Entries from Mount Rainier
The
Four Day Summit Climb May 12 - 15 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.
RMI Guides Brent Okita and Solveig Waterfall led their teams on a cold but clear day. The teams will descend to Muir and then return to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
The
Mt. Rainier Four Day Summit Climb, led by
Casey Grom and
Christina Dale, turned at 12,800’ due to route conditions. The weather was mixed snow showers this morning and they received 14-18" of new snow overnight. The team is currently on their way back to Camp Muir.
The
Mt. Rainier Summit Climb, led by RMI Guides Ben Liken and Paul Rachele, turned just above Ingraham Flats this morning. A storm during the night dropped one to two feet of snow at Ingraham Flats, which also caused a high avalanche danger on the upper mountain.
The teams are safely off the mountain and enjoying some time here at Rainier Basecamp with their teammates.
The
Five Day Summit Climb May 8 - 12, 2017 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.
RMI Guides Elias de Andres Martos and Chase Nelson led a small group of climbers to the summit via the Ingraham Direct route. Elias reported strong winds with clear skies with improving conditions and a nice day. After a windy first night at Camp Muir and poor weather yesterday, we are glad this team was able to make a summit attempt.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
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
WOW! Incredible trip, Sheila! You are an inspiration!
Posted by: Peg on 5/9/2017 at 5:51 pm
Shout to Sheila from James here in Clearwater Beach Florida. One of my favorite mountains seen many of times from a plane or on a clear day when I lived in Seattle. Looking forward to pics and hearing about your adventure.
Posted by: James Whitstt on 5/9/2017 at 3:47 pm
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