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“You can't win if you don't play” is dubious encouragement often doled out by Las Vegas casinos and the like—but it is solid counsel in the world of alpine climbing. I can't tell you how many times I've plodded through a milk puddle of clouds on the Muir Snowfield only to rise above it all upon reaching Camp Muir. Indeed, even in the face of slim weather odds, you've got to at least put yourself into position for success and be ready to maximize it should those slim odds work in your favor. Time and time again that alpine advice held true during my recent American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) Alpine Guide Exam (AGE). Arriving in Seattle in mid-September for my 10-day AGE, I stared at the bright screen of my smart phone and steeled myself for the grim weather forecast it proposed...my First Ascent BC-200 had seen me through many a maelstrom on Rainier, but ten days of that? Like any climber of peaks like Rainier, Denali, Cotopaxi, or Orizaba, the wheels on this particular bus had been set in motion many, many months before and there was far too much invested to pull it over to the side of the road due simply to predictions of a deluge. The AMGA is the premier training path for America's professional climbing guides and the 10-day AGE is the culminating exam that guides take in order to become Certified Alpine Guides. Along the way toward that test, hopefuls must first take a 10-day Rock Instructor Course, a 9-day Alpine Guides Course, a 5-day Ice Instructor Course, an 8-day Advanced Alpine Guides Course, a 3-day Alpine Aspirant Exam, a 6-day American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education Level 3 Course and Exam, and a then—finally—the 10-day Alpine Guide Exam. In case you weren't counting, that's 41 days of training in all—and that doesn't even begin to include the climbing resume you have to develop in between courses. All in all, that's a triple wallop of a lot of tuition, a lot of travel costs, and a lot of opportunity costs in the form of lost wages. Fortunately—and very, very thankfully—RMI, Whittaker Mountaineering, and Eddie Bauer/First Ascent helped to take some of the sting out of the tuition costs, but that aside, there was still no way I was going to let a grim weather forecast rain on my parade! Now the only problem was: “Would the grim weather forecast rain on the whole AGE parade?” You see, in order for an AGE to be valid, the examiners need to see you in a variety of terrain and situations—and if the weather doesn't allow those windows to open... Fortunately, time and time again, in the face of doom, gloom, cats, and dogs we put ourselves into position for success and just barely, and just somehow, squeaked it out. For the first few days we enjoyed the relative “rain shadow” that the Washington Pass area of the North Cascades provides. Washington Pass doesn't allow for glacial travel though—an integral part of the AGE—so after two days we had to leave that safe harbor for the shores of Mt. Shuksan. We arrived in the Lake Ann/Fisher Chimneys trailhead in a steady drizzle. By the time we packed up, things had improved, but the rest of the day was something of an ongoing “fashion show” as we put on a rain shell, took it off, added a warmth layer, and tried to predict what the weather would look like in five minutes. And in the backs of our minds all imagined how things might unfold. Happily, we were most certainly rewarded for our efforts: By the time we topped out on Fisher Chimneys and rolled into our bivvy site, we were high above the roiling sea of grey valley clouds. So often it's the case on Mount Rainier that we'll radio down to Ashford and hear that they're thick in the rain while up at Camp Muir we're above it all. Such was the case on Shuksan, and the next day we managed to circumnavigate the Upper Curtis, Sulphide, and Crystal Glaciers and climb the summit massif's Northeast Ridge—my first time doing that particular route and highly recommended! As the forecast shifted from grim to grimmer, we again decided to head over to Washington Pass. Driving over Highway 20 toward our meeting point at the Cutthroat Peak trailhead, my windshield wipers clicked a steady rhythm in time with the electronic music I was listening to to try to psych myself up. I arrived early at the trailhead and the rain continued. I cranked more psych music as I attempted some gear-sorting-inside-the-car-yoga poses. Then, miraculously, it began to clear. Not the swift and sure kind of clear that let's you know a new weather attitude is on the way—more like the resistant backing away of an angry dog that's just been called by it's owner, but enough to make a climb seem viable. We racked up, packed up, and headed for Cutthroat Peak's South Buttress. While it is true that “you can't win if you don't play”, it's also true that it's a bad idea to climb yourself so far up an objective that retreat becomes untenable. Fortunately, the South Buttress offers plenty of bail options, so with one eye on the clouds and the other on my rope coils, we moved upward, steadily gaining another plum Cascade peak. By then, we'd heard reports from a group of Advanced Alpine Guide Course participants that the Boston Basin area (home to West Ridge of Forbidden, Torment-Forbidden Traverse, Sharkfin Tower, and Sahale Peak, among others) had already received six inches of the new winter's snow. Fresh snow poses it's own set of problems in the alpine world, but deciding that fresh snow was more palatable than dealing with the reported dousing on the way, so up we went! These days, I'm climbing on snow for at least a part of almost every month of the year, but it's not often I'm dealing with fresh snow in September. Skis or snowshoes weren’t a part of our packing list, so lift-kick-step-sink-lift was the interminable process as we moved up through the now 10 inches of fresh snow covering the Quien Sabe Glacier. A circumnavigation/summit of Sahale Peak was our goal, and we eyed the valley clouds warily as we proceeded in dogged pursuit. Soon the clouds enveloped us and in between breaks we attempted to plot the best path ahead. After some steep, snow-laden slopes, a bergschrund crossing, and the final rocky summit scramble we were on top of our last AGE objective, Sahale Peak! By day's end I was back in a Bellingham motel room, enjoying the comforts of a shower, eat-in Thai Food, and 581 channels. On every weather channel, stoic looking forecasters delivered the report with the delicacy of a cancer ward counselor: the patient's condition was not improving. I spooned the last bit of tofu out of my box of green curry and grinned: For the last ten days we'd prevailed in the face of such gloom and doom forecasts, and now, with the AGE wrapped up I was much more than just a survivor, I was finally an AMGA Certified Alpine Guide! Achieving AMGA Alpine Guide Certification only occurred through a lot of support. Thanks to RMI/Whittaker Mountaineering/Eddie Bauer-First Ascent for their solid support of guide professional development. Thanks to all of the RMI guides who, through their sharing of skills, techniques, and approaches, have honed my own alpine guide skills; and particular gratitude to Andres Marin, Geoff Schellens, Jake Beren, Levi Kepsel, Eric Frank, Leon Davis, Elias De Andres Martos, and Rob Montague who shared with me their time and talents in the field as I worked toward this goal. - RMI Guide Kel Rossiter

