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Just a quick note to you that everyone here at Annapurna is safe. Yesterday everyone came down off the mountain to wait out some heavy storms. It had been snowing steadily all day today when the large earthquake struck just before noon. It was so forceful! It felt as if we were inside a snow globe being shaken by God. The storm kept us from seeing much but we could hear avalanches ripping down the mountains all around us. The roar was so loud I thought we'd surely be hit. Annapurna Base Camp is situated on a muddy ridge clinging to an adjacent mountain. During the earthquake large sections peeled off and cascaded down some 800ft to the glacier below. Totally insane, but nothing made it to us, and everyone is safe here. My thoughts go out to everyone in Nepal, especially my friends in Kathmandu and over on Everest. Climbing Update: The 24th of April I descend all the way from Camp 4 at 7000m on Annapurna to base camp. But before I get into why I descended without attempting the summit I'll talk about the earthquake. It had been snowing steadily all morning today when, at around noon, a large earthquake struck. The earthquake was so forceful, it felt as if we were inside a snow globe being shaken by God. The storm kept us from seeing much but we could hear avalanches ripping down everywhere. The roar was so loud I thought we'd surely be hit. Annapurna Base Camp is situated on a muddy ridge clinging to a adjacent mountain. During the earthquake large sections peeled off and cascaded down some 800ft to the glacier below. Totally insane. As I write this another roar of what sounds to be a massive avalanche rips down Annapurna. On the 23rd I made my way up from Camp 3 to Camp 4. The route is straight-forward. It starts with a low angle section of ice up a serac out of camp 3. To a traversing section of steep snow then a long ramp to C4. The ramp connects the German Rib with the summit area of Annapurna. The ramp is a slope of 30 to 45 degrees and it was covered in fresh deep snow up to waist deep. That afternoon myself and another team set up camp underneath a serac at 7000m. Their plan was to start out that same night with their 4 Sherpa guides to leave at 8pm to break the route and the 4 members of their group to follow at 9pm. I decided not to attempt the summit because: - Too cold of a night to climb without supplemental oxygen - Retreat would be difficult at night as the wind was blowing too much snow and covering the track. - no previous time spent above 18,000', so I was not properly acclimatized. - too much technical ground below us - with forecasted storm by Noon the next day. - high risk of avalanche if caught above camp 2 after the storm. I descended from C4 the morning of the 23rd. As I was leaving, the members of the team that had attempted to summit started straggling in from their failed summit attempt. They were too tired to descend from C4. I re-broke the route to C3 in sketchy and quite heavy deep snow. As I dropped down a final steep descent before Camp 3 on an arm wrap rappel, I plunged into a concealed crevasse. I was already feeling quite sick from overheating in my down suit. The sun had come out and started slowly deep frying me in the down suit. But luckily I was stable enough that I could wriggle out of the suit without falling any further. Half way in a hole, about to vomit from overheating and my arm wrap biting into my forearm, I comically rolled down into C3. I was moaning in discomfort, dry heaved a few times, and laid there motionless for a time. I had to get moving again though, because the weather was coming in fast. I cached a few things at Camp 3 and started rappelling off the serac whose top forms the flat surface of camp 3. The route down the German Rib is steep and riddled with crevasses and alpine ice. But large areas of the route had deep snow blown in from the night prior. ... Another large avalanche is ripping down Annapurna... this place is quite unstable since the earthquake. Soon after completing my descent from the serac I, twice, stuck a leg into a concealed crevasse while rappelling down the further slope. I shouted to a Sherpa named Pemba from the summit team that we'd better employ the buddy system and re-break the route together. As we started down the visibility went to zero and a heavy fall of snow started. About midway down we lost our rappel lines and started carefully climbing down without the safety of the lines. Searching the snow with our ice tools for the rappel lines while slowly inching our way down. We were In a couloir with seracs all around and above us, my mind kept telling me we were in a very dangerous place to be moving so slowly. A few minutes before finding the lines again we set off a small slab slide 3 ft to our right. Things were getting spooky! Finally, we made the last rappel onto the glacier below the German Rib. Now the last hurdle was finding camp 2 in a whiteout. An island of safety in the insanely dangerous glacial field below the crosshairs couloir and sickle ice cliffs. In the reduced visibility we wove through large ice blocks of avalanche debris by GPS. We moved with baited breath - hoping not to hear that tell tale rumble that has become such a familiar sound to me here at Annapurna. The Korean team a day earlier had had a near miss right in this area. After having been on the move on a very scary mountain, in terrible weather, for 11 hours I finally arrived at Base Camp at 8:40pm that night. Descending through deep snow and limited visibility all day. At Base Camp I found out that an avalanche had hit the team at camp 4 earlier that night. No one was hurt but they had to cut their way out of their tents. They were also all exhausted from their summit attempt. Including one climber who had frostbite on his hands and one suffering from HAPE. They would later be rescued via helicopter. Three of the 5 teams here at Base Camp are leaving, The team that attempted the summit blew their oxygen supply. Another team's Sherpas bailed because of concerns that Annapurna wasn't to be climbed this year. The mountain is angry. Yet another small team's permit has run out. I was planning to stay until mid-May as now I am acclimatized and my equipment is cached. However, with recent events I'm not sure what will happen, there's a lot of hearsay... and Annapurna sounds extremely unstable right now. I've heard at least three avalanches while I was writing this. -RMI Guide Alex Barber

