy occurred as one of the "Icefall Doctors" suffered a crevasse fall and died close to Camp One on Everest. We were very much aware of this sad circumstance at the time, but chose not to break such news on the blog. Obviously it wasn't our news to break and we didn't want to get ahead of word reaching family and loved ones through proper channels. But it is time to acknowledge the loss of one devoted climber and of the selflessness of our own Sherpa team, who played a key role in the rescue effort. Chherring Dorje flew by helicopter to the scene and managed the retrieval while Lam Babu conducted things from the heli-pad at Everest Basecamp. Although there was a sad outcome, I was extremely proud that our partners were able to offer help to the Icefall Docs, whom we admire very much. This small team of about a half dozen men are hired by the National Park to establish and maintain the route through the Khumbu Icefall. It is physically demanding and dangerous work. The docs do an incredible job each year, and the same men come out year after year. They never boast or seek recognition... They aren't rewarded by being able to tag the summit and run up their "count" on the mountain, and they are paid modestly. Mingma was from the village of Dingboche and leaves a wife and several daughters. Of course many of us will try to help out with donations... Mingma was working on our behalf... but there is no getting around the reality: this dangerous work has once again taken the ultimate toll. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

With 80 mph winds and a blinding snowstorm at Camp Muir, it is a perfect day to conduct training inside. Our bunkhouse serves a cozy atmosphere in the storm allowing us to learn essential expedition skills. If we were in tents all we would be doing is hanging on! Our team is in great spirits and we are waiting out the storm until we venture outside. In the meantime, we're going to continue to sip coffee, lecture and do some rope work. Stay tuned! RMI Guide JJ Justman

The day begins with blue skies and cold temperatures. We are up and at 'em, with the stoves firing and the team sorting out the most important thing we will do today...breakfast! Our plan is to move up to Camp Muir at 10,000 feet. Will we make it? Stay tuned. RMI Guide JJ Justman

This morning, feeling rested, refreshed and blessed by our Puja... We set out for a "hike" in the lower reaches of the Khumbu Icefall. Each of us felt excited to finally be geared up and clawing our way over minor ice obstacles, not to mention stepping over crevasses once again. Seems like we've been on a lot of pretty trails lately, but today it was good to be climbing, even if for just a warm up. We went up about an hour, the consensus was that we'd reached close to 18,000 ft, but we stopped just before the "popcorn" section of the Icefall where the risk ramps up a bit. Back down to camp we came, stopping off for a cyber break, of course, in a safe place where we were finding the all-important 3G signal out of Gorak Shep for our smartphones. Lunch was perfect as usual, but the afternoon weather had us mostly hiding in tents, reading and napping. We can hear big wind above and the sky is now fully clouded and turbulent. Best regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We are in Mount Rainier National Park and on the mountain! The weather has been finicky this past week with a good accumulation of snow. So much snow that we were worried that the park wouldn't have the road to Paradise open. At 11 AM the park opened the gates and we made it up. With all the fresh snow it was slow going but the team trudged on and we are busy making camp...Denali style! We are definitely having the true feel of what the mountains can dish out. It's currently snowing hard and we are working fast on the kitchen and dining tent. I need a hot drink! RMI Guide JJ Justman

This day had auspicious written all over it. Our Sirdar Lam Babu consulted the Tibetan calendar and made a few calls. This was the day for our Puja ceremony. A lama was brought up from Pangboche and our Puja alter was made ready. Today was the day for the entire team to get together for a Buddhist ceremony asking the gods to look favorably on our expedition. The Pangboche lama was actually pretty busy as several other teams were similarly in need of blessing. The drums started beating and the cymbals started clashing for ours just after lunch on another big blue sky day. A number of Sherpas from neighboring teams joined us in our celebration. There were chants and prayers and various offerings of juniper smoke, food and drink. There were a number of things tossed into the sky and onto each other, principally rice and tsampa (barley flour) and a little chiang -a lightly fermented homemade rice wine with bits of orange. The climax of the ceremony begins with the Puja mast going up with strings of brightly colored prayer flags going out in all directions from it. Finally we all stand and toast each other, shake hands and ask each other to be careful on this climbing trip. The birds certainly enjoy the day as a whole flock of black Himalayan Chuffs (a little smaller than a crow) descend to get the spare offerings. We also enjoyed watching smaller sparrow and finch types joining in the festivities. Most retired to the tents for a post puja nap for the remainder of the afternoon. Tomorrow we will put the spikes on and go for a walk on the glacier. Slowly but surely, out bodies are catching up to this altitude and soon we'll be ready for some hard climbing. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Fit to Climb: Week 10 Schedule

