Entries By lauren macklin

RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier & Joe Hoch led their Four Day Climb June 26 - 20 teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Dustin reported windy conditions with a lenticular cloud above them for most of the climb.  However, the cloud had dissipated as they reached the crater rim and they were enjoying the sunshine as they crossing the crater to Columbia Crest. After celebrating on the summit, they will descend to Camp Muir, repack and continue down to Paradise.  We look forward to meeting the teams at Rainier BaseCamp later today.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

Matias and the Kautz seminar team will spend their last night on the mountain tonight and plan for an early departure off the mountain followed by more training at Basecamp in Ashford.

The guide team have the following to say in reflection of the last week of training:

We have spent the past 4 days and 3 nights experiencing the mountain and the heat that accompanied it this week. Our high point may have only been 9,400’ but an abundant of learning and training was accomplished.

After a scorching first day moving across the Nisqually Glacier, we decided to move to a night schedule, only climbing when the snow hadn’t been tarnished by the blistering sun. Very Denali-esque of us. We hit on rock climbing, mixed climbing, ice climbing, crevasse rescue and many other skills. Hot weather and beating sun created unstable snow conditions and difficult trail breaking. But as one participant said, “It’s not all about the summit on trips like this”, and we feel like we were able to accomplish all our training and learning goals. The wisping clouds float below us like pillows awaiting to catch us on our decent.

RMI Kautz Team,

George, Leif, Lauren, and Matias

The Emmons Seminar Team led by RMI Guide Steve Gately was treated to a beautiful sunrise over Steamboat Prow as they climbed above Camp Schurman.  The team turned around at 11,100' due to high winds and difficult trail conditions. They returned from the mountain yesterday evening and will be spending the day at Rainier BaseCamp to complete their training.

Photos: Ben Luedtke & Lauren Macklin

May 28 7:43pm PT

The wind died today which meant that with the sun it felt very hot on the glacier today. We moved our camp south, closer to base camp and closer to some areas that have terrain features that are good for training and climbing. We spent the afternoon hiding from the sun in our new camp, We just finished an early dinner and are going do some evening ice climbing now that the temperatures have quelled.

RMI Guide Alex Halliday and Team

Today we awoke to the same relentless north wind that made the air feel cold, but after breakfast we decided that we needed to get out and do some training. We walked to a nearby area of tension cracks on the glacier and practiced crevasse rescue until our brains were full. We are back in camp now resting out of the wind.

RMI Guide Alex Halliday & Team

Tuesday, May 24, 2022 - 6:36 pm PT

On Monday, we awoke to scattered clouds and cooler temps around Base Camp. As the sun rose above the clouds we left camp to refresh some of our climbing skills.  After taking naps during the heat of the day we learned about knots for climbing and prepared for our attempt on Radio Tower.

The mountains are calm today.  The clouds are fickle and we are now sitting back in camp surrounded by a fog that has moved up the Kahiltna Glacier. We reached the top of Radio Tower today, the small prominence that sits above camp. We were met with impressive views of the north side of Mt. Hunter and the Moonflower Buttress.

RMI Guide Alex Halliday

Hi Everyone -

Our Baker Ski team is back at camp after a successful ski descent of the summit with everyone!!!

Beautiful day up there with great snow.

RMI Guide Grayson Swingle

What a difference a day makes. 40mph snow and wind at Camp Muir. A perfect day to train inside. 

After a cloudy walk up the Muir Snowfield on Monday we enjoyed two gorgeous, sunny days of training on Tuesday and Wednesday, learning the basics of snow and ice climbing, glacier travel, crevasse rescue and ice climbing. 

This morning the weather has changed! Blowing snow all night and day has us thankful for the shelter of the bunkhouse at Camp Muir where we're learning about avalanches - how to avoid them, use the tools of the trade and perform a rescue.

We'll continue with other topics of interest and get out for some hands on training if and when we can do it safely outside. 

Everyone is doing great and happy we got so much training in even though our summit aspirations are no longer realistic after finding serious signs of avalanche hazard on the slopes leading to the summit.

We'll be headed down tomorrow morning after some training and packing up in the morning. 

RMI Guide Brent Okita

The Five Day Climb August 30 - 3 September completed their program.  The team met on Monday for their Orientation and Equipment check, then headed out the next day above Paradise for a full day of Mountaineering School.  With their glacier travel training complete the team ascended 4.5 miles to Camp Muir on Tuesday.  They spent two nights at Camp Muir and were able to explore the route up to 11,300', the group was unable to make a summit attempt due to route conditions.  However, they did get in some crevasse rescue training.  Today the group finished up a bit more training before packing up and descending to Paradise.

Congratulations team - we hope you enjoyed your time on the mountain!

RMI Four Day Climb August 23 - 26 led by RMI Guides Mike King and Joe Hoch reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this mornnig at 6:30 am.  Mike report a light breeze with a cloud near the summit as they were ascending this morning but once they reached the crater they had good visibility.  The teams were crossing the crater and approaching Columbia Crest just before 7 am.  After enjoying the views and signing the Summit Book, the team will begin their descent from the crater rim.  They will return to Camp Muir for a short break and then continue down to Paradise later today.

Congratulations to today's climbers!