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Wednesday, June 8, 2022 - 10:43 pm PT
Well would you look at that, we’re back at it again. We walked the same stretch as yesterday but today it was both hotter and harder. The team persevered and marched into 14,000' Camp in good style. It was a long day breaking down camp, moving and then setting up again. After a quick burrito meal everyone crawled into bed for some well deserved rest.
Sweet dreams blog reader. I know we will be sleeping well tonight.
Chip chip cheerio,
RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the team.
RMI's Four Day Summit Climb Team reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.
RMI Guide Casey Grom reported a beautiful day with light winds and cold temperatures.
The team will return to Camp Muir for a quick break and then continue to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb team!
Hi everyone this is JJ Justman for the Mount Elbrus expedition. Today we had a great day here on Cheget Peak. We had a great acclimatization hike on a very beautiful clear sunny day. We had fantastic views of
Mount Elbrus and we topped out at 10,600 ft.
We finished the hike with a wonderful lunch down in town après ski style. After a little rest and relaxation we went over our climbing gear and we are now officially ready to jump on the big hill tomorrow!
RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team.
On The Map
June 10, 2017 7:46 pm PST
Today we may very well have nailed it. Waking early for an extended weather viewing to establish any discernible trend, we left camp with reasonable visibility. The team did great as we broke trail up to the base of the fixed lines. We rested at the base of the lines as the weather slowly deteriorated and our friends from
RMI 4 joined us in solidarity on a fitness walk. Once we were a big party and the cache was established, we descended back to
14 Camp for some rest before dinner. The winds and snow picked up nearly as soon as we got home and we are now poised to go to 17K once the weather allows. It has been pretty squirrelly in the weather department lately, but the team is hanging tough, waiting for our time to shine.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
On The Map
RMI Guides Adam Knoff and Dave Hanning with Mark Icuss at Camp Protection on Mt. Rainier. Photo: Courtesy Mark Icuss.
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In honor of our 50th Anniversary, we are featuring stories of first climbs. Stories from guides and stories from climbers. Today we are excited to share Mark Icuss' story of his first climb: Mt. Rainier. Twenty-one years ago, Mark's life changed forever when a friend asked him to climb Mt. Rainier. Would you like to have the story of your first climb featured on our blog?
Find out more!
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Twenty-one years ago a friend posed a question to me after a session at the rock gym. "Dude, you want to climb Mt. Rainier?"
Without thinking twice, I immediately said “YES!”
Up until this point I had zero mountain experience, I had never winter camped, never carried a heavy pack, and never walked in crampons. I did however, read “Into Thin Air” and was infatuated with the adventures these climbers were having.
Being a kid from Chicago, climbing anything, let alone a big mountain like Rainier, or Everest for that matter, was a ridiculous thought. "City people don't climb mountains," “You have no idea what you’re doing," and “You can get hurt or killed" were some of the things I was told by friends and family.
All I knew was I wanted to experience what it felt like to go on a grand adventure in the "big mountains."
We booked the 5-day
expedition seminar with RMI and commenced "training" which in Chicago meant walking on a stair machine with a weighted pack for a couple hours at time a couple days per week.
Flash forward a few months and our departure date of June 1st was a few days away. My buddy who arranged the trip called in a panic and said his "medical condition" had flared up and he was going to have to bail! We were devastated, he was the only guy with any experience and the defacto "leader" of the group.
Myself and my other buddy had a decision to make...bail with him or just do it. We chose the latter.
A couple days later we landed in Seattle as wide eyed 24-year olds with ridiculously heavy packs not knowing what we were in for. Upon arriving at Paradise, surrounded by seasoned guides who looked way stronger and much tougher than us we realized we were possibly in waaay over our heads.
We met our guides (Dave Hanning and
Adam Knoff, who was just starting out his guide career) along with the rest of the team for a quick meeting and instructions on what was expected of us and what to pack. We were leaving the next morning.