The Four Day Climb August 27 - 30 led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Henry Coppolillo reached the summit of Mt. Rainier around 6:15 am today.  It's a beautiful and clear day on the mountain.  The teams enjoyed an hour in the summit crater before starting their descent.  They will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing down to Paradise. Their program will conclude this afternoon at Rainier BaseCamp.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

The Five-Day teams led by Steve Gately and Matias Francis enjoyed a beautiful walk to the Ingraham Flats this morning. The team decided not to climb due to unfavorable route conditions but enjoyed two days of great weather and lots of hands-on training. The teams will pack up camp and head downhill this morning. We expect the teams back at Basecamp in the early afternoon.

We are happy to announce that the Lobuche climbing team successfully reached the summit this morning at roughly 10 am.  It was a much more demanding climb than originally thought but everyone pushed hard and gave it all they had resulting in 100% of the team making it to the summit. Because the day was so challenging, we got down much later than expected so we are currently still at High Camp.  We will descend in the morning to hot showers, wi fi and beer!   All of the guides are proud of today's efforts.  Stay tuned for a more detailed description later.

RMI Guide Hannah Smith

Ice season is almost upon us here in Bozeman, Montana with many other U.S. ice destinations soon to follow. I find it very difficult to train for ice climbing this time of year - you want to get comfortable on your tools again, but there isn’t any ice forming yet. These are a few of my favorite pre-season workouts that can get you stronger before you get to swing those picks into a column of ice. First, I say any climbing is better than no climbing. The rock gym can be a great place to start building upper body strength, balance, and grip strength. I usually warm up by pulling on plastic for an hour or so, mostly easy to moderate routes with two or three that really push me. The goal is to get a little pumped but not so spent that I can’t do a workout after. I take 10-15 minutes to cool down, drink some water, get out of my climbing gear, and transition to the weights. When I am training specifically for ice climbing I focus most of my efforts on forearms and triceps with some shoulder and bicep work to stay balanced. In my opinion, the best exercises mimic the actual motions done in ice climbing. So, my first go-to ice climbing workout is simply to grab a light dumbbell, 6-12lbs, and hold it like you would an ice tool.  If you can watch yourself in the mirror it can help to make sure you maintain good form.  Loosely hold the weight in one hand and cock it back over your shoulder, keep your wrist, elbow, and shoulder all in line, and slowly swing the weight like you would an ice tool. Finish with the wrist flick so the weight is just in front of your body, I like to keep my other hand touching my elbow, which helps to encourage good form.  Dead hangs are another great exercise you can do almost anywhere. If you can use your tools that’s the best; I put the picks of both ice tools over a pull-up bar, grab both tools, and hang with elbows slightly bent for 10 seconds. If you are doing it correctly your shoulders should be engaged. I try to draw my shoulder blades towards each other. Do this for 10 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 10 rounds; that is one set for me, and I try to do 3 sets per workout. Don’t push yourself and tweak a shoulder though, or all this training is for nothing. Start with what makes sense for you and then slowly add repetitions, sets, or increase the time of each dead hang. I often integrate sets into my whole workout so I don’t get too bored. Next: pull-ups. Find out what your max is and then go for 50-80% of that for three sets. If 10 pull-ups is your threshold, do three sets of 5-8. Try to increase this number over time. Again I mix these into the whole workout so that I have some time to recover. There are a number of great exercises for grip strength and forearms; I constantly switch it up. The standing bar – rope - weight workout is a great one. With a small bar, stick, or dowel, tie a 5-foot rope to the center and a weight on the other end of the rope. With your arms straight out in front of you slowly twist the bar in your hands to wrap the rope up and lift the weight then reverse the motion to lower it back to the ground. Maintain good form and keep your arms parallel to the ground.  Another forearm workout that I really like is to grab two dumbbells of moderate weight, 5-15 lbs, and hold one in each hand. Slowly I let the weights roll down my palm and fingers until they are close to falling out of my hands and then bring them back up.  The first few will leave you asking, “what is the point of this?” by rep 20 you will be screaming for mercy.  The plate pinch is both a forearm and grip exercise. Grab two plates, 2.5, 5, or 10lbs, and position them together so the smooth sides face out.  Simply pinch them together with one hand and let them hang by your side.  You are going for time here, see how long you can hold it first and then aim for three sets in each hand.  Gradually add more and more time over a few weeks. Finally, another fantastic grip strength workout is a spring or rubber doughnut trainer. I keep one in my car and try to use it at every red light. These are just a few of the upper body workouts that I use when I am patiently, or not so patiently, waiting for temperatures to drop and ice to start forming. I hope you enjoy these and I look forward to seeing you all out on the ice soon. _____ Geoff Schellens is a certified AMGA Rock Guide, Apprentice Alpine Guide, and an avid ice climber. He lives in Bozeman, MT, and will be leading an expedition to Denali's Upper West Rib this spring. Comments? Questions? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!

