RMI Guide
Solveig Waterfall and the
All Women's Four Day Summit Climb reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Solveig reported clear skies and a light breeze on the summit. The team started their descent shortly after 7:00 a.m. PDT. We look forward to seeing them in Ashford this afternoon.
Way to climb ladies!
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide
Peter Whittaker reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Peter reported light winds and clear skies. The team began their descent shortly after 7:00 a.m. PDT. We look forward to greeting the team in Ashford later this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
RMI Guide Zeb Blais led the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons to the summit of Mt. Rainier yesterday morning. The team enjoyed sunny breezy conditions during their climb. After celebrating on the summit, the team descended to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain.
Today the team will spend some time training as their descend to the White River Campground from Camp Schurman. We are excited to welcome them back to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations!
The Mt. Rainier
Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by
RMI Guide JJ Justman was unable to make a summit attempt this morning. The team remained at Camp Schurman due to wet weather (rain and snow mix) and low visibility. When JJ called to check-in with the RMI Office this morning the weather had improved a little and the team was going to spend the day training around Camp Schurman. The team will spend tonight on the mountain before descending and returning to Ashford tomorrow.
After two days of training the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons June 19 - 24, 2016 began their climb. They drove this morning to their trail head near the White River Camp Ground.
RMI Guide JJ Justman checked in this afternoon to let us know the team was setting up camp on a beautiful day. Everyone is great and they are going to spend the evening learning how to build snow anchors. Tomorrow they will break camp and ascend to Camp Schurman, their High Camp.
As our expedition has wound down and we’ve had a few moments to reflect, we wanted to send one final dispatch. By now, everyone has made it home, caught up on some needed sleep and recovery, and nursed some bruised and battered feet back from the long walk out. The memories of a perfect summit day, the many days in tents, the incredible vistas at the Edge of the World and 17 camp are still vivid however!
After an incredible summit day, we packed our camp the next morning as
Brent’s team prepared for their summit bid. Though there wasn’t a rush, everyone was motivated by the knowledge that at the end of our long descent lay Talkeetna, with fresh food, beer, flip flops, and clean clothes. With heavy packs on once more, we made short work of the
West Buttress, coated in a new layer of an inch or two of snow, and cruised down the fixed lines to 14 camp where we were met by
Tyler Jones and team. To them, we owe a lot, as they had taken their rest day to dig up our cache for us, organize and sort it, and met us with water to satiate ourselves and refill bottles. So thankful, and sad that we didn’t have more time to spend with them, we shortly wished them luck and continued down to 11,200.’ It was progressing into the evening hours, and with snow falling and another cache to dig up, we decided to spend the night there. We made a hasty camp this time, with much less concern for walls, or even a flat tent site, and spent the evening rigging our sleds, and packing bags to be ready for an early AM departure.
When we woke, it was still snowing and we sat inside a cloud that blurred the ground, horizon, and sky all into one even color. There are lots of cliches for it: the inside of a ping pong ball, in the white room, or wading through a jug of milk, regardless, that is what we did all day. Flying pretty much completely on instruments, with the occasional wand to guide our way, we made our path down the lower Kahiltna to the airstrip. At one point, an errant black want appeared far off to the teams’ right. As we moved towards it, it shape began to shift eerily, until a black, Canada Goose head came into focus sticking out of the snow. As we realized what we were looking at, the goose shifted, it’s body erupting out of the snow, and it took a look at us and took off in flight, gliding away into the otherworldly landscape.
The poor visibility and trail breaking added time to our march out, and just after noon, we walked into Base Camp, triumphantly, and relieved to be done with the heavy packs and sleds. The weather however provided little hope of flying out, and with an organized low pressure system moving over our area for the next five days, there was some thought that we could be in for the long Base Camp wait. We set up tents, dug up our last cache, sorted gear into duffels to be ready for the flight out whenever it happened, and put snowshoes back on to the Base Camp community chore of packing out the runway. With our work accomplished, we settled into tents to try and calm our minds and find our waiting game zen. Imperceptibly, the tents began to grow lighter, and then a report from a high altitude sightseeing plane made it sound as though there might be a path for our bush planes to get in. Before we knew it, word came that the wonderful folks at
K2 Aviation had launched every plane they had to come get us, and that four Otters were in the air on their way. We stripped camp in moments, and soon the silent sky was filled with the buzz of small aircraft as they all came into the runway in squadron formation. Hardly able to believe our luck, we threw bags aboard, found our seats, stowed our carryons, buckled our seatbelts and we were off.
Landing in Talkeetna after 23 days on the mountain is an amazing experience; it was raining lightly, and the colors, sounds of life, and smells were a massive influx on the senses. We jumped out of our three week old clothes and into cotton, and headed to the West Rib, the famous Talkeetna restaurant and bar, for a celebratory dinner followed by revelry at the Fairview. Just as quickly as the trip started, it wound down, as the team boarded a shuttle the next morning to Anchorage to catch flights back to home and our loved ones.
This trip was marked by a team that endured consistent spats of harsh weather, and endured it well. Sitting isn’t always easy, especially when you have to leave the tent into a blizzard every 45 minutes to dig out your tent again, but the team hung tough and stayed positive, and because of their wherewithal, were able to string together one of the more beautiful summit days that the guides have seen. We’d love to thank the whole team for their patience, strength, teamwork, and desire; it was an honor to climb with you all. Similarly,
Robby and
Jess are two of the most fantastic co-guides that one could ever hope to work with. It took us awhile to reach the top, but it made it that much more rewarding in the end. We’re closing out an incredible trip that everyone involved will remember for the rest of our lives. Thanks for following along on the journey.
Namaste,
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
The May 10th Denali Expedition led by
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, and Jess Matthews were able to fly off the Kahiltna Glacier around 8:00 p.m. on Friday, June 3rd. After 24 days long days on the mountain, the team rushed off for showers, greasy burgers, and real beds. The team's patience paid off with a successful summit of
Denali but everyone is excited to be returning home to their loved ones.
Congratulations climbers!
June 2, 2016 - 3:45 p.m. PDT
Pete Van Deventer called the office to check in this afternoon. The team is at the
14K Camp and plans to continue down to 11K or 7k today. It is currently snowing, and wind-free at 14,000 feet. They met up with
Brent Okita's team and wished them luck as they prepare for their upcoming
Denali summit bid.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
On The Map
June 1, 2016 - 11:47 p.m. PDT
Summit days don't get any better than what we had today. There wasn't a breath of wind, and the warm temperatures let us leave early and get out ahead of other teams. It was the warmest summit day any of the guides remember, and the team did spectacularly. Seven and a half hours of climbing had us standing on the summit taking photos, and then we boogied back to camp. It was well worth the wait and we certainly did our penance and deserved a day like today. With the summit achieved, everyone is more than ready to get back to town and home. We'll
pack camp tomorrow and get down to warmer, thicker air, and with luck be at the airstrip first thing the day after tomorrow. But first we'll sleep tonight, and dream of the highest summit in North America.
Best,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Robby Young, Jess Matthews, and team
On The Map
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You go girls! You are an awesome bunch. Looking forward to the photos
Posted by: Jessie's dad on 7/29/2016 at 12:39 pm
You go girls! I hope there are pictures!!
Posted by: Sara S. on 7/29/2016 at 10:23 am
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