The Four Day Summit Climbs for August 19 - 22, 2013 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. RMI Guides Jake Beren and Geoff Schellens led the teams. Jake reported light winds from the Northwest with winds from the East earlier in the climb. Temperatures were estimated in the low 20s. The teams began their descent from the crater rim just after 7:30 am. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break and then continue to Paradise later this afternoon.
We look forward to greeting the teams at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's summit climb teams!
I’m so happy for you!! Congratulations on your journey. You’re amazing & an inspiration. Can’t wait to hear all about it. Enjoy every moment. YEAH!!!
Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer on 8/23/2013 at 9:31 am
YEAH!!!! Beaming with excitement for you Heidi! Cant wait to hear about your adventure….and the crevasse crossings. XO. Safe travels down - I hope this accomplishment makes the last few miles to Paradise fly by!
Hello Everyone.
We were foot soldiers today, we marched our way into Lukla in great style. The last hour is all up hill,a nice pump to finish the day. Doctor Scholl's was our best friend. A bit of overcast kept the temperature just right for this lowland trek, 10,000 ft. After about three weeks in this land of giant mountains, for some, it's time to hit the beach. I could call this one heck of a fishing trip. We all received a license, no poachers, played by the rules. We casted our lines, used every trick in the book. Caught some big ones and a trophy for a few. We all leave with more experience and respect for this type of event in our lives. The Dudh river, a constant companion on the hike out,loads of blooming rhododendron a nice farewell. Always a pleasure to work with High Altitude Dreams our local outfitter. The team from the states way to go! Hope to have another chance to play with you all in my office soon.
Thank you all out in cyber land for following this trip, get out while you can. I will start working my way back to the Big E and blog ya later.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Our Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Tyler Jones & Tyler Reid reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Tyler Jones radioed in from Columbia Crest reporting beautiful calm weather and very warm temperatures. The teams enjoyed some time on the summit and are now en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Hi this is Seth Waterfall checking in from the Union Glacier camp in Antarctica!
All is well with the team. We had a great day of activity outside of camp. After breakfast this morning we headed out in a 'track van'. This is a 4x4 Ford Econoline van that is fitted with snow tracks instead of regular wheels. It is basically a 4 wheel drive snow mobile that keeps you protected from the elements. We took the van for a five mile ride from our camp to a spot called the Wave. The Wave is a huge wind deposit of ice that has formed a wave-like feature around a mountain called Mt. Charles. It is one of the most interesting and bizarre glacier formations that I have ever seen. There is no glacial erosion from solar effects or air temperatures here so the glacier has formed a curl around Mt. Charles that looks exactly like a barreling ocean wave. The only thing different is that this one is over 200 feet tall and stationary.
At the Wave the group split up. Some of us were busy taking photos and video for the First Ascent clothing company while the others in the group got to climb Mt. Charles. The weather was fairly poor today with a cold wind and a bit of snow so we didn't stay out for much more than a couple of hours. The climbing party met up with the filming party just after lunch time, piled back into the track van and headed back to camp. However, Jake Norton and myself decided to stick out the bad weather and go climbing in the area. We were inspired by the free ride out to the other side of the Union Glacier, but the problem for us was that we would have to ski the five miles back to camp after our climb.
That said, we were really psyched up to climb some of the local peaks as most of them have never been climbed. The Union Glacier camp is in it's first year of operation and this part of the range has seen little visitation prior to this climbing season. Due to the poor weather we decided on a fairly small but steep peak
that had caught our eye from camp. Jake and I unloaded our gear from the van and were soon left alone in the cold and blowing snow.
We set off to the base of the mountain and after an hour of skiing we reached the base of the mountain. There was a steep snow ramp on our right that lead directly to the summit and a rock ridge on the left. We decided to split the difference and headed straight up towards a plateau near the summit. The snow was nice and firm, perfect for cramponing, as we started but soon deteriorated to any icy crust over unconsolidated sugar-snow. This made the climbing more difficult so we switched over to the rock ridge. The rock quality was good and we enjoyed excellent climbing to a flat notch just below the summit. From there we had excellent snow conditions to the top. Amazingly we had a lull in the weather for most of our climb and our time on the summit. So we were able to enjoy a few moments of 'top-time' before descending back to our skis.
We then had a quick snack and headed off back towards the marked trail leading to camp. After an hour of skiing we reached the trail, this meant that we only had 5 miles to go to camp! Checking our watches we realized that we would have to hustle to make it back for the 7 p.m. dinner call. With over 100 people in camp the food does not last long and neither of us had eaten much since breakfast. The wind had picked up again but it was blowing at our backs and after and hour and a half of flat skiing across the glacier we arrived at camp... with 20 minutes to spare before dinner! The food was excellent. The A.L.E. staff really goes out of their way to treat us well here on the ice.
We are all settling into various games or books for the evening's entertainment. We'll check back in tomorrow with the latest from our adventure here in Antarctica!
