We spent the day waiting for our weather window to fly on to the glacier, but two feet of snow at Base Camp last night and continuing snow through today have so far prevented us from making it on. Rather than idly twiddling our thumbs, we decided to make the best of a warm dry hanger and practice our crevasse rescue skills and self rescue systems. Everyone is feeling better about their systems after a lot of practice and playing with knots and tricks. We still have one and a half hours to go before the planes are grounded for the night, increasingly it is looking like tomorrow morning is more likely for flying. Hopefully our next post will come from there glacier!
Best,
RMI Guide Peter Van Deventer
Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us today, and we were unable to fly in to Base Camp once again. While it seems as though the weather is improving, the conditions were not conducive to flying; no planes left Talkeetna today with the intention of trying to land at Base Camp. We took advantage of the down time today and did some dry-land review of crevasse rescue. There were also some pretty competitive games of ping pong going on this afternoon in the Hangar as we waited on standby for the weather to clear. We’re all eager to fly, but we understand that climbing Denali requires patience. Hopefully we get a break tomorrow and can fly in to Base Camp and establish ourselves on the mountain. In the meantime, we’re enjoying Talkeetna.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mike Walter
The Four Day Summit Climb June 2-5, 2017 led by RMI Guides Ben Liken & Mike King reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team enjoyed pleasant temperatures and great views from the summit for over an hour. They began their descent from the crater rim around 7:40 am en route to Camp Muir. They will descend to Paradise this afternoon and we look forward to seeing them back at Rainier BaseCamp.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Teams!
Hello friends and family of RMI! Spoken word, photos nor video can explain how gorgeous of a day we had on our acclimatization hike. I have been visiting here off and on since 2002. I have never had such a beautiful day.
Mount Elbrus was out in a cloudless sky, which allowed our team to soak up the sun and snap some great photographs. Tonight we will focus on last minute gear items to ensure we are all ready to move onto the mountain.
Enjoy the video from today and if someone could please tell me, "is Charlotte always that clumsy"? Watch the video and you will understand!
Good times in Russia!
RMI Guide J.J. Justman
Remember to get some video of the summit day and technical part of Elbrus for those at home. Anxious to see what it is like up there. Amazing weather and gorgeous area from the photos. Stay healthy and safe. We are all wishing we were there too! Kathryn
Posted by: Kathryn LeBey on 7/24/2012 at 3:35 pm
Hi. Neil,
Cheget. looks absolutely. beautiful.. Would love to snap our fingers and be there.Glad all continues to go so well for all of you.
Blessings,
Pat. and Dan
Posted by: Pat. and. Dan. Nolan. on 7/24/2012 at 11:00 am
Our Ecuador's Volcanoes team has arrived here in Quito after a fair bit of travel, but healthy and with all of our gear! Always a good start to a trip.
Today we took to the streets, touring Quito's revitalized Old Town and taking in the sights from La Panela, the hilltop site of the Virgin of Quito where we could clearly see the city snaking to the North and South, the ancient churches and plazas quite visible from our vantage point. Then it was off to lunch and a stop at the "Mitada del Mundo," the "center of the earth." Here the equator is marked by more than just a line and we were able to double check it's accuracy with a few tests, putting to rest the long debate about which way the toilet flushes in which hemisphere (can you remember without testing?).
All in all a great first day and the afternoon thunderstorms even held off for us!
RMI Guides Jake Beren & Zeb Blais
The RMI May 7th Denali Expedition led by RMI Guide Mike Walter, reached the summit of Denali Monday May 29th. The team has safely returned to their 17,000' and will continue their descent to the airstrip over the next few days.
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.
Marc,
Congratulations on your successes! You have big shoes to fill following Jim and Lou. I love all climbing videos and books. One of my favorites was the American team when they made the summit of Everest in 1963 on both the regular route and the west ridge. Maybe I’ll read or watch a video about you some day.
I’m extremely impressed with RMI’s safety record. Have fun!
Susan
Hi There,
This is Adam Knoff calling. We the entire team and our local guide Fozzie as in “Fozzie” the Muppet from the great Muppet Show are established here at High Camp just over 15,000’ feet. Everyone is definitely noticing the altitude, but did great coming up here. We feel strong, healthy and psyched to be heading towards the top of our first big mountain. The clouds are closing in at the moment and things are pretty windy and chilly, so we are crawling into our bags for a quick nap. We will have an early dinner and then hopefully at 2 o’clock or 3 o’clock a wakeup call.
