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Posted by: Hannah Smith, Joe Hoch, Lauren Macklin, Lily Emerson, Michael Murray, Evan Sather
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,300'
The Four Day Climb for August 1 - 4 led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Joe Hoch were unable to summit today due to a descending cloud and gusty winds. The teams reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver but were unable to continue due to weather. As of 7 am the teams were safely back at Camp Muir. They plan leave Camp Muir around 9 am to make the remaining 4,500' descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Dominic Cifelli, JT Schmitt
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Guide News
Elevation: 16,000'
RMI Guides JT Schmitt, Dustin Wittmier and Dominic Cifelli are in Nepal on an expedition with the main objective to climb Manaslu without supplemental oxygen. They departed the United States on September 1st and are able to check in from basecamp:
Hello,
We arrived at Manaslu basecamp on September 11th after four days of trekking through remote valleys in Nepal. Most days were spent shrouded in a cloudy veil, but we were treated to the occasional view of rugged glaciers clinging to high mountains. Staying in tea houses, we were immersed in Nepalese and Sherpa cultures through conversation and enjoying traditional foods together.
Six days after arriving in basecamp we are well established at 16000’ and have made our first rotation on the mountain. We spent three days moving to as high as Camp 2 at 21,000’, setting up our tent and caching gear. On that rotation we spent two nights at Camp 1, letting our bodies acclimatize to sleeping at 18900’.
Currently we are on our third rest day, waiting out torrential rains; and the report from higher on the mountain is that there is significant snow accumulation. It is beneficial that Wi-Fi is available in basecamp so we can continue to monitor weather forecasts, waiting for a window to make a second rotation.
We are hopeful we will be able to push through some marginal weather tomorrow to take advantage of a small, upcoming window. Our second rotation will hopefully allow us to reach Camp 4 at 24,300’, to cache some gear and set us up for a summit push.
RMI Guides JT Schmitt, Dustin Wittmier & Dominic Cifelli
Posted by: Eric Frank, Alex Halliday, Erika Birkeland, Tatum Whatford, George Hedreen, Cal Seeley
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080
The Five Day Climb June 9 - 13 enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from Ingraham Flats and Camp Muir this morning. Route conditions did not allow the teams to ascend above 11,200' yesterday or today but the team got in some good training and enjoyed two nights at Camp Muir. The teams descended to Paradise arriving around noon today and will conclude their program at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Photos: RMI Guide Eric Frank
We did training ascend on June 11 and went up to 11,000’ around 4 pm. I didn’t see any route conditions that did not allow to go further, I don’t have much experience though. Could you give more details on what route conditions stopped the group?
Posted by: Nick R on 6/15/2022 at 12:55 pm
What were the route conditions that did not allow you to go above 11k? Avalanche? Deep snow? Heading up this weekend and wondering what the current risks are from most recent teams.
Posted by: Kahlie Gleason on 6/13/2022 at 1:58 pm
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Evan Sather
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 9,131'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Shuksan August 26 - 31 reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan via the Sulphide Glacier today around 11 am PT. RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Evan Sather are leading the six day seminar and reported a beautiful day with a light breeze. Prior to their summit attempt the team conducted basic mountaineering skills training. Their training will continue and expand to include anchor placements, various self and team crevasse rescue techniques, belays, rappelling, knots, route finding and fixed rope travel. Thus giving them sufficient skills to continue their mountaineering persuits.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
While not everybody reached the summit of Aconcagua today, we all soaked in the entire experience. It was a perfect day to simply be in the mountains. Stars illuminating the landscape this morning. A windless day with not a cloud in the sky. Shadows creeping across peaks far in the distance, helping gauge the time of day. It was very easy to be distracted from the strenuous climbing by the surrounding beauty.
Till next time,
RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm
Tim,
Don’t know if you summited or not, but it doesn’t matter. It’s all about the journey and you have been on quite a journey over the last few years! We love you and can’t wait to see you and hear about your adventures. Now, get down and back home safely!
Love,
Dick and Irene
Posted by: Richard & Irene Simpson on 2/7/2022 at 6:51 pm
Congratulations! We’re so proud of all you! What a gorgeous day you must have had… and no matter what the outcome, we know this was a whole team effort. Way to go. Now get back down safely!
Posted by: T and B on 2/7/2022 at 4:07 am
Posted by: Win Whittaker, Andy Bond, Chase Halbert, Seth Burns, Axel Ryd, Daniel May
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 12,500'
The American Lung Association Climb for Clean Air team attempted their Mt. Rainier summit bid this morning. With an overcrowded route and standstill foot traffic, which would have made continuing on unsafe due to the time of day, the guides turned at 12,500'. The team is at Camp Muir and will begin their descent around 10:00 a.m.
