Happy Father's Day to all the Dads in the lowlands!
After our day of training, we were raring to go carry up the fixed lines. Packed up, alarms set but when we woke the wind was blowing and the snow was swirling. Dragging our feet provided little clarity, with the basin clearing out just enough to show high winds on the West Buttress. Tough to establish a trend, but we decided to wait another day here at 14 Camp. It ended up being a good call as the clouds regained control of camp and it has snowed heavily since.
Armed with an optimistic forecast, we plan to carry tomorrow and get in position for a move as soon as we can. Wish us luck down there and enjoy the day celebrating all the Fathers.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
We all finally got off the glacier yesterday afternoon as our flight service, K2, did a wonderful job getting everyone out when conditions seemed like they might close in and shut down flights.
After a remarkable twelve days at 17,200', we are all skinny and inhaled large portions of meat, fish, and beer last night. I write this last dispatch as we are riding to the airport to return home to loved ones, and put this remarkable trip behind us.
Huge kudos go out to a very strong and committed team of climbers, and to two incredible guides, Leon Davis and Lindsay Mann, who worked so hard to make this trip safe and enjoyable, and who were there at the end when the climbing got really tough and the mountain could not have been harsher.
That's all for this year. I need to see my wife and play with the dog. And I'm sure the lawn needs mowing. Thanks for following us on this unprecedented trip. I'll be back next year for a shorter, and less exciting expedition.
RMI Guide Brent Okita
Congratulations to all of you. Amazing accomplishment!
Posted by: The Parella Family on 6/18/2012 at 5:41 am
12 Days At 17.2k has to be some kind of record! What tenacity & an epic climb.
I leave Tues for my turn—have to be honest, hope we’re not stuck up at high camp that long—but you all have paved the way.
TM
Posted by: Tim McLaughlin on 6/17/2012 at 10:26 pm
Happy Fathers Day from our Denali crew! We're just checking in from our new home at 11,200'. We moved up here yesterday in nice weather, but shortly after we arrived the winds picked up and it started to snow lightly. The gusty winds and snow continued thru the night, but it seems to be calming down this morning. We're not too concerned though, because we are planning to take a full rest day today. We deserve it after 3 hard days of carrying heavy packs and pulling sleds up to 11k.
We enjoyed seeing Tyler Jones and the RMI June 5th Denali crew here at camp as they are descending after a successful summit. They are eager to get back to base camp and fly back to Talkeetna. But unfortunately the current weather is making them drag their feet and hang here in camp.
We'll be in touch again soon...
RMI Guide Mike Walter
This message is from ontario canada. we’re so proud of you ashley and so happy you and your team are safe. a moment in history for you all!!!! congratulations!
with love anick
7:55 a.m. - JJ Justman and the Four Day Summit Climb reached the Mt. Rainier summit! The weather was better than he had expected when the team started their ascent this morning. They are spending a little time on top and will begin their descent shortly. Congratulations team!
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz led by Mike Haugen starts their four days on the mountain today. Good luck to them as they train and make a summit bid on the Kautz Route.
It's June already. Do you have a Mount Rainier climb planned this summer? If so, you are probably at the peak of your training efforts and devoting a good amount of energy and time to preparing your body for the big climb. Many people ask, "What's the most important thing for training right now?"
If you are less than a week away from your climb, you'll want to rest. By all means, do some activity — but just enough to keep you moving — not so much that you arrive fatigued. You'll want to maximize your sleep and relaxation this week. Also, be sure that you're eating plenty of carbohydrates to ensure you start the climb with a full tank.
If your climb is still a few weeks or even months away, then you have a great opportunity to add to your endurance.
I like to keep things simple. My recommendation to people training for mountaineering is to include at least one long hike each week. How long? Well, your summit day will start in the middle of the night and you may well be climbing and descending for upwards of 14 hours. So, it's important to condition yourself to be on your feet for that long.
Practically, if you live near Mt. Rainier you can train on any number of long steep hikes in the area, or even hike up to Camp Muir for practice. One big weekly hike is my minimum, but if you can you'll benefit from back-to-back days of hiking, or maybe even sneak in a midweek hike as well. A man I know was out of shape with only two months to go before his Mt. Rainier climb. He realized he was behind on his training, took vacation time, and hiked Mt. Si, near Seattle, eighteen times in one month! I thought it was a bit extreme and advised him to pay attention to his knees and joints, but he did it — and he made it all the way to the summit and back.
