Entries from Mount Rainier

The Four Day Climb, September 27 - 30, enjoyed a beautiful sunrise this morning on Mt. Rainier.  Weather conditions and new snow on the route prevented them from reaching the summit today, however, they did ascend to Ingraham Flats to check out the views.  The group has descended from Camp Muir and will return to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.

This is our final program for the 2019 Mt. Rainier season.  Thank you for following along with our climbs!

The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb team, led by RMI Guides Mike King and Josh McDowell, called in from Camp Muir.  There are six inches of new snow and winds that drifted the snow to knee deep at Camp Muir. The team is doing fine and will ascend up to Ingraham Flats before they begin their descent back to Paradise.

Our Four Day Climb Teams led by Mike Walter and JT Schmitt were turned just before Disappointment Cleaver on their summit attempt. Mike Walter reported single digit temperatures, and deteriorating weather. The team is back at Camp Muir and will be back at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.

Congratulations to today’s team!

So far we’ve had a tremendous trip.

Our first day started cold and rainy, which posed no problem for us given that our training that day was largely spent indoors or at least under the cover of a roof overhead. That day was spent doing some technical training,  going through equipment needed for the week,  and getting to know one another.
Day 2, Monday,  we moved to Camp Muir on what ended up being a fairly nice day. The group was impressive moving uphill,  with nobody having difficulty with the 4,500’ hike up the snowfield.

Tuesday was a very full day as we covered all the skills we needed to climb the mountain. Following our skills session we ventured out onto the Cowlitz Glacier to practice what we learned and better understand just how glaciers behaved.Following this it was back to Muir to prepare for our climb. A summit talk,  early dinner and early bedtime set us up for our climb. Waking up at 1:00am and walking at 2:00, we were immediately challenged by high winds. Unfortunately, the winds haunted us all day, making for a difficult climb. But we persevered and got lucky,  summiting just after 8:00am.

The team did great and we’re all enjoying some well deserved rest.

Talk again tomorrow,

RMI Guide Brent Okita & Team

The Four Day Climb teams led by Andy Bond and JT Schmitt heading up to Camp Muir for their climb tomorrow, September 23rd, decided to turn around in the face of bad weather. The team made it to just before the Muir Snowfield where they took a cold and wet break and discussed the realities of their situation. The weather above them was the same but with freezing temperatures and higher winds, making an ascent to Camp Muir too dangerous to continue. The team celebrated their high point and returned to Paradise where they were shuttled back to dry clothes and hot beverages.

The Four Day Climb September 19 - 22 led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Ben Liken were forced to turn back at 13,300’ this morning due to high winds and deteriorating weather.  The groups will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise later this morning.

Summit!
Mt. Rainier received some new snow over the last week filling in the route but today’s climb was able to persevere and make tracks to the top. We have had some teams as well as route workers chip away at it when weather and conditions warranted, which helped tremendously. Thank you to all of them and congratulations to today’s summit climbers!

RMI Guides Brent Okita & Josh McDowell

The Four Day Climb teams led by Andy Bond and Nick Scott heading up to Camp Muir for their climb tomorrow, September 16th, decided to retreat in the face of blizzard conditions. The team made it just past Pebble Creek and onto the Muir Snowfield despite heavy rains. However, at about 7,300’ the heavy rains quickly turned into blowing sideways ice and snow which forced them to make the collective safety decision to turn around and head back to Paradise. The team made their descent and are back in town wearing dry layers and sipping warm drinks.

Today’s Mt. Rainier summit climb, led by Brent Okita and JT Schmitt, was unable to go beyond Camp Muir due to blizzard conditions.  High winds were reported through the night gusting 80 mph. The team is currently on their descent from Camp Muir and will be at Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.

The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Robby Young and Alex Halliday reached Ingraham Flats today but high winds forced the team to turn. They are currently at Camp Muir with winds blowing steadily at 40 mph. They will plan an early departure, and will be back at Rainier Basecamp in the early afternoon.

Congratulations team!