Shouldering a poorly fitted 60 lb. pack felt like absolute hell and we hadn't taken a step! We started moving up hill, learning this technique called "pressure breathing," guides pace, and the "French step."
A couple hours into the hump and we were all wasted and questioning what we had gotten ourselves into. After a quick break we continued upward and Dave stopped us and said to turn around. We all did and realized we were above the clouds; I had never been in such awe in my life and at that point knew the mountains would be a part of my life forever.
We arrived at a camp below Muir and set up our tents in a snowstorm, it was crazy, scary, and incredible all at the same time.
Summit day came after the typical crevasse rescue training a couple days later. We lost a few team members along the way due to fatigue and altitude issues, I kept going with four other guys on my rope team. We climbed through the bitter cold but clear night up to the "point of no return" at 13,000’ just as the sun was rising...I had never seen anything so beautiful.
Mark Icuss on the summit of Mt. Rainier.
We pushed ahead and before I knew it Dave said, "Congrats team, you've just climbed Mt Rainier! I've never been happier in my life and once again knew that the mountains would be a part of my life forever.
Flash forward to today, 46 years old and I've been on a trip every year since.
Aconcagua, 14'ers in Colorado, all of the Tetons multiple times from multiple routes, multi-pitch routes,
ice climbing, two trips to the Himalayas, and so many more.
2018: Moving up to Camp 1 on Ama Dablam.
My life was so deeply shaped by that first climb of Rainier; I have no idea what would have happened if I would have bailed. Being forced to stay in "alpine shape” for 25 years, the friendships, the epics, the close calls, and the successes have all shaped my life for the better.
None of it would have been possible if I hadn’t said “YES” to that original question of..."Dude, you want to climb Mt. Rainier?"
I owe my life of adventure to you guys, thank you for doing what you do.
We left Moscow early this morning, leaving the city's quiet streets behind for the forest of pine that surround Moscow's Domodevo Airport. The calm morning was broken as soon as we arrived at the airport, with travelers packing the main terminal trying to check-in for their flights. With plenty of time to navigate the crowds, we found our check in counter and meandered through the serpentine line to the front, doing our best to keep our towering carts of climbing gear from toppling over on the unsuspecting passerby. Despite the complete language barrier checking in for our flight was smooth and easy and before long we were climbing the steps into our neon green 737 for the flight to
Mineralnye Vody.
The two and a half hour flight took us from Moscow south across the farmland of central Russia to the foothills of the Caucasus. Thankfully all of our bags appeared on the carousel in Mineralnye Vody and we shouldered our duffel bags and navigated the chaotic parking lot outside to our van (conveniently parked, we all noted, in the farthest possible point from the door of the baggage claim). After cramming all of our duffel bags and 9 passengers into the narrow van, we took off down the highway bound for the mountains.
The drive from Mineralnye Vody to the village of Cheget in the Baksan Valley with the base of
Mt. Elbrus took about 3.5 hours and brought us from the busy agricultural centers near the airport deep into the heart of the Caucasus. In the small towns on the way to the mountain we passed little markets and stores spilling out onto the streets, dozens of errant cows lounging in the roadway, and a tungsten mine and former factory used in the Soviet Space Program, long since shut down and now in the process of being reclaimed by the forest.The recent rains in the area still left thick clouds hanging throughout the peaks when we reached the little ski town of Cheget. We have yet to catch a view of the high Caucasus or Mt. Elbrus, but the clouds started to thin as we finished dinner and we are hopeful that the views will prove more rewarding tomorrow on our acclimatization hike.
We are staying in a small ski lodge at the base of the Cheget ski resort, where we will be until Wednesday. The rooms are comfortable and the food hearty. We are all very pleased to be in the mountains and looking forward to our hike tomorrow.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
On The Map
This morning provided blue bird skies and little to no wind. Though the air was cold at around -5F, the team broke camp, dug a cache and loaded our packs for our summit push.