If you live in a flat city you can still get in good training. I've done urban hikes before to get in condition for a climb. Once, when I was getting ready for a big climb while I lived in London, UK, I would put a metal weight and some water-bottles in a pack and walk all day, stopping at restaurants to eat and visiting the occasional museum. It's fun and a great way to see a city. This winter in Seattle I set a goal of walking three miles each day. It's great for the feet, legs, and back and it's easy to plan to walk places instead of driving. Arrive at work or a friend's house and tell them you walked — you'll inspire them too! It might be tough to get elevation in flatter regions, but don't let that stop you from building endurance.
If you can't hike or walk anywhere then bicycling is about as close as you can get to hiking as an alternative. It works the same energy-systems and many of the same muscle groups. If you do a lot of cycling, also do jumping exercises, perhaps even get a jump-rope and use it for a few minutes every day. That will help with the coming-down part of the climb. Cycling builds strength and endurance but doesn't replicate the impact of stepping down. The combination of both is very effective.
Top three tips for June:
1. Make the main thing - the main thing: It's a long endurance climb with a 35lb pack. Go long in training and wear a pack when possible.
2. Back up your long hikes with shorter sessions: 60 - 90 minute efforts at a higher intensity. Stairs, stair-master, elliptical machine, cycling or spin class are good options.
3. Mix up your training: Some long and steady 'conversational' pace sessions; some hard and steady; some intervals of 1 minute of very hard effort followed by 1 minute of rest.
A parting thought: I used to get close to a climb and worry that I hadn't done enough of this or of that. Right now you've done what you've done. Its best to take out a calendar, figure out how many long hikes you can fit in, block out those time and then use the other days for shorter sessions. Take a day or two of rest as well, you'll benefit from doing so. As the guides will tell you on the mountain, don't worry about tomorrow or next week, just focus on now. Focus on how you can complete — and enjoy — today's workout. You've trained hard and what you do now will make a difference on the mountain.
Good luck.
John Colver
Author of Fit By Nature by Mountaineers Books.
www.adventx.com
For more information please see our resources for mountaineering fitness and training.
Treadmills and stair machines only work your legs against the earth’s gravity, not your entire body’s weight or even the weight in the pack. They also don’t really do much for the downstroke of the leg, just the upstroke. It’s Newtonian mechanics, guys.
Posted by: borisjimski on 7/4/2012 at 1:30 am
Bodyworks, which partners with AAI, says that one needs to be able to go on a treadmill at 15 degrees for 45 minutes at 3.5 mph with a 40-pound pack in order to be in sufficient shape to climb Mt. Ranier. There is no way I can do that. Are they exaggerating? On a good day I can go at 15 degrees at 2.5 mph for 45 min with no weight.
We awoke today to subzero temperatures at 17k camp and are now enjoying the thick air at 11k camp. After a quick breakfast, the team packed their belongings and headed downward. Despite some fatigue from our successful summit bid yesterday, the team safely negotiated the descent to 14k camp. There, the team was met by another RMI team. Jake Beren and team topped off our bottles with water and our stomachs with warm quesadillas. After this hour long break we headed down to 11k camp.
While the air was thick and warm, Denali was quick to remind us that we aren't out of the woods yet. While snow fell and wind blew around us we consolidated our left over meats and cheeses for a quesadilla smorgasbord. We enjoyed these tasty morsels until we were full, then ate some more. Then we had dessert.
We are now snuggled into our sleeping bags, staying warm and hoping to fly out tomorrow. While we are all set to walk to the runway, the weather is not ripe for a speedy flight to Talkeetna. We are still at the mercy of the big one, Denali.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Today we enjoyed the luxury of waking to the sun on the tents, avoiding the early morning cold. Once up and fed, we took a fantastic walk to THE EDGE OF THE WORLD. Perfect views of the lower Kahiltna Glacier 7,000 feet below our perch and we all took turns peeking over the edge and snapping a few photos. Don't worry friends and family, we were on belay the whole time.
For the afternoon we rested and welcomed the RMI 4 team after their stylish send on Denali yesterday. Nice job everyone!
Then it was back to work, setting up a fixed line practice and trying as many variations as possible to prepare for the cache tomorrow. Now it's dinner time, catch y'all tomorrow.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Congratulations team! Good luck on the descent as well.