DAY	WORKOUT	TOTAL TIME	DIFFICULTY
1	Rainier Dozen / Easy Hiking ( 30 min)	42 min.	Medium
2	1-2-3 Stair Workout x 3	90 min.	Very Hard
3	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
4	Rainier Dozen / High Intensity Stair Interval Training (50 min)	62 min.	Hard
5	Rainier Dozen / Rest	12 min.	Recovery
6	Rainier Dozen / Cross Training	60 min.	Medium
7	Hike (5 hrs, 15lbs of pack weight)	300 min.	Medium
	Total	9 hrs 38 mins

BRIEFING The weekend hike will be 5 hours and your Day 2 stair session will bump up from 60 to 90 minutes. Depending where you live, you may well be experiencing lighter evenings so this will be a chance to get outdoors, even at the end of the work day. In my estimation, nothing burns workday stress like a stair workout! Speaking of stair workouts, this week will see the introduction of a new variant of interval training: the 1-2-3 Stair workout. This workout will push you beyond your anaerobic threshold and help increase both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity in the long term. A detailed explanation is included below. The consistent pace stair training that you’ve been doing for the past several weeks moves to Day 4. 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: Stair Interval Training: The 1-2-3 Workout For your first stair workout of the week, you'll take on a new challenge. First, warm up with some moderate paced stair climbing. Then, your challenge is to do one burst of effort moderately hard, followed by a rest; then a second burst of effort very hard, followed by another rest; and then the third burst of effort where you'll make a close-to-maximal effort. In other words, you'll go from the bottom to the top of the stairs as quickly as you're able, or at least as fast as if you were being chased by a bear! This might end up looking like the following; • 2 minutes at 50-65% intensity, followed by 3 minutes of rest (1 minute standing, 2 minutes descending) • 2 minutes at 65-80% intensity, followed by 3 minutes of rest • 2 minutes at 85-90% intensity, followed by 3 minutes of rest For this week, repeat this cycle up to three times, depending on your level of fitness. If three times is too much too soon, fall back to some consistent pace stair climbing like you are used to, or stop at two sets and work your way up next week. This is a very demanding workout designed to mimic the physical stress that might be encountered on the mountain, so don’t be discouraged if takes a few weeks to work up to it! An additional note on safety: after charging up the stairs at 90% intensity your legs might be a little wobbly, so be extra careful not to trip while coming down the stairs. Most people will experience some discomfort at this intensity. Remember that all of these workouts are challenge-by-choice. Whenever training for mountaineering, I always try to bear in mind that I'm responsible for my own safety, and sometimes the safety of others. So even in training, I'm careful to not exert myself to the extent that I'll overextend or injure my body. 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 (50 Minutes) After the Rainier Dozen, warm up for about 10 minutes, and then climb up and down a set of stairs, at a consistent pace, for about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool down with some stretching. You don’t need to carry a pack on your stair interval training, the focus in this workout is on speed and intensity. 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: Rainier Dozen / Cross Training (1 Hour) Warm up with the Rainier Dozen and then spend an hour in some moderately vigorous activity as cross training (find out more about cross training here). Listen to your body, and have fun with it. Day 7: 5 Hour Hike Find a location to hike that is about 9 to 10 miles in distance and takes about 5 hours. Maintain the same weight for your pack as last week. If the weight of your pack has to increase a little bit to account for the additional time you’ll be on the trail, that’s ok too. SUMMARY Perhaps the most noticeable thing you’ll feel after this week is that you are really used to these workouts. As aerobic endurance increases and strength builds, you’ll likely be finding that the workouts are more enjoyable and perhaps less taxing. Remember that at this point in training your goal is to perform well. You may not be as fatigued as in previous weeks but you are really moving forwards. Also, by now you’re probably getting highly organised with your equipment and clothing during your training hikes. Everything is falling into place! - 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.

Hello Everyone. We were foot soldiers today, we marched our way into Lukla in great style. The last hour is all up hill,a nice pump to finish the day. Doctor Scholl's was our best friend. A bit of overcast kept the temperature just right for this lowland trek, 10,000 ft. After about three weeks in this land of giant mountains, for some, it's time to hit the beach. I could call this one heck of a fishing trip. We all received a license, no poachers, played by the rules. We casted our lines, used every trick in the book. Caught some big ones and a trophy for a few. We all leave with more experience and respect for this type of event in our lives. The Dudh river, a constant companion on the hike out,loads of blooming rhododendron a nice farewell. Always a pleasure to work with High Altitude Dreams our local outfitter. The team from the states way to go! Hope to have another chance to play with you all in my office soon. Thank you all out in cyber land for following this trip, get out while you can. I will start working my way back to the Big E and blog ya later. RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map