Before sunup on the 24th of May, the RMI Everest climbing team left Camp III at 24,000 ft on the Lhotse Face, bound for a shot at the top of Mount Everest. The only trouble was that everybody else on the mountain had the same idea at the very same time. We were shocked to see how many climbers were already on the fixed lines. Estimates ran to as many as two hundred, although it was later figured that a fair proportion were simply doing carries to the upper camps and weren't intent on staying at Camp IV or climbing for the summit. Suffice to say that we couldn't set our own pace for climbing, but eventually, by keeping going when other teams elected to take breaks, we made it into the open above the difficult Yellow Band at 25,000 ft. The Geneva Spur didn't present a significant barrier to our reaching 26,000 ft by late morning. There we found a steady wind and our Sherpa team building tents on the South Col. It was easy enough for our team to get in and start re-hydrating and resting for a summit climb, but it was tougher trying to get a read on the conditions that climb would be undertaken in. A quick count revealed about fifty other tents pitched on the Col, and a few impromptu meetings with other climb leaders decided us that perhaps in excess of a hundred climbers would be going for the summit that night. The winds continued and the latest forecasts confirmed that a ribbon of 50 mile-per-hour air would still be menacing the mountain for a further 24 hours. We looked at the steep triangular face and saw that its middle third would entail loose rock with a good chance for some of that getting kicked loose onto teams below. So there were three things that didn't work well for us… rock, crowds and wind. We made preparations for a climb, but we also began to explore the possibility of delaying 24 hours and shooting for May 26th as a summit day. We each knew that we'd be putting all our eggs in one final basket by doing such a thing. We had resources for such a delay, but we didn't have unlimited resources. If we skipped the 25th, with its known problems, we'd have to take the 26th with its unknown problems… or go home without a summit. We tried to hedge our bets, telling our Sherpa team that we'd still prepare to get up in the night unless the winds were still blowing. At 10 PM, long after the other teams had left for the top and were to be seen as a Christmas parade all up and down the Triangular Face, the winds were still strong. We committed to the next night. It was a slightly surreal day, as always, hanging out at 8000 meters on May 25th. We wondered whether we'd missed our shot as the neighboring teams came down with a summit under their belts and not too many bad stories to tell, after all. Yes it had been windy and cold and crowded, but most seemed to have done ok and there certainly weren't new tragedies to report. Finally, in the late afternoon of the 25th, the winds began to die down. That was encouraging, but our headcount for the coming summit day was less encouraging. We'd assumed we'd be up the hill with perhaps fifty climbers, but as we prepared dinner and turned in, we'd become aware of about 80 or 90. And nearly all of these climbers were leaving quite early for the top (as in about 7 or 8 PM). There was no way to beat them out the door without simply aiming to summit in the middle of the night (a bitterly cold and slightly unrewarding proposition). We'd set out afterward and take our chances on being able to pass people when we needed to. Our alarms rang at 10 PM and we ate, drank and geared up for two hours in delightful stillness. The South Col was dead calm and quiet with the wind absent and the vast majority of the climbers already well up toward the balcony. Lam Babu Sherpa would stay at the South Col, just in case, while Tsherring, Kadji and Passang accompanied the four person climbing team. We set out at midnight and four hours later topped the balcony in perfect conditions. A half hour later we experienced an incredibly colorful sunrise and things got slightly easier, even as we took on the steep slopes below the South Summit. At