Posted by: AK on 6/21/2012 at 12:43 pm
Hey paps!!!!!!!!
HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!!! There is a pecan pie waiting for you at the summit, so scurry on up there and get your butt back home!!!
Miss you! Cant wait to fatten you up when your back with all our celebratory dinners!!
Love, Sarina
Posted by: Sarina Karwande on 6/17/2012 at 1:50 pm
Last night, after the snow firmed up enough for efficient travel, we packed up camp and moved up to our new camp at 9600'; this included tackling Ski Hill, our first big hill of the trip. Everyone did a great job hauling sleds and heavy packs up to camp. We slept in this morning (8 hours of sleep!) and had a relaxing brunch in our newly constructed cook tent. We are planning to lounge around a bit, rehydrating and resting, in preparation for our next move up to 11,200'. The weather is nice right now, with partly cloudy skies and a moderate wind out of the north. We'll be in touch again soon, hopefully nestled into a cozy camp at 11,200'.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Wishing everyone a continued safe hike. Please pass on to Dr. Riester that we wish him a wonderful time, and a continued safe adventure. Keeping everyone in our prayers. Enjoy the beauty of nature !!!
Posted by: Lisa VanNostran on 6/19/2012 at 7:22 am
Wow, and we are going to be in the 90’s in Vermont.
Have a wonderful time and we will watch for news!
Posted by: Helen and Toons on 6/18/2012 at 12:02 pm
RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Dan Windham led the Four Day Summit Climb teams to 13,500' this morning before deciding to turn around due to deteriorating weather conditions and increased winds. The teams checked in from Ingraham Flats around 7:30 a.m. on their descent as the rain continued to fall. They returned to Camp Muir to repack and hopefully dry out a bit. At 10:00 a.m. they began their descent from Camp Muir to Paradise.
We look forward to seeing the groups at Rainier BaseCamp in a few hours.
A message from Miami- To my husband Joe- I love you and wish you a Happy Fathers Day! - My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Happy Day and Weather to you all. Be safe. Evelyn
Today was our time to shine; it was our 16th day on the glaciers of Denali and our opportunity to take a shot at the top of North America. Early sun on the tent at high camp, coupled with the solstice less than a week away had the guides up starting the stoves by 7:30am. With the winds moderate and temps near -15F we stalled our departure for the summit bid until 9:45am with the thought of summiting during Alaska's peak heat of late afternoon. The wind and cold had us in full equipment. We wore face masks, goggles, mittens and climbed in our heavy weight parkas a good portion of the climb.
The guides stressed many times of the importance of self care and the critical nature of getting frostnip or frostbite. All of us had cold hands, feet, and faces a number of times throughout the day, but all of us took responsibility for keeping close eyes on each other and managed to keep the cold injuries at bay.
The climb took our team 7 1/2 hours to reach the summit. Our time plan was perfect as the summit provided some the the lightest winds of the day allowing us to spend just over thirty minutes on the summit expressing emotion, embracing our team mates, and snapping photos of an unforgettable 360 degree view of central Alaska. Given the conditions our team made great time, though we all had to dig deep in our reserves to make an uneventful descent back in our high camp- 11 hours after our departure. Hot drinks, a warm meal and memories from our summit push ended the evening with high stoke and excitement to get down and reunite with our friend, families and loved ones. Every member of the team would like to thank all of you for your support, love, and compassion in letting us fulfill a dream.
Tomorrow we plan to disassemble our high camp and move down the picturesque West Buttress. We will be recovering our cache at 14k and, if weather and energy allow, a descent to 11k for a well deserved rest in what now has become the low country. We look forward to the thick air.
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Eric Frank & Logan Randolph
Congratulations Team!!! i know it must feel terrific to view 360 degrees from the summit! Can’t imagine the rush! Michael, we look forward to hearing all about it. Mom & Dad
Posted by: Eual/Paula Conditt on 6/17/2012 at 4:45 pm
I am super psyched for you guys. You kick ass Larry!
Congratulations, what an accomplishment!!!
Posted by: Dan H on 6/21/2012 at 5:25 pm
Hi Jim and Halsey,
Just checking in to see where you are! Looks very exciting. Can’t wait to hear all about it.
Love,
Ruth
Posted by: Ruth on 6/18/2012 at 10:49 pm
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