Everyone is doing great, we’re happy and will call tomorrow when the summit is under our belt. Alright? We look forward to talking to you tomorrow.
Adios,
RMI Guide Adam Knoff and Team
Hello from the Plantation Lodge,
We had a great day today at Lake Manyara National Park. Located about two hours from Arusha, it is the first stop on our safari circuit. This is a hidden gem of a park as most people only drive right by it on the way to the bigger named parks. It is the perfect introduction to how to safari, getting us oriented to many of the different animal species and habitats, as well as figuring out how to get some really good pictures.
We had some excitement during our "bush" lunch when a troop of 60 baboons passed right by us, and three of the males caused quite a ruckus when they began fighting over one of the female baboons.
There were lots of elephants today, giraffes, monkeys, hippos, dik diks, warthogs, wildebeests, and ostriches. The list goes on and it was a very successful day.
We are now at the Plantation Lodge, a wonderful small lodge that sits on the highlands above the Great Rift Valley. It's absolutely beautiful here and they have thought of every detail in making this one of the best lodges in the area.
Tomorrow we are off to Ngorongoro Crater, where we will see what most consider as the eighth wonder of the world.
Best regards,
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
Wow. I don't think I've ever had a trip down and out from the Vinson Massif go so smoothly. A day ago our stoves were getting the breakfast ice melted at 12,300 ft in Vinson high camp. It was colder than it had been the day before, when we'd gone for the summit. We packed up our tents and roped up to go down the steep lines toward low camp and Basecamp. The day got warmer -naturally- as we got lower, but there was still a lot of cloud, just as there had been all week. Six hours after beginning the descent, we hauled heavy packs and sleds into 7,000 ft Vinson Base. The place was humming with activity. We were told to be ready for a Twin Otter on skis in a half hour. That meant 30 minutes of feverish packing and repacking and last awesome views of Vinson for the year. At 5:30 PM the Twin put down and we got in. Not only was the flight through the sunny Ellsworth Mountains magically beautiful, it was taking us to an on-time dinner at Union Glacier. One that none of us had to open, boil, or rehydrate. We reached camp there at a time when it was mostly ALE staff and not so many needy "customers" such as ourselves. Over dinner, we were told that our next flight was already on its way in. The Ilyushin 76 landed with a distant roar on the ice runway at 12:30 AM. We got on after a bunch of freight had been unloaded. There was plenty of room to stretch out as in addition to the five of us climbers there were perhaps three or four staff and assorted personnel going for the ride to South America. I saw the distant Vinson summit sliding by the port side windows after we'd reached cruising altitude. At 7:30 AM the plane touched down gently in Punta Arenas, where summer is currently coming on strong.
The team piled into a car and then hotel rooms for a big snooze. We'll feast tonight and fly homeward tomorrow. Small world... but full of great climbs.
Best Regards,
Dave Hahn
The team has finally arrived in Kathmandu after some incredibly long flights and we are slowly adjusting to the 12 hour time change. Not an easy task by any means.
We started our first day with a round of introductions, getting acquainted and discussing the necessities to our upcoming adventure to Everest Base Camp. Then headed out to visit a few famous temples here in Kathmandu. First up was the massive Boudhanath Stupa, which is one of the largest in the world. Then Swayambhunath, also known as the Monkey Temple that over looks most of Kathmandu. They are two of the sevn World Heritage sites here in Nepal.
We wrapped up the evening by getting all of our gear packed and an amazing meal at a restaurant call “Le Sherpa”, sort of a modern fusion on new and old Nepali food.
Everyone is doing well and very much looking forward to heading into the mountains tomorrow!
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.
Remember to get some video of the summit day and technical part of Elbrus for those at home. Anxious to see what it is like up there. Amazing weather and gorgeous area from the photos. Stay healthy and safe. We are all wishing we were there too! Kathryn
Posted by: Kathryn LeBey on 7/24/2012 at 3:35 pm
Hi. Neil,
Cheget. looks absolutely. beautiful.. Would love to snap our fingers and be there.Glad all continues to go so well for all of you.
Blessings,
Pat. and Dan
Posted by: Pat. and. Dan. Nolan. on 7/24/2012 at 11:00 am
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