Entries By mike bennett
Posted by: Casey Grom, Mike Bennett, Walter Hailes, George Hedreen, Tom Skoog, Margo Kerr
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb June 9 - 12 led by RMI Guides Mike Bennett and Walter Hailes reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The weather was fairly calm and winds were decreasing. The climbers enjoyed some time in the summit crater before starting their descent from the crater rim around 8:40 am. They are now heading back to Camp Muir. Once packed up they will continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbing teams!
Posted by: Casey Grom, Drew O’Brien, Mike Bennett, Charlie Harrison, Jackson Breen, Roland Scott
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Casey Grom and Drew O’Brien reached Ingraham Flats on Mt. Rainier this morning. New snow from recent storms, avalanches, and route concerns kept the team from continuing up hill.
The team enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and started their descent from Camp Muir.
The Expedition Skill Seminar - Emmons May 26 - 31, led by RMI Guide Seth Burns, Mike Bennett, Will Ambler and Thomas Skoog reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today via the Emmons Glacier route. The team hit the crater rim around 11: 30 am today and due to high winds and big gusts started their descent shortly after. They returned to Camp Schurman around 2:30 pm and will spend a final night at camp. They will start their descent tomorrow morning, getting back to the trail in the afternoon. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations team!
PC: Tom Skoog and Seth Burns
Posted by: Andy Bond, Mike Bennett, Drew O’Brien, Charlie Harrison
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,200'
The Five Day Climb led by Andy Bond reached 13,200' on Mt. Rainier. The team turned around due to route conditions. They are back at Camp Muir and will be descending to Paradase later today.
Congratulations Team!
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Seth Burns, Mike Bennett, Tom Skoog
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The first trip of the Mt. Rainier season is always a special one and just like that, it has come and gone. We spent the week learning skills like crevasse rescue, rappelling, glacier travel, the basics of snow safety, and even some fixed line travel. It was a busy week! We didn’t make the summit and in mountaineering, that’s part of the game. Sometimes the mountain, no matter how much we want it, just says no to going up high. It’s a tough pill, but a worthwhile one to take in stride and with conviction that the decision was the right one. We’ll take home the skills, the memories, and the bug to come back and try again another day.
The weather is becoming wetter and windier and looks to be trending that way for our descent tomorrow. The hot food, showers, and beds in town will be that much sweeter.
Cheers to a great week and a great start to the season, Team!
RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Today was eventful. We have now all been up for 24 hours and are feeling the effects. Our day actually started last night with a 10pm wakeup to attempt Antisana. By 11pm the team was on the move, although lightning in the relatively short distance and clouds in the vicinity were worth keeping an eye on. As we climbed higher, intermittent clouds were upon us, with even a light drizzle from time to time. Looking in all directions, clouds surrounded the mountain and gave an eerie sense. Compounding these difficulties was also the very dry condition of the glacier. Navigating the dry glacier at night required the utmost attention to efficient footwork. In the end, there were too many factors working against us and we made the decision to turn around just above 17000'.
Every member of the team began the climb and made a valiant effort. While it is disappointing to turn around, the more we climb the more we understand that it is all part of the experience. By now, we have a team that truly enjoys spending time together and works together as a unit in the mountains. That means as much to me as standing on any summit could. To celebrate our new friendships and an overall successful time in Ecuador, we went to a nice group dinner. Jaime, our lead Ecuadorian guide, joined and we all enjoyed recounting freshly minted memories from this journey. As we depart, it is bitter sweet. It may be some time before any of us cross paths again, but we are all excited to reunite with family back home in the coming days (except me - follow the Ecuador Seminar blog!).
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier
New Post Alerts:
Summit or no summit, those are some pretty sweet night/low light shots!
Posted by: Some guy from Puyallup on 2/2/2024 at 8:20 am
Bummer you couldn’t summit! But You know better than anyone Dustin, Its about the experience!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/2/2024 at 3:32 am
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
Following a mildly eventful 4x4 overland, the team is settled in at Antisana basecamp. Similar to Cayambe, the glacier appears very dry. However, the weather seems to be holding, so we have some things in our favor. Spirits are high, bellies are full and we're ready for a final hard day!
New Post Alerts:
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Rest day!
Every member of this team deserved one day without hiking, climbing or traveling and we took this one at Casa Ilayaku, which is a lovely, modern hacienda nestled on the slopes of a defunct volcano outside of Quito. Reading, chatting with family over the phone, eating nice meals, checking out the gardens and general lounging were just a few of the relaxing activities for the day. It's helpful that the food here is healthy and fresh to help us heal from the events of yesterday (summitting Cayambe) and prepare for our climb of Antisana.
This evening, we turned our focus towards Antisana. We have a solid plan in place, great Ecuadorian mountain guides and are armed with more experience. Now we hope for good weather to cap off what has already been an excellent trip with a fun team.
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier
New Post Alerts:
Hey Dustin!
All the best wishes for you for more perfect weather!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 1/31/2024 at 3:44 am
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'
The team started their summit day with an early alpine start, leaving the Cayambe shelter just before midnight. Scrambling up to the glacier under headlamp, and an almost full moon, the morning remained very calm and pleasantly cool.
After nearly two hours of approach, the team transitioned into crampons and full glacier kits, roping up and embarking up the ridge with their guides. Cayambe remains in a very dry state, leaving very icy and firm walking conditions for much of the climb.
Furthermore, winds picked up higher up on the mountain, exposing the team to colder more challenging climbing conditions. At around 18k feet, the sun began to rise, giving way to some relief for the final stretches of the climb.
After roughly 7 hours of climbing, the team topped out at nearly 19k feet. The summit was relatively calm with low winds, allowing the team to hangout and celebrate for nearly 40 mins.
The descent back to the shelter was altogether speedy despite the effects of altitude being obvious to many of the group. After a brief rest and a late breakfast, the team packed up and departed to Tumbaco for a much-needed upcoming rest day before heading to Antisana.
RMI Guide Mike Bennett & Team
Awesome Dustin!!! Great work getting your Team to the top! Beautiful blue skies!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 1/30/2024 at 7:28 am
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 15,300'
We are in our beds at the Cayambe hut and feeling motivated for tonight's climb. This evening, the clouds are settling and the mountain is out. We will check back in tomorrow afternoon after our summit attempt!
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier
Strong work team. Props to Mike & the crew. Hope to see you out there in a month!
Posted by: Joe Mueller on 5/31/2024 at 8:45 am
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