Sara McGahan, Linden Mallory and myself set out from Base Camp just after 5 AM on a final mission through the Khumbu Ice fall. It was meant to be our summit bid. When we reached the first series of ladders over crevasses, we took a break. Linden and I were pleased that we'd reached this point relatively quickly, but it was clear that Sara's mind was not entirely on the day's climbing. She spoke up to say that she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go through with the planned week-long summit push. We suggested retreating to Base Camp in order to reassess and Sara agreed that would be the best course of action. During the morning at base, Sara bravely grappled with a heavy choice. She wasn't alone, of course, having the counsel of her Dad there in person and her Mom on the phone, but ultimately, the choice was hers to make. In some ways, despite the danger and brutally hard physical work of a summit push, choosing to go on would have been the easier option. Sara made the more difficult choice. She ended her bid to get up Mount Everest at age 16 and she did it with a smile. Bill and Sara discussed things a bit and made clear that they didn't want that decision to end the greater expedition... even though they are the expedition's principal members. After a few more talks, it was decided that Bill and Sara would leave Base Camp by helicopter in the morning, bound for home, while Linden and I, along with Kaji, Tchherring and Dawa, would continue to work toward the summit. Linden and I intend to lighten our packs and to tighten our itinerary some in order to fit in the "weather window" we believe will materialize in a few days. We won't carry nearly as much emergency gear, now that we aren't guiding, but we still want to be responsible Everest citizens... able to help ourselves and our teammates out of a jam and perhaps even to be of use to others in peril. But definitely as we begin this new venture, the packs will be lighter and the pace will be faster. Linden and I will go all the way to Camp 2 tomorrow, we'll rest a day and recheck the forecasts, and then we'll aim to hop directly up to Camp 4 and set out for the summit that same night. There is still the usual amount of mystery in it for us... we don't actually know what the weather will do (our forecasts are good, but the mountain doesn't much care about such things) we don't actually know what our bodies will do. Linden Mallory is a strong and experienced climber and guide, but he will be venturing nearly a vertical mile beyond familiar heights. I've been up top a few times and should enjoy all the benefits of muscle memory and brimming self-confidence, except... my 20 year span of venturing to 28,000 and 29,000 ft has been anything but smooth, easy and predictable. But I want to see that high up world again. I want Linden to see it as well. I would have loved for Bill and Sara to see the sunrise from up there near the top of the world and despite the pride I take in knowing they both came to mature and sensible decisions... I do feel a slight letdown in knowing that "guiding" this time around did not result in standing on top with my clients. On the other hand, my climbers are happy and healthy and excited about seeing their family and their home. They both climbed safely up and down dangerous slopes for weeks on end, reaching ridiculous heights. And they saw a number of spectacular sunrises, sunsets, moonrises and moonsets through gargantuan mountain passes. Sara may write in the coming days about her decision and perhaps it will become clear then as to just how completely we've failed (for now) in our bid to turn her into just another self-absorbed, egotistical, mountain-obsessed, risk-addicted climber. Best Regards, RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The use of trekking poles during climbs (in appropriate terrain) can dramatically reduce your expended effort, allow you to move more efficiently, and ultimately let you climb longer and further.  Trekking poles help us to balance, taking some of the work away from the small muscles in our feet and ankles responsible for balancing, and involving the core and skeleton instead.  They also help enormously when it comes to managing a large and unwieldy backpack.  There are ways to use and hold trekking poles that improve their efficiency.   A common question is how long should the poles be?  For climbers’ purposes, trekking poles should be significantly shorter than most would think: right around hip height.  By setting our poles at hip height, and holding the pole by placing the palm on the top of the grip and draping fingers over the pole, the skeleton can take much of the load from the pole, reducing fatigue and effort.  The shorter height allows the bones of the arm to stack over each other, taking the load rather than the muscles.  Remember, this is not cross country skiing and having the pole tall and out in front of you only means more, yet less effective, work for your arms.   Another element to think about is how overly active arms can actually create more exertion for your body.   Imagine that you were hiking up a set of stairs.  Now put a tall pair of poles in your hand, and hike the same stairs while you try to push yourself up with the poles at the same time.  Rather than two of your limbs working hard to move your mass uphill (lots of work already!) all four are doing the job; only your arms, working out in front of you, act as levers instead of pistons (like your legs) so they are mechanically much less suited to the task.  But, by moving your arms and trying to push on those levers, your heart rate will rise with the extra exertion; the result is a higher heart rate, earlier fatigue, and less efficient use of your system if your poles are out in front of you (like a cross country skier).  Even with the poles set to hip height, we see this happen often on steep rolls, when climbers don’t lower their grip on the pole to keep their hands at a comfortable height.  Once the hands are above the heart, they have little effect on balance or upward motion, and the heart has to work harder to pump blood uphill to them. Through small steep terrain features it's key to choke up on your poles to avoid this.   These are not absolute principles but suggestions. Play with them during your training to teach yourself to move more comfortably and efficiently with poles.  It will pay big dividends on your next climb, and can help to take some of the training stress of hiking up and downhill with heavy packs, off of your joints, helping to prevent injury! Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!

