Entries By kel rossiter
Posted by: Casey Grom, Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
If this is indeed the climb my Johnson boys are on, hooray. Glad it was clear for whomever it was.
Posted by: Barb Garner on 5/24/2015 at 11:19 am
Excellent!! Clear skies and great memories
Posted by: Diane O'Connor on 5/24/2015 at 10:06 am
Posted by: Seth Waterfall, Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Congratulations. Look forward to my summit attempt sometime in 2017 or late 2016.
Posted by: Kevin Stone on 5/20/2015 at 8:34 am
Congrats Liz!!!!!
Posted by: Sara on 5/18/2015 at 8:37 pm
Posted by: Win Whittaker, Mike Uchal, Kel Rossiter, Leah Fisher, Billy Haas
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
John and Beth - you two are rock stars in my book! Congratulations on giving it your best shot!!!
Posted by: Jlo on 6/27/2014 at 11:51 am
Chris/Brooke, still a kick butt accomplishment!!! Can’t wait to see the pictures!
Love, Leonard
Posted by: Leonard on 6/27/2014 at 10:52 am
Posted by: Kel Rossiter, Zeb Blais
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Just want to acknowledge the great experience we had with our RMI guides. Zeb, Christina and Nick were absolute aces guiding us to the top. They were spot on from the orientation, training and especially through the climb. I can’t imagine a better team and thank them for a great experience. Hope we can all meet up again…
Tom
Posted by: Tom on 7/1/2014 at 5:08 pm
Yay, Daddy! Did you have fun?
Love, Lilia and Nina
Posted by: Nina and Lilia on 6/21/2014 at 10:25 am
Posted by: Kel Rossiter, Mark Falender
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Wonderful that the weather has cleared for the top-out. We received a note early yesterday from Alysse that all was well—that was important! Thanks and we will see and talk with you soon.
Posted by: Bill Rossiter on 6/1/2014 at 2:48 pm
Posted by: Tyler Jones, Kel Rossiter, Ben Liken, Sean Collon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Posted by: Kel Rossiter, JJ Justman
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
We are cheering from Portland for Mike and the whole gang!
Randa, Leslee, Marianne, Lorena, Tammy, Florence, Kelsey, Sara, Lisa, Jennifer and Cindy
Posted by: Randa on 5/16/2014 at 10:34 am
Posted by: Kel Rossiter
Categories: Guide News Guide Grant
Fortunately, time and time again, in the face of doom, gloom, cats, and dogs we put ourselves into position for success and just barely, and just somehow, squeaked it out. For the first few days we enjoyed the relative “rain shadow” that the Washington Pass area of the North Cascades provides. Washington Pass doesn't allow for glacial travel though—an integral part of the AGE—so after two days we had to leave that safe harbor for the shores of Mt. Shuksan. We arrived in the Lake Ann/Fisher Chimneys trailhead in a steady drizzle. By the time we packed up, things had improved, but the rest of the day was something of an ongoing “fashion show” as we put on a rain shell, took it off, added a warmth layer, and tried to predict what the weather would look like in five minutes. And in the backs of our minds all imagined how things might unfold. Happily, we were most certainly rewarded for our efforts: By the time we topped out on Fisher Chimneys and rolled into our bivvy site, we were high above the roiling sea of grey valley clouds. So often it's the case on Mount Rainier that we'll radio down to Ashford and hear that they're thick in the rain while up at Camp Muir we're above it all. Such was the case on Shuksan, and the next day we managed to circumnavigate the Upper Curtis, Sulphide, and Crystal Glaciers and climb the summit massif's Northeast Ridge—my first time doing that particular route and highly recommended!
As the forecast shifted from grim to grimmer, we again decided to head over to Washington Pass. Driving over Highway 20 toward our meeting point at the Cutthroat Peak trailhead, my windshield wipers clicked a steady rhythm in time with the electronic music I was listening to to try to psych myself up. I arrived early at the trailhead and the rain continued. I cranked more psych music as I attempted some gear-sorting-inside-the-car-yoga poses. Then, miraculously, it began to clear. Not the swift and sure kind of clear that let's you know a new weather attitude is on the way—more like the resistant backing away of an angry dog that's just been called by it's owner, but enough to make a climb seem viable. We racked up, packed up, and headed for Cutthroat Peak's South Buttress. While it is true that “you can't win if you don't play”, it's also true that it's a bad idea to climb yourself so far up an objective that retreat becomes untenable. Fortunately, the South Buttress offers plenty of bail options, so with one eye on the clouds and the other on my rope coils, we moved upward, steadily gaining another plum Cascade peak.
By then, we'd heard reports from a group of Advanced Alpine Guide Course participants that the Boston Basin area (home to West Ridge of Forbidden, Torment-Forbidden Traverse, Sharkfin Tower, and Sahale Peak, among others) had already received six inches of the new winter's snow. Fresh snow poses it's own set of problems in the alpine world, but deciding that fresh snow was more palatable than dealing with the reported dousing on the way, so up we went!
These days, I'm climbing on snow for at least a part of almost every month of the year, but it's not often I'm dealing with fresh snow in September. Skis or snowshoes weren’t a part of our packing list, so lift-kick-step-sink-lift was the interminable process as we moved up through the now 10 inches of fresh snow covering the Quien Sabe Glacier. A circumnavigation/summit of Sahale Peak was our goal, and we eyed the valley clouds warily as we proceeded in dogged pursuit. Soon the clouds enveloped us and in between breaks we attempted to plot the best path ahead. After some steep, snow-laden slopes, a bergschrund crossing, and the final rocky summit scramble we were on top of our last AGE objective, Sahale Peak!
By day's end I was back in a Bellingham motel room, enjoying the comforts of a shower, eat-in Thai Food, and 581 channels. On every weather channel, stoic looking forecasters delivered the report with the delicacy of a cancer ward counselor: the patient's condition was not improving. I spooned the last bit of tofu out of my box of green curry and grinned: For the last ten days we'd prevailed in the face of such gloom and doom forecasts, and now, with the AGE wrapped up I was much more than just a survivor, I was finally an AMGA Certified Alpine Guide!
Achieving AMGA Alpine Guide Certification only occurred through a lot of support. Thanks to RMI/Whittaker Mountaineering/Eddie Bauer-First Ascent for their solid support of guide professional development. Thanks to all of the RMI guides who, through their sharing of skills, techniques, and approaches, have honed my own alpine guide skills; and particular gratitude to Andres Marin, Geoff Schellens, Jake Beren, Levi Kepsel, Eric Frank, Leon Davis, Elias De Andres Martos, and Rob Montague who shared with me their time and talents in the field as I worked toward this goal.
- RMI Guide Kel Rossiter
Congrats Kel!! Photos look awesome!! I will be back to Rainier in 2014, this time in August and determined to make the summit.
Posted by: Scott Cadman on 11/26/2013 at 7:20 am
Posted by: Brent Okita, Kel Rossiter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,700'
DR. GSD!!!
Posted by: Brian Andersen on 6/21/2015 at 6:19 pm
Wow Lauren! You did it again! Can’t wait to hear about your adventure!
Posted by: Grace on 6/21/2015 at 10:52 am
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