When we arrived in Ecuador last weekend it had been rainy for weeks on end. Even the first couple days of this trip were quite stormy in the afternoons. But over the last couple days the patterns have been changing for the better. This morning we leave the Chilcabamba Eco Lodge and have our fingers crossed for one more day of good weather! Tomorrow is the main event, Cotopaxi summit day, and the excitement is palpable. Looking out the main window of the dining room at Chilcabamba we can see the summit of Cotopaxi and most of the route.
Included in the pictures are a couple from Iliniza Norte yesterday and one of Cotopaxi from the back porch at Chilcabamba.
The rain finished sometime during the night and left partly cloudy skies for our morning walk out of Phak Ding. These improved to sunny, clear and blue skies for a few hours as we wandered the trail through the small villages and farms along the Dudh Khosi. The trails were quite busy with trekking groups and heavily laden porters. There were numerous groups from Europe and Japan but none that we recognized as being from the United States.
I walked along with Erica and Ed Dohring and Seth Waterfall. We didn't do much instructing as to how to walk or climb the steps in the trail. Ed and Erica do hike plenty, in addition to the mountaineering they've accomplished. I did ask them to slow down just a bit to match my pace, hoping that I'd be able to pass on a rate appropriate for all we needed to accomplish today. The main wisdom I try to impart at this stage of a long climb is simply an awareness that our performance on any given day is an integral part of our overall performance. For instance, it wouldn't have been so useful for us to attempt to set some speed record on the day moving to Namche if that meant being wasted for our first night at a new and significant altitude. Conversely, walking too slowly toward our intended goal could tire us out just as much by keeping us on our feet with packs on our backs for too long. It isn't like figuring solutions to the world's financial troubles or landing spacecraft on Mars, but walking uphill is none-the-less my specialty and it turns out that getting the walk to Namche right is crucial for climbing Mount Everest.
Everest didn't show itself for us today, but we were granted tremendous views -seemingly straight up- to the wildly fluted snow-faces guarding Thamserku's pointy summit. There was an unreal contrast between the rock and ice we could see by tilting our heads and the lush pine forests we walked through. We passed the odd flowering rhododendron and still a number of blossoming cherry and apple trees, though not quite as many of these once we'd gone through the gates of the Sagarmatha National Park and gradually started to gain a bit of altitude. My little gang enjoyed a hot lunch at the picnic tables outside a teahouse with members of our "production team" (Jake, Cherie, John and Tom) while the other climbers continued on toward the big "Namche Hill" -anxious to get the day's work done.
The sky clouded up again and vaguely threatened rain as we continued along the Dudh Khosi. I found myself recognizing boulders and bridges along the way and remembering the friends/partners/clients from past expeditions who'd lounged here or there and stopped to take pictures in this or that spot. As we walked I counted myself lucky that most of the people in my memories were still my friends after those expeditions. In these days when I have to so often justify going back to the same mountains year after year, I wonder if I'd get away with that as a worthy argument... that they remind me of good people.
Of course the big Namche Hill reminds me of a lot of good and sweaty people. We gained over two thousand vertical feet on the dusty switchbacks, passing lots and lots of porters straining under loads of hand-hewn lumber. Someone up-valley must be building a wooden WalMart. In mid-afternoon, we crested the hills and rolled into Namche, the Sherpa capital. I bumped into a number of Sherpa friends in the narrow streets and as we passed along I just got in the habit of saying "Namaste" to all the shopkeepers, whether I recognized them or not. We caught up with the rest of our team enjoying the lemon tea at the Camp de Base guest house, where we'll spend the next three nights. And now I'm sitting at the comfy dining room tables looking up at the usual posters of Hans Kammerlander, Hillary and Tenzing, and the Dalai Lama. We are home in the Khumbu.
After some long days of walking and training, the Emmon's seminar led by RMI guide Jack Delaney reached the summit of Mt. Rainier. The team will enjoy their descent to Camp Schurman and a nice dinner before resting up for their walk out of the backcountry and drive back to Ashford tomorrow afternoon. Nice work team!
