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Today's Four Day Climb May 31 - June 3 reached 11,400' today before deciding to turn around due to high avalanche danger and deteriorating weather.  The teams returned to Camp Muir and packed up.  They started their descent to Paradise at 8:30 am.  RMI Guides James Bealer and Josh McDowell reported that the winds were high and it was snowing hard as the team left Camp Muir on their descent.  Once back at Paradise the teams will be shuttled back to Rainier BaseCamp for a closing ceremony.

The Four Day Climb Led by RMI Guide Bryan Mazaika reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team had clear skies above Camp Muir and a good climbing route. The team is on the descent and will be celebrating at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.

Congratulations team! 

The Four Day Climb June 8 - 11 led by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Dominic Cifelli were unable to make their summit attempt this morning.  Strong winds and blowing snow made for unsafe climbing conditions and kept the team hunkered down at Camp Muir over night.  The telemetry from Camp Muir shows wind averages ranging from mid 20 to mid 60 mph over night with gusts up to 79 mph.  When the group radioed the office this morning they were experiencing estimated 50 mph winds. The team will be descending from Camp Muir today and return to Rainier BaseCamp.  Unfortunately, today was not their day to reach the summit of Mt. Rainier.

The Five Day Climb June 24 - 28 was unable to make a summit attempt due to high winds at Camp Muir overnight.  RMI Guides Casey Grom and Alex Halliday reported that the wind picked up around 8 pm last night averaging 60 mphs at Camp Muir with gusts over 90 mph.  The wind continues to blow this morning which will prevent the teams from ascending above Camp Muir.  The Five Days Teams will be descending to Paradise later this morning and returning to Rainier BaseCamp.

Greetings from Puebla! Today was a great day for the team to rest and explore the beautiful city of Puebla. This city is full of history, delicious food, colorful markets and a perfect place to recover for our next climb.

After a day to explore the incredible Catholic Churches built in the 1500s, the team ate dinner together at El Mural de los Poblanos, a fantastic restaurant full of classic local dishes. Puebla is known as the home of Mole. 

Our next objective begins tomorrow as we head up to 14,000ft to the high camp on Pico de Orizaba!

RMI Guide Grayson Swingle

Hello again everyone,

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home to more than 25,000 animals that reside here year round, as its one of the few places that has natural springs. We started early with hopes of catching a few big cats before the heat of the day sent them in search of shade.

We saw many hyenas, jackles, ostrich, plus countless other huge birds, and even managed to get close to a large pride of lions with very full bellies. There was a Black Rhino spotted not to far off of the road also which was a highlight.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the crater's rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the plantation lodge and the team is off to bed after a long, but very rewarding day on safari.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew

The Five Day Climb May 26 - 30 led by RMI Guides Grayson Swingle and Dustin Wittmier were turned around by avalanche danger this morning near 11,400'.  The team safely returned to Camp Muir they reported blue skies above and a cloud deck below around 7,000'.  The teams left from Camp Muir just after 9 am on their descent to Paradise.  We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.

I've just returned to Washington after taking part in a six day Avalanche Level 3 course in Jackson, WY. 'Avy 3' is the highest level of formal avalanche training in the US. It is a professional level course designed for Guides, Ski Patrollers and other avalanche forecasters. One of the best parts of the course was interacting with the other participants who all came with a high level of experience. The instructors were top-notch as well, but the best learning opportunity came from the weather. Our course began with a huge winter storm dumping several feet of snow on top of a very weak base. This was a perfect recipe for avalanches and over the remainder of the course we were able to study the cycle as it progressed. It was fascinating to say the least and we were able to sharpen our skills while closely examining the highly unstable snowpack. The ability to take weather reports and our own observations, then build a hypothesis of how the snowpack should behave, followed by then going out into the field and testing our predictions was invaluable. It was a very productive week to say the least! I'm also very thankful for the professionalism of the instructors and the participants. We were able to keep the course very safe while also being able to get the most out of the time we spent in the field. RMI Guide Seth Waterfall

Long time RMI Guide and Owner Joe Horiskey may have 235 summits of Mt. Rainier via nearly a dozen routes in forty-two years of guiding, but he was even happier to congratulate his 19 year-old son, Robert, who successfully reached Columbia Crest for his very first time on September 8th! Congratulations, Robert! (And congratulations, Joe!)

The All-Women’s Expedition Skills Seminar – Paradise led by RMI Guide Devin Wilkinson wrapped up their week by climbing to Ingraham Flats to watch the sunrise. Warm temperatures and overhead hazards on the climbing route prevented the team from reaching the summit safely. 

The team has spent the last five days on the upper slopes of Mt. Rainier developing their expedition skills beginning with ice axe use and cramponing techniques and moving on to more advanced skills such as anchor placements, various self and team crevasse rescue techniques, steep technical ice climbing, belays, rappelling, knots, route finding and fixed rope travel. Evening lectures in camp include group discussions on mountain weather, medicine for mountaineering, altitude wellness and equipment.

Congratulations to our All-Women’s team!