Entries By brent okita

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir led by RMI Guides Brent Okita, Hannah Smith and Avery Parrinello reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today.  Brent reported a beautiful day with windy conditions and challenges.  The group has spent the last several days training at Camp Muir.  Tonight will be their final night at the 10,000' camp and they will descend to Paradise tomorrow.  We hope the team enjoyed their time on the mountain.  Congratulations on reaching the summit!

So far we've had a tremendous trip. Our first day started cold and rainy, which posed no problem for us given that our training that day was largely spent indoors or at least under the cover of a roof overhead. That day was spent doing some technical training, going through equipment needed for the week, and getting to know one another. Day 2, Monday, we moved to Camp Muir on what ended up being a fairly nice day. The group was impressive moving uphill, with nobody having difficulty with the 4,500' hike up the snowfield. Tuesday was a very full day as we covered all the skills we needed to climb the mountain. Following our skills session we ventured out onto the Cowlitz Glacier to practice what we learned and better understand just how glaciers behaved.Following this it was back to Muir to prepare for our climb. A summit talk, early dinner and early bedtime set us up for our climb. Waking up at 1:00am and walking at 2:00, we were immediately challenged by high winds. Unfortunately, the winds haunted us all day, making for a difficult climb. But we persevered and got lucky, summiting just after 8:00am. The team did great and we're all enjoying some well deserved rest. Talk again tomorrow, RMI Guide Brent Okita & Team

Summit! Mt. Rainier received some new snow over the last week filling in the route but today's climb was able to persevere and make tracks to the top. We have had some teams as well as route workers chip away at it when weather and conditions warranted, which helped tremendously. Thank you to all of them and congratulations to today's summit climbers! RMI Guides Brent Okita & Josh McDowell

Today's Mt. Rainier summit climb, led by Brent Okita and JT Schmitt, was unable to go beyond Camp Muir due to blizzard conditions. High winds were reported through the night gusting 80 mph. The team is currently on their descent from Camp Muir and will be at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.

RMI Guides Brent Okita and Jenny Konway led the Four Day Climb September 2 - 5 teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Brent radioed the RMI office just after 7 AM that the teams were approaching Columbia Crest, they had reached the crater rim at 6:40 AM. It's another beautiful day on the mountain with clear skies and winds 15-20 mph. The team left the summit at 7:45 AM headed down hill. The program will conclude this afternoon with a cheers to their accomplishments.

The Four Day Climb August 29 - 1 September reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 7 AM today. RMI Guides Brent Okita and Ben Ammon led the groups today. Brent reported windy conditions as they were approaching the crater rim. After enjoying the views the teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise. They will conclude their adventure at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon and hopefully enjoy the festivities of Rainier Mountain Fest. Congratulations to today's climbers!

RMI Guide Brent Okita reported windy conditions on Mt. Rainier from High Break to the summit crater. The teams spent a little time to make any clothing adjustments, get a bit of food and water and then started their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 AM. We look forward to seeing all the climbers at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to all climbers!

The Four Day Climb August 18 - 21 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier on a windy morning. RMI Guides Brent Okita and Joe Hoch and the summit climb teams spent a short amount of time at the crater as the winds are increasing. They will continue their descent to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's climbers!

The Four Day Climb August 11 - 14 reached Columbia Crest, the highest point on Mt. Rainier, just after 7 AM. RMI Guides Brent Okita and Avery Parrinello led their teams on a beautiful, beautiful day with light winds. After enjoying the views from the summit, the teams began their descent from the crater rim. Once back at Camp Muir they will take a short break and then continue down to Paradise. Congratulations to today's climbing teams!

The Four Day Climb led by RMI guides Brent Okita and Alex Halliday attempted to climb Mt. Rainier today, but turned at Cathedral Gap due to pouring rain. The teams got a late start out of Muir this morning due to the rain and lightning overnight. They plan to leave Muir shortly after 9 am for their descent to Paradise.