RMI Guides James Bealer and Ellison Boord met their team for the Mt. Baker Leave No Trace Master Educator Course and Climb on Friday, August 26th for their first day of a six day training course and climb. After their Orientation day the team set up mountain camps, practiced Leave No Trace skills and travel as well as learned glacier travel skills. Yesterday the team made their summit attempt of Mt. Baker via the Easton Glacier route. They returned to camp for their final night in the mountains. Their program will conclude today with a celebration in Sedro-Woolley.
The Four Day Climb Teams led by RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier and Matias Francis turned at 12,000' on Mt. Rainier today. Dustin reported high winds of 60 mph on the upper mountain that forced the teams to turn before reaching the summit. The team climbed safely back to Camp Muir and plan to depart at 11 am today. They will reach Paradise in the early afternoon.
The Four Day Climb July 26 - 29, 2022 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. RMI Guides Alan Davis & Dustin Wittmier led today's climbers to the crater at 14,410'. Warm temperatures and clear skies continue, allowing great views in all directions. The team began their descent from the crater rim around 6:20 am and are making their way back to Camp Muir. After a quick stop at Muir, the teams will continue the final 4,500' descent to Paradise and transfer to Rainier Basecamp. The team will conclude thier program this afternoon with a celebration.
My Favorite Training & What Worked
I recently got to attempt my summit of Mt. Rainier. Although we were not able to reach the summit because the route was impassable, I was in the best shape of my life and was able to reflect on all of my training, what worked, what didn’t, and what I enjoyed doing to train for the climb.
A lot of my training worked quite well to get me ready for my climb. Here are a few of the exercises that worked best:
GymStairs/Stepmill: The stepmill became my best friend while at the gym prepping for Mt. Rainier. It was very functional movement that would let me do interval training, side stepping, and long climbing durations.
Versa climber: The versa climber is an amazing cardio tool that I discovered at the ProClub in Bellevue. It serves as great cardio combined with functional movement and is very difficult to do for long periods of time. This was one of my love/hate relationships at the gym given the benefit I took away from it.
Running: Running is something that I hate in this world… especially on a treadmill. I prefer hiking and getting outdoors. However, I could not ignore the benefit that running gave me in general conditioning. I tried to get outside as much as possible, cover distance, and put in hill/stair training while I was out to break up the monotony.
Mountain Conditioning Course: This was one of my favorite parts of training. The ProClub in Bellevue offers a class twice a week that is solely focused on conditioning for hiking. This class offered a social aspect to my training with people who were training for Mt. Rainier, the Enchantments, Everest Base Camp as well as others who had already summited Mt. Rainier. This class offered circuit training, conditioning, and strength training all combined into functional movement.
Hiking
Hiking was one of the best things that I was able to incorporate into my training. What better way to train for a hike than hiking itself? The best part of my hiking training was the confidence in my abilities that some of these bigger hikes gave me once on Mt. Rainier.
• Mailbox Peak: 6mi round trip, 3100’ elevation gain, 4800’ highest point
• Colchuck Lake + Aasgard Pass: 11mi round trip, 4400’ elevation gain, 7841’ highest point
Altitude
Training at altitude was another key to feeling good on my summit attempt. I traveled to Colorado to bag some 14ers and did Camp Muir once. Knowing how the altitude would impact me and quickly learning the benefit of pressure breathing were key in my training.
Colorado: A week before my climb I had the opportunity to go to Denver for work which provided me the chance to hike several peaks over 14,000’ and see what the altitude would do to me. Additionally, this gave me a chance to do back to back days of serious hikes to see how a climb to Muir followed by a summit day would be like.
• Grays & Torreys: 8.25mi round trip, 3600’ elevation gain, 14270’ highest elevation
• Quandry: 6.75 mi round trip, 3450’ elevation gain, 14265’ highest elevation
Camp Muir: 10mi round trip, 4600’ elevation gain, 10000’ highest elevation
I only climbed Camp Muir once during my training even though it was one of the best training hikes near Seattle. I did this for several reasons - first, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do that part of the route so that when my trip came I could approach it with confidence. Second, I did not want that route to turn into what the Tiger Mountain cable line trail had become to be - a dreaded training hike that was no longer fun (I was doing that trail twice a week for training).
