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.
The summit climb teams, led by Brent Okita and JJ Justman, tagged the top of Mt. Rainier at 7:35am this morning. They reported winds about 25 mph, a bit chilly, and a cloud cap forming. Both teams began their descent at 8:20 a.m.
Congratulations to today's teams!
The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide JJ Justman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. JJ reported cold, windy conditions on the summit. Despite the weather, 100% of the team reached the summit! The team will descend back to Camp Muir before continuing their descent to Paradise and on back to Ashford later today.
Congratulations climbers!
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climbs, led by JJ Justman and Mike King, reported a nice day with light wind, clear skies, and warm weather from the crater this morning. Both teams had a leisurely break after topping out at Columbia Crest. They left the crater to begin their decent just before 7:30am.
Thank you JotaJota for your great organization and energy. And stories (true or not).
Thank you Gloria for your friendliness and ability to calm nerves.
Thank you Casey for pulling me up the hill.
Posted by: Sandra McIntire on 6/5/2016 at 3:32 pm
Happy Birthday Ben. We wish you a great day on top of the world! Love, Mom & Dad
The first Expedition Skill Seminar - Winter gathered in Ashford on Sunday for a day of technical training and gear checks. With large packs and a daunting weather forecast the team headed for Paradise as soon as the park gate opened. The team camped above Paradise for their first night out with better than expected weather. After breakfast the following morning the team broke camp and made the ascent to Camp Muir. They have spent the remaining days training at 10,000'. Unfortunately the weather forecast did become accurate and the team experienced a full winter storm on Mt. Rainier which prevented them from climbing higher than Camp Muir.
The seminar wraps up tomorrow. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp tomorrow afternoon.
I’m sure the storm was pretty wild because the wind was whipping in Royal City and the pass was getting pretty heavy snow! So the other day I went flying around the mountain to see how much snow she got. She was getting getting wind whipped pretty had and has a pretty good pack. Let me know if you want to see pictures!
Hi everyone! The RMI Aconcagua team is safely back at Base Camp. We are enjoying cokes and beers and just relaxing. I will be honest, most of us are exhausted, me included. It was a perfect summit day and it has taken its toll. We all deserve to relax and unwind. This is officially the last blog post for our team. We will walk out tomorrow and arrive in Mendoza on the 13th. Thanks for all of your support along the way. Ciao from Aconcagua.
RMI Guide JJ Justman and JM Gorum
Original Post 6:34 a.m. PST
Hey everyone. This is JJ Justman and JM and Team Aconcagua. The team is on the summit of Aconcagua! Just below 23,000 feet! My voice is a little hoarse but I am going to hold the phone out and we're going to give the team a chance to give a big hooray. [Team in the background.] It was a beautiful day climbing. We are the only ones up here on the summit right now. It's a very quiet day. The weather is crystal clear, not a cloud in the sky, a light breeze. It's supposed to be blowing a little bit more later today. We got an early start and it was a great effort by the team. We still have to get down, but it's a safe route. We'll get back to camp in several hours. You guys, it's been a great adventure. Thanks for following along. We'll touch base again here soon. From the summit of Aconcagua, this is the RMI team saying, "Arrivederci!"
RMI Guide JJ JustmanUpdate 9:54 a.m PST
RMI Guide JJ Justman checked in with the RMI Office. The team is back and high camp safe and sound. Everyone is focusing on staying hydrated and resting. The team will spend the night at high camp and descend to base camp tomorrow morning.
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls from the Aconcagua summit!
Congratulations JJ and team! Can’t believe the weather improved so much since our attempt just a few weeks ago. Enjoy your descent and asado at Pampa de las Lenas. Craig
Posted by: Craig Falkenhagen on 2/11/2016 at 10:23 am
congratulations to team lawler- ken and brad. what an effort! can’t wait to have you back at home.
Hey everyone. This is JJ Justman with Team Aconcagua. We are all up at High Camp, 19,600 feet. We've got camp built. We have the stoves fired as well. We're melting snow for water, getting some hot drinks going. It's a calm day right now, but the forecast is for a little bit of winds to pick up for tomorrow but then it's supposed to really be bad the next couple of days after, so we are taking advantage of this window. It's nice weather now- keep your fingers crossed for us that it will continue. We certainly are hoping that it will; but regardless, we'll have a safe climb tomorrow. We'll touch base with you. It's going to be very busy so don't worry. We're going to have a full day ahead of us but everyone is doing really well, which is the great thing. So I'm anticipating a fun summit climb tomorrow. Take care everyone. We'll touch base later on tomorrow whether we're on top of the summit or when we're on our way down. Take care everyone. Ciao from Argentina.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
RMI Guide JJ Justman calls in from Aconcagua High Camp.
Nice work mike. Just one foot in front of the other now. Praying for a Summit for you guys. Eric
Posted by: Eric on 2/10/2016 at 3:08 am
I wish I could be up there with you guys, YOU’VE GOT TO KEEP YOUR COMPOSURE!! And don’t forget your water shoes, you wouldn’t want JJ yelling at you.
Best of luck guys,
I’m pulling for you
Well, word on the street is that the Broncos won the Super Bowl. I don't believe it, but you can believe that we are having a great day at Camp 2. Today we've got sunny skies, moderate winds, and lots of quesadillas. We are also the only humanoids in sight, which is quite a treat. We went for a quick shuffle above camp this morning to get a view of what lies ahead, and everyone is excited to get moving again. We've got a lot of resting left do do today, but everyone sends their best. Hopefully next time we talk to you will be from high camp!
Adios- RMI Guides JM Gorum and JJ Justman
Good Luck guys & take time to enjoy!! Hope the weather permits you a successful summit tomorrow!!
Posted by: Chrissy H on 6/22/2016 at 8:25 am
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