With Okita's team reaching the summit yesterday we once again shared the burden of equipment transportation by swapping some equipment to lighten the load. Okita's team saved some weight for their long descent to the bottom, and more importantly our load was lightened up to high camp. We are thankful for the established camp with wind walls and a ready to go kitchen. The stroke of luck rarely happens as teams do not often come up and down from high camp on the same day. As we have been saying throughout the entire trip "Patience pays" and today it most certainly did.
Water boils at a fairly low temperature at this elevation. In fact, you can drink a hot cup of your favorite flavor right out of the boiling pot - a wild first for many team members. A hot dinner and soup re-energized our spirits and warmed our souls.
The team is climbing strong and with a little more luck from the weather tomorrow we will make a push for the top of North America to
Denali/Mount McKinley's summit at 20,320'. Wish us well for our final push!
RMI Guide Tyler Jones
On The Map
Hello everyone. It’s Jake checking in from Camp 3 at 11,000’ on Mt McKinley. Everyone in our party is strong and doing great, the weather is cooperating and we’re thoroughly enjoying expedition life in the Alaska Range. Our plan is to back-carry tomorrow and pick up our cache at 9,500’, then return to camp at 11,000’ for some R&R. The day after tomorrow we’ll climb ‘Motorcycle Hill’ and place a cache in the vicinity of Windy Corner (13,300’), descend, and once again camp at 11,000’. Camp here will be home for the next two nights, then weather permitting we’ll move up to 14,200’ and establish Camp 4. But we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. So long for now.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
Thursday, May 19, 2022 - 10:57pm PT
It was a perfect day to switch from lower glacier load hauling to actually climbing. The weather was clear and calm in the morning, so we pumped through a bagel breakfast, grabbed loads of food and fuel, and set our sights on motorcycle hill. Many teams cache at 13,5k just past windy corner, but we had our sights set on 14. The first several hours were pleasant. Sunny, but with just enough air moving to keep us comfortable. Rounding windy corner, there wasn't a breath of wind. The sauna turned on and we all had mild cases of heat panic. We cruised on into 14,000’ camp and got to say hi to Mike Walter and team, who were kind enough to top off some water bottles. With our goal secured, we turned and beat feet back to camp.
It was a solid day out and hard work, so we will reward ourselves with the first proper rest day of the trip tomorrow.
RMI Guides Pete, Leif, Erika, and Team
My first RMI climb was also my first climb of a glaciated mountain. Born and raised in Charleston, SC. I grew up hiking, backpacking and rock climbing in Appalachia. I wanted more, to go higher, farther and to learn the skills to take myself. “No Shortcuts to the Top” was worn and dog eared on my bedside table. I had spent hours staring at pictures of Ed Viesturs, standing on the summits I hoped to one day stand as well. He spoke of a mythical mountain in the Pacific Northwest where he got his start, Mt. Rainier.
In the Spring of 2007, I was finishing my junior year at the University of South Carolina. I thought back to Mt. Rainier and checked “No Shortcuts to the Top” again about the guide service Ed worked for. I did some research and booked the standard 3-day climb for the end of June. I had done lots of backpacking and hiking but had never stood higher than 5,000 ft or so in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I flew to Seattle, arriving late that night. I checked into a cheap hotel downtown. Behind the desk was a big picture of The Mountain. It looked much bigger now, maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew. I wasn't old enough to rent a car. I found a bus that left from Seattle, went to RMI headquarters in Ashford, around the mountain and back. I got on that morning with the rest of the day tourists and was a bit out of place with my big backpack. When the bus stopped in Ashford I just got off and didn't get back on when it left. I planned on jumping back on in few days after my climb was over. I do not think you can pull this off anymore.
Climbers everywhere, climbing gear sprawled out all over the lawn. You could tell from the sunburns and facial expressions who had finished their climb and who had just begun. I checked into the bunkhouse and got fitted for all my rental gear. What am I going to do with all this, I wondered?