Hey Jake - I was on your rope team on Rainier in 96… Its good to see that your still living the dream. Congradulations to you and the rest of the Vinson team
After a late night and long day yesterday, we woke up around the time the sun hit our tents. After a quick breakfast of frosted mini wheats, we put together the group loads to cache and begin our climb up ski hill. After 4.5 long hours we pulled into our cache site, dug a hole, and tossed our group food, and personal caches in. After attaching the sleds to our packs, we began the descent back to camp. A bit earlier this evening than last, we made some reindeer sausage jambalaya and prepped for our big move to 11 camp tomorrow.
The weather looks good, hopefully we'll touch base from 11k tomorrow!
RMI Guides Nikki Champion, Leif Bergstrom, and Lauren Macklin
Update 5:27 p.m.: What a day! What a day! The team made it high up on the mountain and we finished the training with a Muir Peak rappel. After a full day it's time to relax, unwind and tell some stories!
8:33 a.m.: We made the summit!! Of Muir Peak. Yesterday the weather cleared and the team got out to play in the snow. While practicing cramponing we made the top of Muir Peak just above 10,000 feet. It is always a beautiful view looking down on the Mount Rainier glaciers below.
Today we have another beautiful day to continue our expedition skills training. While we go through crevasse rescue, Brent and Katie are going to check out the conditions higher on the mountain. If all is good we will venture up the mountain later this afternoon.
RMI Guide JJ Justman
Mark Tucker calling from Lobuche. I'm leaning up against the window to try and get some reception. Can you believe it? We have no wifi, I so apologize. The team is doing well, we're bunking down. We're going to push up to Gorak Shep tomorrow. Had a great hike from Pheriche today. Boy we have really starting to feel like we are up, up, up. So, thin, thin air and getting thinner. Tomorrow marks the 65K endurance race coming from Gorak Shep. And so we are going to root some of these folks on that we've been parallel over the course of our trip. We'll be glad to see them, but I am not too jealous of them running from Gorak Shep to Lukla in a matter of hours. I kinda like what we are doing, so we'll check in again later.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Happy Easter Elsie! I feel like I should be writing “there goes Peter Cottontail. Hoppin’ up Mt Everest’s trail…”, but the air seems a little thin fur hoppin’ right now -ha!
Easter blessings and safe journey to all :)
Mary
Posted by: mary tryer on 3/30/2013 at 3:38 pm
Happy Easter to all!!! God’s Speed and Grace ... on this Blessed Easter!!! Love you Buzz, James, Luke and Team Tucker!!! Awesome job!!!! Blessing Be to All! nancy
It’s a beautiful day here at Everest Base Camp.
RMI Expedition Leader Dave Hahn and our team of climbers and Sherpa left Base Camp early this morning en route to Camp 1. The team made great time through the Khumbu Ice fall and up to almost 20,000'. They are now tucked in comfortably at Camp 1.
Their plan for tomorrow is another early start to climb up to Camp 2. The Western Cwm can get quite warm with its high ice walls and an early start will get them through with some cooler temperatures. The team will spend several nights at Camp 2 (21,000') to acclimatize. While at Camp 2 they will be accompanied by climbing Sherpa Lam Babu and Tsering as well as our cook Yubarj.
Two members of our Sherpa staff, Kaji and Dawa, went to Camp 2 a few days ago to ready the camp for the team’s arrival and have now returned to Base Camp.
I attended a meeting today here at Base Camp to discuss the plan for getting the rope up to the South Col and finishing the route work. Things went well at the meeting with a great amount of support and cooperation amongst the teams.
Life is good here on the glacier.
Till next time,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Way to go team! Best of luck to everyone on this rotation! Each and every day I look forward to seeing a new post so thank you for keeping us updated! Stay strong and be safe—we are thinking of you always!
100% on Top! The Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier team led by RMI Guides Andy Bond and Pepper Dee reached the summit of Mt. Baker early today. The team had a great day of climbing with beautiful route and incredible views the entire climb. They settled back in camp at 6,800' where they will re-fuel, rest for the night. Tomorrow they get an early start, pack up camp and descend to the trailhead.
The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Robby Young and Avery Parrinello climbed the Ingraham Direct route and were able to reach 11,800' before high winds forced them to turn. The team spent two days at Camp Muir on this climb and will be descending later this morining. We expect them back at Rainier Basecamp to clelebrate this afternoon.
Almost 48° north. Can be tough weather any time of year. Getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory. Believe that was a quote from Ed Viesturs.
Good attempt! The adventure was still exhilarating I’m sure.
My greatest accomplishment was summiting Mount Washington here in the northeast around the same time of year probably 25 yrs ago.
Still recovering…lol.
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I’m so happy for you!! Congratulations on your journey. You’re amazing & an inspiration. Can’t wait to hear all about it. Enjoy every moment. YEAH!!!
Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer on 8/23/2013 at 9:31 am
YEAH!!!! Beaming with excitement for you Heidi! Cant wait to hear about your adventure….and the crevasse crossings. XO. Safe travels down - I hope this accomplishment makes the last few miles to Paradise fly by!
Posted by: Dawn on 8/23/2013 at 9:25 am
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