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.

The whole team is standing on the summit of Ixta at 8:10 am central time! It was a chilly climb but the sun is shining now and it is warming up a bit. The team did an awesome job getting up here. Now we will shift our focus to a smooth descent. That's all for now. We will check in again from thicker air!

RMI Guide Grayson Swingle

RMI Guide Gabriel Barral called with great news that our team reached the summit of Aconcagua! They stood on top at 2 pm (Argentinian time) and are back at high camp happy, healthy, and contently tired. After dinner and a good night's sleep, the team will descend to base camp tomorrow. Congratulations to RMI Guides Gabriel Barral, Pete Van Deventer, Gilbert Chase and Team!

On The Map

Strong winds overnight kept the teams at Camp Muir.  Telemetry shows wind gusts in the 50-60 mph range.  RMI Guide Henry Coppolillo reported a nice morning at Camp Muir as the wind continued to decrease. Around 7 am, the teams were going to ascend to Ingraham Flats to explore the terrain above Camp Muir and enjoy the sunshine.  The teams will return to Camp Muir, pack their gear and descend to Paradise later this morning.

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

We hit the dusty ol' trail today! A gentle breeze at our backs encouraged us towards Aconcagua. The hike to Camp Confluencia was filled with good conversation and lots of laughter. With every step, life is getting simpler and simpler. We are all in such awe of this place. 

Till next time,

RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm

Hello from Everest Base Camp -

Frosty tents and a frosty camp greeted us in the morning.Mother nature's sparkles made everything glimmer. Hot drinks and pancakes started our day off as the sun warmed everything around us. Today was a well-deserved leisure day. Naps, reading, and a casual walk on to the glacier wrapped up our time at basecamp. It’s been a memorable experience for all one we will all look back on with smiles. With full bellies from another amazing dinner cooked by the talented cook staff, we have all crawled into our sleeping bags for one last sleep at Base Camp.

Good night, all,

RMI Guides Casey, Hannah, and Team