Backpacking: Pratt Lake: 11.5mi round trip, 3000’ elevation gain, 4200’ highest elevation
Backpacking was a fun part of my training where I carried over-weight pack for an overnight and I was able to test out my gear and equipment while out in the field. This was a great opportunity to check out my pack, boots, and clothing to ensure they were the right fit and equipment for the summit attempt.
Things I Wish I Had Done More
There were a few things that after attempting my summit I wish I had done more of in my training routine:
Hike more with full pack weight or an overweight pack: Carrying a 40 pound pack up the mountain and at elevation can start to tire even the most fit people. Training more with what that weight would feel like and just making it a part of every hike earlier on would have made a big difference. On each hike I did I would add in a decent amount of weight (25-30lbs) but only hiked at full weight once. Going back, I would have started with full weight much earlier in my training time and even gone overweight to help my body be stronger when I was at elevation.
Hike at a steady pace for long durations: RMI does a great job at managing energy expenditure if you listen to their advice. One thing that our guide targeted was that no matter the difficulty of the terrain that our energy expenditure would be the same. For example, if it was flat we might move a bit faster but that would be the same energy required as slowly going up a steep part. In my training I found myself hiking for a bit and taking 15-30sec resting periods and continuing vs going for a hour and then breaking. Although my micro rests were very helpful and made me move very fast, they were not ultimately the slow steady pace I would need for alpine climbing. Looking back I would have tried to maintain steady paces/energy expenditures for the duration of my training hikes, taking scheduled breaks and pushing myself through the tough points where I traditionally took a micro break.
All in all, all of my training was beneficial to the climb but there were definitely some things that helped more than others. I will make some tweaks to my training schedule before my next climb, and start carrying a heavier pack for training earlier. It is very important to invest in your training and start early because I saw more than one climber struggle with their fitness on the mountain. On a rope team, you are either an asset or a liability, and at the end of the day, all of your training is putting more fuel into your Mt. Rainier summiting fuel tank. So train hard and be an asset to your team - it only makes your climb better!
- Jeff Marcoux
_____
Jeff Marcoux is an avid hiker & lover of micro brews who lives with his wife in Seattle, WA.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
I can only confirm what Jeff said about hiking with weight before the actual effort to get up Rainier. I trained with a 50 lb pack for weeks so that the actual pack weight would be less no matter what. I also hiked for, at least, an hour and a half at a time with no breaks to approximate the pace on the mountain. That alone helped me push through the tough spots.
This morning was our first time waking up with thin nylon walls as our shelter instead of the plywood walls of our tea house rooms. At Everest Base Camp, located almost exactly at 17,500 feet, the eery sounds of the Khumbu glacier popping and shifting, the rock and ice falling from nearby mountain walls and sleep sounds of your tent neighbors were all part of the range of audible noises heard as throughout the night.
As the first rays of light creeped in we reluctantly began to pull ourselves from the warmth of our down sleeping bags and being careful not to rub the tent walls because of the frost that had condensed on them would sprinkle off and create an small snow shower inside the tent itself. Estimated outside temps were likely in the high teens last night making it our coldest night yet.
Once packed and filled with more food than our stomachs could bear, we said goodbye to the wonderful base camp staff and headed back the way we came, retracing our steps through growing camps preparing for their soon to be arriving climbing g teams.
The days was beautiful and cool making the five hour walk back to Lobuche nice and comfortable. After arriving back at the hotel eco resort, we began to prepare our bags and equipment for the exciting move to Lobuche High Camp tomorrow. This shift from trekking to climbing mode has all of us psyched to be headed into the more technical and demanding part of our journey. I think we are all ready.
Stay tuned for a report from 18,500 feet tomorrow evening.
RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Steve Gately and the Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir Team spent a fun week on Mt. Rainier learning new mountaineering skills such as snow & ice anchors, crevasse rescue, ice climbing, fixed line travel, belaying and other technical skills needed to tackle the world's greatest peaks. The team spend their time training on the Cowlitz and Ingraham glaciers that surround Camp Muir and made it to Ingraham Flats at 11,200' to enjoy the incredible views of other peaks in the Cascade Range.
Wishing you Clear sky on Cotopaxi Dustin!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 11/5/2021 at 3:05 am
View All Comments