Posted by: Matias Francis, Henry Coppolillo, Daniel May, Ellison Boord, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir September 8 - 13, 2022 enjoyed a great week of training at Camp Muir. RMI Guides Matias Francis and Henry Copolillo led the team with instruction on ice climbing, crevasse rescue, student led glacier navigation, fixed line travel, intro to multi pitch climbing, rappelling, alpine bouldering, nightly talks about altitude and avalanche awareness. The team is doing a bit more training this morning before starting their descent to Paradise later today. They will conclude their program this afternoon at Rainier Base Camp.
Nice work team!
Posted by:
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
“Do you train?” A climber recently asked me as we descended the Disappointment Cleaver on Mt. Rainier. My answer: “Well, to be honest, training to most guides is a way of life.” We don’t HAVE TO go for a run, lift weights, and bike all day; we GET TO. Training and performing are both mentally demanding to do and to motivate for. My remedy is to remove the need to motivate and intentionally make training part of who I am. There are two ways to view the 5 A.M. wake up to go to the gym: The first - it’s a choice you make every day and the second - it’s what you do. Consciously removing the decision to get out the door and train makes the process easier. I was suffering from decision making fatigue just the other day as I tried to decide which Tillamook ice cream to buy, but had no problem walking out the door to get in a jog because it wasn’t a choice. On days when it seems harder to get moving, I tell myself; “Well, there is no decision to make. Here we go.”
What do many of us guides do for training? You name it and guides are doing it: road biking, mountain biking, rock climbing, yoga, HITT, sprinting, jogging, swimming, skiing, weight lifting, sit-ups, bouldering, and on and on. The guiding lifestyle lends itself well to activity and a solid foundation of endurance, and as a result our training may be less structured. We all make choices around what’s important to us. If I am building fitness for a specific climb however, I will be more organized about my approach, dividing my training into specific categories and foci to more efficiently reach the gains that I’m depending on. This is probably more applicable to many of the climbers I work with, for whom their next climb likely is one of the largest athletic feats they have taken on in their life.
Training takes time in what is often a busy schedule. What if we took 5 to 10 minutes from different ways we spend our time each day (time on our computers, socializing, food preparation, tv watching, house cleaning, shopping, sleeping, social media) and put that into fitness? There is no way I can navigate your personal time management, but it is all a compromise and we can do almost anything but not everything.
There are lots of good blogs here on types of workout and training preparation routines so I’m not going to outline specific workouts here but instead link to some of my favorite references:
https://www.uphillathlete.com/training-plans/
https://www.redbull.com/us-en/lindsey-vonns-training-regimen-will-wreck-you
https://www.rmiguides.com/resources/fitness-and-training
http://www.fitclimb.com/page/6-week-beginner-mountaineering
_____
Christina Dale has led climbing expeditions all over the world - from Everest Base Camp to the Mexican volcanoes to the summit of Denali. She’s skied from the top of Chilean volcanoes, peaks in Patagonia, and across Mount Cook. During the summer, she’s a regular on Rainier. She spends her winters ski patrolling at Crystal Mountain, with her avalanche search and rescue dog in tow.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
Posted by: Mike King, Nikki Champion, David Price, Leif Bergstrom, Emma Lyddan, Connor Mullady
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
RMI Guide Mike King called this morning at 7:06 a.m. The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb team turned at Ingraham Flats due to difficult route conditions. The teams are planning to begin their descent from Camp Muir between 8:30 - 9:00 a.m.
Beautiful picture! Hope to go there in a few weeks and praying for good weather.
Posted by: Joseph Huang on 8/31/2021 at 10:09 pm
Proud of you team! Great effort!
Posted by: Rachel Zimmerman on 8/30/2021 at 7:49 am
Posted by: Eric Frank, Jenny Konway, Kiira Antenucci, James Bealer, Nathan Delmar, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,300'
The Five Day Mt. Rainier Climb teams, led by RMI Guides Eric Frank and Jenny Konway, turned at High Crack today due to hearing and seeing a significant amount of rock and icefall. They are back at Camp Muir and will be descending early this morning.
Stay strong team! Love you Dom. Uncle artie
Posted by: Art cifelli on 9/21/2022 at 4:30 pm
Hey Dustin!!!
This is So Awesome!! You Are Strong!! You can do this!! After all you pulled my old farmer a$$ to the top of Cotopoxi!!!
All the best for Strength and Stamina Dustin!!!
Farmer Dave
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 9/19/2022 at 7:17 am
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