the South Summit around 7 AM we crested to see an amazing and at first, frightening, phenomenon. There were at least a hundred climbers lined up waiting to descend the summit ridge. At any given point there seemed to be about 8 climbers simultaneously on the Hillary Step and dozens upon dozens on the tricky rock features between us and the step. We decided we had no choice but to sit and wait patiently in the small dip past the South Summit. There was no practical way that we could pass so many climbers on such awkward terrain. The wait turned into an hour-and-a-half, which made each of us quite nervous… since such a thing is very much the definition of not being in control of one's climb… but then we each had to remind ourselves that conditions were benign. There was zero wind, the sun was shining and there was plenty of time left in the day. Also, we salivated at the prospect of having the mountain to ourselves after the long conga line of climbers passed on their way down. Finally we stood up, shouldered our packs and shook off the cold. It didn't take long then to scramble across the ridge, up the Hillary Step and onto the summit. It turned out that three or four climbers were on the summit from the Tibet side, but that didn't stop us from thoroughly enjoying about 55 minutes on top. We had unlimited views and a very happy team as we connected with Lam back at the South Col, Yuberaj at Camp II and Mark Tucker down at Basecamp. The descent took just a matter of hours, since there was virtually no traffic left high on the mountain. We came back into the South Col feeling satisfied, but also knowing that the big work of the day was yet-to-come. We needed to pack up camp and descend a mile to ABC in the Western Cwm. With heavy packs and hot down suits we slid down the ropes for hours and hours. Past the Geneva Spur, past the Yellow Band, past Lhotse Camp IV and Everest Camp III… down to the part of the face that suddenly seemed to be melting under our very crampons. In the space of two days, spring had turned to summer and it seemed the climbing season was supposed to be over. We were greatly relieved to hit the bottom of the wall in safety and to trudge into ABC just after sunset. Morning still held a little anxiety for us as we each knew we'd have to successfully wend our way through the Khumbu Icefall one more time. The word was that it was crumbling and collapsing and heating up. And that turned out to be true, but we saw that the Icefall Doctors were doing a magnificent job keeping a route cobbled together through the mess. We took our time and placed our feet carefully and eventually hit all of the comfort and safety of base camp by mid-afternoon on the 27th of May. The 28th was shower-and-pack-and-keep-fingers-crossed-day for the climbing team. Showering and packing for the obvious reasons, but keeping fingers crossed because the Sherpa team still had a final day of working in the Icefall to get all the gear down. Their strength and skill and our finger-crossing worked because they emerged victorious and unscathed by mid-day. The climb was over. By the morning of the 29th, we'd heard that there were long delays for those attempting to get fixed-wing flights from Lukla. The monsoon had worked its way into the lower valleys already and the weather was sloppy with cloud and rain. Instead we arranged a series of memorable helicopter rides from base camp to Kathmandu. There was plenty of hurry-up and wait… there was awe at the beauty of mountains and gorges seen from the air, there was sheer terror at the power of thunderstorms on small aircraft, there was gratitude for the skill of the pilots we'd watched performing miraculous rescues all season long… and at the end of the day yesterday, there was an easy dinner in a Kathmandu restaurant and a comfy hotel bed. Soon there will be home. Thank You Very Much for keeping track of our expedition. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

It has been a very satisfying past two days as we have descended from high camp with our sights set on Lukla and the flight ready to take us back to Kathmandu.   

