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Entries By mike walter

Mt. Rainier: Four Day Summit Climb Teams on the Summit!

Posted by: Mike Walter, Tyler Reid | September 07, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Tyler Reid reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today.  The teams enjoyed some time on the summit on what Tyler Reid described as a “beautiful day”.  They began their descent from the crater rim just before 8 am and will return to Camp Muir for a short break and then continue down to Paradise this afternoon.

Congratulations to today’s Summit Climbers!

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Mt. Shuksan: The Seminar Team Wraps up the Week

Posted by: Mike Walter | August 28, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *North Cascades

Well, we’re all safely out of the mountains after a great week of climbing and training on Mount Shuksan’s Sulphide glacier. Our climbing team gained proficiency moving in diverse terrain in the mountains, including crevassed glaciers, steep snow and ice, and 4th & 5th class rock. We also practiced lots of knots and hitches and crevasse rescue systems.

We packed a lot into the past week, and the weather was perfect throughout. Our team was strong and cohesive and we all reached the summit Mount Shuksan in good style. It was a pleasure to climb with everyone. Nice work team!

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Mt. Shuksan: Seminar Team Reaches Summit

Posted by: Mike Walter | August 27, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *North Cascades
Elevation: 9,127'

Another excellent day on Mount Shuksan in the North Cascades…this time we woke up before dawn and cramponed up the Sulphide Glacier to the base of the summit pyramid, where we ditched the crampons and ice axes and climbed 4th and 5th class rock for 800 vertical feet to the summit!

Our entire team reached the summit in good style. The weather was perfect so we hung out on the summit for over an hour before descending. We were back in camp around 2 p.m. for a round trip of a little over eight hours. The training over the past week really paid off and nobody struggled with the technical terrain at all. Congrats team!

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Mt. Shuksan: The Seminar Team Perfects Mountaineering Skills

Posted by: Mike Walter | August 27, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *North Cascades

8/26/14 8:30 pm PST

We had another great day of training today here on Shuksan’s Sulphide Glacier. We spent the bulk of the day ice climbing in a crevasse and practicing crevasse rescue with mechanical advantage systems.

There was barely a cloud in the sky all day, and the forecast looks similar for tomorrow. That’s good news for us, as we’re planning to make our summit attempt tomorrow. We’ll let you know how it goes!

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Mt. Shuksan: The Seminar Enjoys Beautiful Weather While Training

Posted by: Mike Walter | August 25, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *North Cascades

We had another great day of training today on Mount Shuksan. We ascended the Sulphide Glacier and then stepped onto the Upper Curtis Glacier where we spent much of the day running laps on the steep ice pitches known as Hell’s Highway.
Afterwards we practiced some 4th class rock scrambling on the ridge just west of the Sulphide Glacier.
The weather has treated us well so far, and the forecast looks favorable for the rest of out week here. Everyone is doing well and enjoying the beauty of the North Cascades.

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Mt. Shuksan: Walter and Seminar Team Focus on Training

Posted by: Mike Walter, Lindsay Fixmer, Steve Gately | August 24, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *North Cascades
Elevation: 6,200'

Our Expedition Skills Seminar - Shuksan team is enjoying nice weather here in the North Cascades. Our camp is tucked in at 6,200’ amongst stunning alpine scenery on the flanks of the Sulphide Glacier. We have unobstructed views on Shuksan’s summit pyramid to the north, and the northern Picket Range to the south. Baker Lake winds its way south through the valley bottom, far below us.

We just returned back to camp after a morning out on the glacier practicing various climbing skills such as ice axe arrest and cramponing. This afternoon we’ll work on some technical skills starting with knots and hitches.

Everyone is doing well and enjoying the alpine air.

Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter and Team

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Mt. Rainier: Mike Walter Recounts Their Week on the Kautz

Posted by: Mike Walter | August 21, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount Rainier

Our Kautz Expedition Skills Seminar team arrived back to RMI Basecamp in Ashford, Washington, yesterday evening. We enjoyed excellent weather during the six day program, and we took advantage of it to spend lots of time climbing and training in the mountains.
We trained on a variety of skills, including various knots and hitches, anchors, crevasse rescue, and ice climbing.
On our climb, we moved camps up the mountain and went for our summit push. The Kautz Route was in a very challenging condition, and our climbers did a great job of managing the terrain. The Kautz Ice Chute was at least eight pitches (150’ rope lengths) long, with some additional steep climbing above it. The ice presented challenging climbing at high altitude, and pushed our limits. Due to the challenging nature of the ascent and a technical descent ahead of us, we opted to turn our climb around at ~13,000’, at the top of the Wapowety Cleaver. It had taken us ten hours to get to this point and only a couple of hours of glacier travel stood between us and the summit of Mount Rainier. But, we knew we had our work cut out for us to safely descend the Ice Chute and return back to camp. Everything went smoothly and it still took us ten hours to descend.
A huge 20-hour day in the mountains is very challenging, and I’m proud of our climbers for staying strong throughout the entire journey. I hope everyone has enjoyed a shower, cold beer, and flip flops…

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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Mt. Rainier: August 18th Update

Posted by: Billy Nugent, Lindsay Fixmer, Mike Walter | August 18, 2014
Categories:
Elevation: 14,410'

The Four Day Summit Climb led by Billy Nugent and The Five Day Summit Climb led by Lindsay Fixmer reach the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning.  RMI Guide Billy Nugent reported beautiful weather and great climbing. The team spend some time on the summit enjoying the views and are now en route back to Camp Muir.

RMI Guide Mike Walter and team Checked in from the Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz. The team had a great day today. We hoisted heavy packs and left the parking lot at Paradise this morning. After about 15 minutes of hiking we left the well beaten path and descended on to the Nisqually Glacier. With crampons on and ice axes in hand, we traversed the Nisqually and gained the Wilson Glacier. The climbing involved some moving over steep rocks with heavy packs, as well as ascending some steep snow slopes. Everyone is doing well and we’re nestled in at our camp at 7600’ at the Sharkfin. It’s a beautiful night, and it’s a real treat to leave the crowds behind and have this wild place to ourselves.

Congratulations to the our Summit Climb Teams!

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Mt. Rainier: Climbs Unable to Summit due to weather

Posted by: Mike Walter, Zeb Blais | August 13, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,500'

The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Zeb Blais were unable to summit Mt. Rainier this morning, poor weather forced the groups to turn around at the bottom of Disappointment Cleaver.  The teams tried to wait out the weather and left Camp Muir later than normal but the ran and wet snow still forced them to abort their summit attempt of Mt. Rainier.  The teams will begin their descent from Camp Muir around 8:30 am en route to Paradise.

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Geoff Schellens was unable to make their summit attempt today due to poor weather conditions.

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Forbidden Peak: Walter Reflects on Great Climbs

Posted by: Mike Walter | August 09, 2014
Categories: *Expedition Dispatches *North Cascades

We just wrapped up our 5 day North Cascades Custom Climb in Boston Basin. Dan, Augie, and I took advantage of the excellent weather to get some serious climbing done on Sharkfin Tower, Sahale Mountain, and the West Ridge of Forbidden Peak. Special thanks to Dan and Augie for coming out to the Pacific Northwest to push their comfort zone with real alpine adventures and wild terrain. Let’s do it again next year!

RMI Guide Mike Walter

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