RMI Expeditions Blog
The Four Day Summit Climb June 16 - 19 led by Seth Waterfall and Gabriel Barral reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 7 a.m. PT. The teams reported light winds from the north and sunny skies.
Congratulations to the teams!
The crew continues to impress. Today we once again met our goal of arriving back at 11000'. We enjoyed another priceless day climbing down the West Buttress to 14,00' camp to gather our cache and leftover food. The team took a couple hour rest before continuing down to the now thick air of 11000'. Tonight we all contributed the last of our meats, cheeses and bread products for a well deserved greasy fry pan delight. Now for some sleep and one last early start and our final long walk of Kahiltna Glacier to base camp.
The weather at Kahiltna International Airport in the morning will determine our true final step in completing this incredible adventure. One last quote for the evening, shared from Lisa at base camp a few nights ago: "The summit is for the ego, the journey is for the soul." What a journey we have had!
Hello from our 14,000' camp on Mt. McKinley.
This is Mike Uchal, Gilbert, Jake, and team just hanging out after a carry to the fixed lined this afternoon. We made a cache up high and came down to a little bit of weather coming in.
So we are going to hold tight for a day or two and see what develops and then hopefully move higher for our summit day. Everyone is doing well, and we will check in again later!
RMI Guide Mike Uchal
On The Map
We woke up early to beautiful skies. Even though the sun never set, it was low enough to cast an orange glow on the large moon that hung over the Kahiltna Glacier. A five o'clock departure ensured solid glacier travel as we headed up to 10,100' to cache some of our gear. We plan to reunite with this gear when we do a ''back carry'' after we establish a camp at 11,000'. After 6 hours of climbing up to our cache and then back down to 7,800' camp, we spent the rest of the day resting and hydrating. We enjoyed some great conversation over Elias' amazing mountain quesadillas before heading to bed.
Happy Father's Day to all of our dads!
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
P.S. Mrs. Chu, Patrick aced his finals! We are so proud!
The team woke early to the most incredible weather, no wind, blue skies, and sun on the tents. Although the over night temps dipped to -15F, the sun quickly warmed our group and fired up our motivation for a long day of hard work. By 9:30 we were headed back into the shade of the Autobahn and climbing up to Denali Pass, kicking steps into the soft, steep snow. Our crew set the track for the day being the first out. Two hours of cold shady trail breaking led us back to the sun and our first windless break at 18,300ft where spirits were rejuvenated. We continued to press higher and higher, until we arrived onto the flat plateau of the Football Field where the solar radiation had it feeling more like a day at the beach than 19,500' on Denali. One final grind up Pig Hill and we were on the summit ridge, with only one stretch between our team and the top of the continent. The clear weather gave us hundreds of miles of views in every direction, with only a few scattered clouds way below us to add texture to the breathtaking scenery. A few tears were shed as we climbed the final few feet to the summit, and then it was all smiles, hugs, and mugging for the obligatory summit photos. We stood on top for a half hour or so, and then began the descent back to thicker air and our cozy camp. What an incredible day in the mountains for our team!
We're settled in now and planning for a fairly early launch back down the mountain. Our goal is 14k camp and the rest of our gear, then a quick trip downhill to 11k.
We're all tired, sore, hungry, thirsty...but ultimately incredibly happy and proud of today's accomplishment. Kudos to everyone on the team, and thanks to everyone out there pulling for us!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
Billy Nugent and our Four Day Summit climb teams made it to the top of Disappointment Cleaver. Due to weather they chose to make this their high point for the climb and descend safely back to Camp Muir. The team should arrive back to Rainier Basecamp in the early afternoon.
Jake, Gilbert & Mike called in from their 14,000' Camp. All is well and they will send another update soon.
Tyler called from the summit of Denali at 5:35 pm PST. He said it was a perfect and beautiful day for their summit climb. It was chilly at the top so they spent a little bit of time taking pictures and will be heading back down soon. Everyone on the trip is doing great and he will send a full dispatch when he gets back to 17,000' camp.
Congratulations Team!
On The Map
A crisp early morning wake up in basecamp meant great traveling conditions for us as we eased our way up the glacier. It froze solid last night making our travel through crevassed terrain much safer. We carried our full loads of climbing and camping supplies as well as 21 days of food and fuel. Even with each of our sled and backpack combos nearing 100 lbs., we made the move to our new camp in exactly five hours. We are all feeling very fortunate to be sharing this extraordinary place with such a strong team.
RMI Guide Mike Haugen
On The Map
Brent Okita, Leon Davis and Teams made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier today with clear skies, light winds, and a very beautiful morning.
The started their descent from the summit at 8:00 a.m.
Congratulations summit climbs!
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Hi Larry,
What an experience you and the team must have had up there. Can’t wait to hear more about the trip from you.
Congrats to all,
From your proud sis.
Posted by: Debbie on 6/20/2011 at 9:57 pm
Great job to the whole team! Soak up the views on the way down and enjoy the end of the journey. Craig and Josh, so proud of you guys! I can’t wait to see pictures and hear your stories. Big thanks to Tyler and team for keeping up in the loop.
Craig, miss you and see you soon in Alaska! Love Susan
Posted by: Susan on 6/19/2011 at 1:53 pm
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