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The Four Day Climb July 2 - 5, 2021 reached the crater rim of Mt. Rainier at 5:30 am today with blue skies above and good route conditions under foot.  The teams, led by RMI Guides JM Gorum and Joe Hoch, enjoyed some time in the crater and spent time taking in the views.  The route remains in good condition with a nice boot pack trail.  Back at Camp Muir the teams will get a short break to repack gear and re-hydrate before descending the final 4,500' to Paradise.

Congratulations to the Four Day Climb team!

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Jack Delaney led the entire Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier team to the summit of Mt. Baker today! Dominic reports it was a super nice day on the summit and  that "things are going great!" The team is spending one more night at camp before making the rest of their descent tomorrow.

This climb wraps up our 2021 North Cascades climbing season. We loved climbing with all of you this year and are excited for the climbs to come in 2022!

Congratulations climbers!

The week of winter solstice was filled with sun, great attitudes and a wonderful time spent in the mountains. We started our Intro to Ski Mountaineering Seminar with a day of basic touring skills, equipment function and packing along with harness, rope, and avalanche transceiver drills. This was a great start to the trip with two young boys from New York and Ohio looking for adventure and building their mountaineering and ski touring skill sets. The mountain days were full of exciting new learning. Our first day on the hill we parked at Paradise and ski toured toward Edith Creek drainage and found a nice, secluded and well snow-covered area to camp for the evening, allowing us to make a run down a great slope in the basin. We covered kick turns and transitions along with many other key maneuvers while traveling the mountains with skis on, whether it be up or on the way down. Our camp experience was good practical winter camping… Cold…ish but clear and star filled nights. The second day we awoke to fog filled air. We leisurely packed camp and dropped some extra overnight equipment in the van. Around 10 a.m. we stepped in to our skis and started our ski to Camp Muir, 4,500' above at 10,000'. On our way to Muir we encountered firm crust and rime ice requiring us to make use of the crampons a few times and used them a good amount on a section of the upper snow field when our skins would just not grip. In late afternoon we arrived at Muir feeling the days work. We brewed up some hot drinks, had dinner and settled in the bunkhouse for the evening. The third day we covered loads of skills in the region of Muir including ice axes, ropes, cramponing, rope rescue and then followed with many of my other teaching tangents. We had the best weather we could ask for on the true winter solstice day in the Northwest. In our evening lecture we went over frostbite, hypothermia, and altitude illnesses. Today, our fourth day, we made our decent from Muir . We traveled a section with crampons due to poor snow conditions but still managed to get 3,200' of descent. In my eyes, any skiing is good skiing. We closed the week's journey back in Ashford over a refreshing beverage and a burger. The week of ski touring has been one to remember and I look forward to teaching more ski-based mountaineering trips on one of the lower 48's best and biggest ski hills, Mount Rainier. RMI Guide Tyler Jones

We had a short day getting to our camp at Lake Ann on Tuesday. The Fisher Chimneys were too wet for us to ascend any higher.  So we woke up early  to make our attempt at the summit. Starting in the dark and ending in the dark meant we had a very long and very hard but successful summit day yesterday. Today we will descend to the trail head and complete our program.

Thanks for joining us!

- RMI Guide Alex Halliday

RMI Guide Tatum Whatford radioed at 7 am that the first rope teams of the Four Day Climb August 22 - 25 were reaching the crater rim.  The remaining teams were 10 minutes out. Tatum reported a beautiful morning on the mountain with no wind and a very good route. Once they spend a bit of time on the summit, Tatum along with RMI Guide Alex Halliday will lead their climbers back to Camp Muir where they will have a quick break to re-organize and pack for their remaining descent to Paradise.  The teams will conclude their program this afternoon with a celebration at Rainier BaseCamp.

Way to go teams!

Yesterday all members of the RMI Mexico team arrived  safely in Mexico City. With a quick team meeting to cap off the night, we were off to bed to sleep off the long day of travel.

La Malinche is the first objective of the trip, an acclimatization hike that takes us up to 14,501 ft. We couldn’t have picked a better day for it. Warm, nearly windless weather greeted us at the base and followed us all the way to the summit of the peak. For many of us it was our high point! We spent a good 30 minutes up high taking in the views, petting the dogs that would mosey our way, and eating our favorite snacks (maybe that’s why the dogs came over). Before long it was time to head down, we had carne asada to get to. A safe and uneventful descent followed, just the way we like it, and the team enjoyed some relaxation before our delicious dinner. Now it’s time to rest up for the next leg of the journey. We head to Ixta Basecamp tomorrow!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

And... the winds brought us back to Shishapangma Base Camp. We had an incredibly rough night at Camp 1. The storm that unleashed upon finishing our well accomplished tasks above Camp 1 the previous day, was so fierce, that continued this morning with even more determination to make us cut our rotation one day short. After fighting the winds securing our camp, and managing to make breakfast, it was clear we weren't going to get a break. We descended towards Base Camp fully bundled in our warm equipment, knowing though that our well spent time up there is going to pay dividends soon. Now we go to enjoy some more rest in anticipation of our next move. Spirits are high and we look forward to good weather soon! Best regards from Base Camp, RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos

RMI Guides Matias Franics and Seth Burns led their Four Day Climb August 16 - 19 teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams reported good conditions with a bit of increased wind and some light precipitation on their descent.  Once back at Camp Muir they will have a short break before continuing the final 4,500' down to Paradise to complete their climb.  They will conclude their program at Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon with a celebration ceremony.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

RMI Guide Hannah Smith checked from the Summit of Mt. Baker at 12:04 pm PDT today. The team successfully reached the summit via the Easton Glacier Route. Hannah let us know, that the team is stoked and had a beautiful day of climbing. The team will descend to the trailhead tomorrow. 

Congratulations Team!

Today proved to be a much less stressful day than yesterday.   Waking up to five thousand vertical feet of relief directly out your window, fabulous crisp Himalayan air and the absence of a bajillion people trying to run you over is pure bliss.  Combine that with French press coffee, pancakes, eggs and homemade chapati bread and the day is off to a good start. 

After breakfast we got our porters loaded up to carry our unneeded gear ahead to our next lodge then hit the trail for our first miles towards Everest Base Camp.  What is so unique about this area is this trail is not only a trail but an interstate, superhighway, autobahn, or backwoods country road; it is the single line on which literally everything in this area gets moved through.   If you want a beer, it came up on a human’s back.  If you want French fries, noodles, toilet paper, clothing, or anything else under the Himalayan sun, it was moved by legs of some kind.  No automobiles have ever driven this path, nor will they.  It is the way things used to be. 

After three delightful hours of walking, we stopped at a small tea house for lunch then polished off the remaining 2 miles to Namche Bazaar, capitol of the Khumbu Region.  This last two miles gained us more elevation than the previous four so by the time we rolled into or lodge we were ready for a rest.   Despite being over 11,000 feet, the team is feeling good and looking forward to an even more mellow day tomorrow.   We are enjoying decent weather in the morning and light rain by the afternoon.   A great combo for walking then drinking tea and beer.  

Stay tuned for our rest day adventure tale. 

Adam Knoff