Entries By solveig waterfall

The first program of the 2017 Mt. Rainier season reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! RMI Guides Brent Okita and Solveig Waterfall led their Five Day Summit Climb teams from Camp Muir to the summit. Brent reported clear skies with windy conditions. Both teams began their descent shortly after 7 am. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to the Five Day Summit Climb teams!

Our acclimatization climb to Ingraham Flats went well today with beautiful weather. What a view of the mountain. Our guide training team went to the summit and prepped the route for us, so we should be in good shape for our climb tonight. Let's hope the wind and weather hold for us. I think it will. RMI Guide Brent Okita

Our final morning has been perfect. Warm, sunny weather just right for a last morning of training. Fixed rope work with ascenders, then an informative session learning about snow pits has topped off a wonderful week with a great team. Now, for a pleasant descent to Paradise then on to the luxuries of living at sea level. Though some have mentioned wanting to stay here another few days, I think we're all ready for a shower and some real food. It's been fun! RMI Guide Brent Okita

An attempt at the summit was not to be had given the avalanche conditions up high. So, instead we learned how to evaluate these conditions and deal with an avalanche rescue. In the afternoon we worked on some ice climbing skills, lowering folks into a large crevasse so they could claw and fight their way out. Everyone did great, and nobody was left in the hole. When we got back to Camp Muir, the team was still excited to do more, so we worked on advanced cramponing technique and belaying. I think everyone was psyched with how the weather has finally settled out and granted us some blue sky and mild winds. Tomorrow we address a few more skills, then head down to Basecamp in Ashford, and perhaps a beer and burger to celebrate a great week, and a fantastic crew. RMI Guide Brent Okita

After learning the fundamentals of glacier travel and snow and ice climbing, we put our newly honed skills to good use as we climbed to 11,000' to check out the upper mountain. Unfortunately, the weather came in fast and we had to beat a hasty retreat back to Camp Muir. What a fun day! RMI Guide Brent Okita

Our seminar started out on Sunday with some rainy weather, but that sure didn't get in the way of a great day of technical training at our facilities in Ashford. We got all prepared to make our way to Camp Muir the following day. On Monday we had to wait for the road to be plowed up to Paradise, but once we donned snowshoes at the trailhead it was all systems 'go'. Breaking trail through the new snow slowed our ascent some, but a windless day made the seven-hour hike bearable. The clouds even parted for the last half hour offering us a gorgeous view of the summit. Folks were all pretty happy when we finally got horizontal, and were still in that position when I woke them up eleven hours later. This morning we've been gifted a beautiful, sunny day with no wind. A rare thing at 10,000' on Mt. Rainier in April. Everyone is psyched and doing well, ready for an exciting day of training. This afternoon we plan on climbing to Ingraham Flats to explore the mountain some and get our feet wet on the lower flanks on our climbing route. All for now from Camp Muir. RMI Guide Brent Okita

Hello to everyone following the Mt. Shuksan Seminar. Tonight we are checking in from the North Cascades logging town of Sedro-Woolley, at the foot of Mt. Shuksan. Today was meant to be our summit attempt, but instead we awoke to pelting rain on our tents, similar to the weather we have been struggling with for the last four days. After having a group meeting and considering the options, we decided as a group to forego our summit bid in favor of descending to focus on training tomorrow. The weather forecast called for improving skies, but that has been the case each day and yet it continued to rain. We opted to find a dry place down here to ensure that we we able to finish all the training, rather then take the gamble on climbing and sit in a tent for another day. A hard decision to make, but one that we feel was right. Thanks for following along this week. Best, RMI Guides Eric Frank, Solveig Waterfall, Jenny Konway and the RMI Shuksan Seminar crew

Hello, this is RMI Guide Jenny Konway calling in from the low camp on Mount Shuksan here with the Shuksan Seminar. We had a great morning of training today out in the fog. It cleared up a little bit, and we saw some blue sky. This afternoon we attempted to go out and have some additional training, but got some heavy rain so we all retreated to our tents and had a good dinner. We are tucked in for the evening, hoping that the clouds we'll part in the morning and have a shot at the summit. So we're keeping our fingers crossed for nice weather. That's it for now. Thanks for following along. Have a good night. RMI Guide Jenny Konway

Hey, This is RMI Guide Eric Frank calling from the south side of Mt. Shuksan on a week long skills seminar. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are in our camp for the night had a great first day. We made it up just to the edge of tree line and it started to rain, so we made camp here. Everyone's doing well. Tomorrow Weather permitting we're hoping to go up to the glacier and do a little training for the day. Wish us luck and thanks for following along!

The Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides JJ Justman and Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team was decked out in Gore-Tex and down parkas as they climbed into a cap with cool temperatures and windy conditions. They have started their descent and are en route back to Camp Muir. Congratulations to today's team!