On Monday we left our beautiful camp situated at 17,200 feet on the western flanks of Lobuche peak and began our descent towards Pangboche, where we would spend the night.  We passed many other camps of expeditions who will use this mountain as a warmup for Everest in the coming months; acclimatizing enough to hopefully skip a rotation through the dreaded Khumbu ice fall which looks quite treacherous this season compared to years past.  After getting through the valley and back onto the main trail, we were astonished by how much the river had risen due the warming temperatures compared to crossing it just a week previous.  The weather and temperatures are definitely concerning because of the impacts on the glaciers and the volatility it creates in the mountains.  We are glad to have climbed when we did and be finished before things get too melted.   

Upon our arrival in Pheriche, we ate some lunch, repacked a few things then hit the dusty trail for a few more hours of walking down to Pangboche.  Feeling happy about our climb and healthy from the thick oxygen of 13,000 feet, the team went out for beers before dinner and enjoyed a couple hours of well-deserved free time resulting in fun conversation and reflection of the trip.  By 8:30, we were mostly in bed resting for yet another day of walking to Namche.   

Come morning we put the ball in motion almost automatically by this point and headed off by 8:15 for our 10 miles to Namche.   This team is now very accustomed to these distances, and we arrived in Camp de Base by 2:00 pm leaving us a solid few hours to shower, rest and shop before needing to eat more food, which is the general past time we all need to indulge in because three meals a day is no joke.   

Now, at 9:00pm on Tuesday evening we are back in our rooms ready for 10 more hours of sleep before biting off the last leg to Lukla tomorrow.   This place is almost indescribable in both beauty and hospitality, but nothing beats home after a long visit.   

Stay tuned to see if we can fly when scheduled.   It is often times the most unpredictable part of the trip.  

Adam Knoff

The Four Day Climb August 28 - 31 led by RMI Guides Avery Parrinello and Jack Delaney were unable to summit today.  Climbers reached 12,300, the top of Disappointment Cleaver, before deciding to turn back due to unfavorable route conditions and warm temperatures.  The teams were back to Camp Muir just after 7 am.  They took some time to repack before beginning their descent from Camp Muir back to Paradise. We expect the groups to be at Rainier BaseCamp in the early afternoon.

Our team enjoyed a rest day at Camp 2 (ABC) today. Their plan is to head for Camp 3 tomorrow. This really is the start of the Mt. Everest summit push in my eyes. How the next two days go, can have real impact on the summit day. It is so hard to try and maintain strength at these higher camps that you better hope the internal battery is charged, you will be drawing off of your reserves for sure. The team is focusing on eating and hydrating, keeping their bodies strong and ready. Four of our climbing Sherpa left Base Camp today and joined the climbers at ABC. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to the next few days. RMI Guide Dave Hahn is one of the best mountain guides in the business. With many expeditions under his belt, he knows how to climb this mountain. The weather forecast still looks promising. Good luck to the team! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

It was a wee bit chilly overnight as the clear skies allowed all the heat to escape into outer space. So, we did what any responsible mountaineer would and we waited until the sun was directly upon us before leaving our tents. After a tasty breakfast of bagels, cream cheese, and salmon lox, we ourselves got locked and loaded, ready for glacier travel! After 6ish hours of a slightly less heinous trail breaking through deep snow we arrived at our new campsite.

Our camp is in the middle of two mountain saddles, perfectly situated to catch maximum early morning and late evening sunshine. The rest of the day was consumed by building camp and consuming burritos. We got to bed under overcast skies and were excited to see what tomorrow will bring!

Cheerio,

RMI Guides Jack, Mike and the Ruth Team