Early the next morning, we met the guides and team members. Mark Smiley and Tyler Jones were the guides that day. We left base camp for mountaineering school and headed up to Paradise. The mountain was socked in. I had not seen it at all since arriving in the PNW. It was there somewhere, hiding in the thick clouds. The snow came all the way to the parking lot, it was deep. We grabbed our gear and hiked about 30 minutes to some slopes leading up the mountain. We learned how to move as a rope team and how to self arrest a fall. It started snowing pretty hard and after a few hours we headed back for Ashford. Word on the radio was that no one was making the summit that day.
The next day we met again early and were split into summit team A and B. I was part of team A and we had a new guide; her name was Melissa Arnot. We packed and left for Paradise again. The mountain was still hiding. Clouds and light snow greeted us as we started the hike up. The pack was heavy but I kind of liked it. We would hike for an hour and rest for 10 minutes and repeat.
At around 8,000 feet my life changed forever. In almost an instant we climbed out of the clouds and I saw her for the first time. I was in shock at how grand she was, excitement and a bit of fear took over me. I was hooked instantly. The sun was shining bright above us and snowing below, where am I?
A few more hours of hiking and we pulled into Camp Muir at 10,000 feet. We spent the rest of the day resting and getting ready for the climb that would take place later in the middle of the night.
Around midnight we were woken up and told to get ready. I walked outside and not one cloud in the star filled sky. We headed up the mountain, Melissa on my rope leading the way. I felt like I was on another planet and I also knew my life would never be the same. We got up and over the infamous Disappointment Cleaver and it got really cold. At the top of the Cleaver, Melissa told me something I will never forget, “mountain climbers must have a high pain tolerance and short memory.”
We crossed over huge crevasses, snow bridges and ladders and finally had our last break. At around 7:00 AM we crossed the rocks at the rim of the crater and on to the summit. I was overcome with new emotions. High on a drug I have yet to come down on 12 years later. Our group hugged and took pictures but it was only half over. We made it back down to Camp Muir, then to Paradise, and finally back to RMI BaseCamp. I was exhausted but elated.
June 2019 was almost exactly 12 years to the day of my first summit. On July 6th, I flew to Seattle for my 5th climb of Mt. Rainier, having summited all but once due to a week of terrible weather. I always stay the night before at RMI BaseCamp in Ashford, it is nice to remember where it all began. A lot has changed since that first climb.
Climbing mountains became an integral part of my life. The summer after my Mt. Rainier climb I took a 2-week mountaineering course in Alaska. The year after that, a 42 day all-inclusive guide school on the northern ice cap in Patagonia, Chile. Before I left to come home, the company hired me on. I worked for them for a few years back and forth in Alaska. In 2015 my guide friend in India brought me over to help him lead a trip in the Indian Himalaya. Two weeks after I returned, I took my brother to stand on the summit of Rainier. The next summer, me and some long-time climbing friends summited Denali. Last summer, I took a group to Mt. Blanc in the Alps. In 2014, 2017, and 2019 I took more friends to Rainier.
Showing others this incredible world high above the clouds is my new summit. For those I feel not ready enough to be a part of my independent team, I send them to the wonderful guides at RMI, always remembering my very first trip and the incredible woman who led me to my first summit. Little did I know back in 2007, that Melissa Arnot would become one of the premier climbers on the planet and the first US woman to summit Everest without O2. In these 12 years, climbing mountains has introduced me to incredible places around the world and many of my dearest friends are those I have shared a rope with. It all started with RMI guides, on my now favorite mountain on Earth.
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Mike!! Both Matt Sky and myself want to remind you to do your push-ups on the mountain!
Posted by: Kyle Davis on 6/10/2022 at 8:10 am
Keep up the amazing work team! I love reading the daily blog !! Miss you Heather Hart! You’ve got this girl!!
Posted by: April Litwiller on 6/10/2022 at 5:49 am
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