When I first climbed a mountain years ago. I did it to help a friend with a late life mid life crisis. After that I continued to climb but never had an answer to the question “why”? Today I found my answer. Today we trekked from Camp 1 to Camp 2. A gain of around 2,000' in elevation. On the walk it came to me that we have formed a mountain family. We have Dom the Dominating. The father figure and leader of the group. Toothpick, the moral foundation.Gator. Charles Darwin. Origin of species. THE living fossil. David, the doc. Jack, the nephew that always says one more rep at the gym. Rossi, the long lost cousin from Europe. Mary Beth, the aunt that always knows if your telling the truth or not.Hudson, hair = Epic!, Tim, the crazy uncle willing to medically treat your cats for everything. Cam, the strong but silent type. Today as we moved up the mountain. We did it as a group with everyone matching speed and ability perfectly. No one was left behind and all were in good spirits and willing to help anyone with anything. There were words of encouragement, and a sense of belonging - the likes you do not see very often. It is in this spirit that I can say everyone here is a Lion King compared to what you will see in an average day of work. Except Gator, he is more of a Gator King.
Signing out from Camp 1 with everyone in good spirits and health.
Buenes noches from the Altzomoni Hut. The team is doing great. We had a wonderful acclimatization walk, a big meal and we're just turning in for bed before heading up to our high camp on Ixta tomorrow morning. The team is in wonderful spirits and everybody is doing quite well on our perch on the hill above Puebla in between Popo and Ixta. It's a beautiful night and the weather seems to be improving, which is great for us tomorrow to start our climb of Ixta. We'll check in tomorrow. Thank you for all the good wishes and we'll talk to you soon.
RMI Guide Jake Beren
RMI Guide Jake Beren checks in from Ixta's High Camp.
Great to follow you on this climb. Can’t wait to hear all the details when you return.
Stay Safe!
Posted by: Diana Boyce on 3/12/2015 at 11:12 am
Dom,
We hope you are safe and having a great climb to the summit!! Can’t wait to see pics and hear the stories ! We know you are taking it all in ! Enjoy the thrill!!
The Holland’s
Posted by: Ron , Peachy, IZ & RD on 3/11/2015 at 2:55 pm
Editor’s Note: This "pulse check," adapted from the end of John Colver’s Fit To Climb Program, a sixteen-week Mt. Rainier training program, is a general check-in two weeks before the climb.
You really can’t build any more fitness less than two weeks before the climb. The other side of that point is there really is the potential to squander the benefits you’ve worked for by doing too much in the coming weeks and arriving to the climb thoroughly exhausted. For some people, the crux of the training is managing the reduced amount of effort and intensity. In a very similar way to being stuck on a mountain waiting for a storm to pass, this reduced workload may test your patience, but you have to recognize that to overdo it now would be akin to stepping out into the storm. There is just no point.
Roughly speaking, the training intensity and volume are reduced by 50% in the coming days. Some ways to manage the additional downtime can be reviewing your gear, reading about the climb, watching a movie or catching up with friends and family. The last few weeks of training are busy and your climb is coming up at the end of next week. It’s time to relax.
Given that your climb is coming up very soon, this week’s and next week’s preparation really blend into each other. As you look ahead at your schedule for the next ten days, bear in mind that it’s perfectly fine to juggle around the days to suit your needs. Another important thing to bear in mind is that it’s certainly okay to skip training days. The goal from now onwards is rest and preparation. The climb is the event that all the training has been leading up to. Most people are going to be a little nervous. If your nerves are getting the best of you, now is a good time to start actively practicing relaxation and anxiety management skills. My frank observation is that no matter what concerns or doubts come up between the start and the end of this week, the right thing to do in almost every case is to relax and focus on the next hour. You will need all of your energy to climb this mountain and you should feel confident that the training you have will afford you the opportunity to reach the summit of Mount Rainier.
There are, however, many things that cannot be controlled, weather and snow conditions being the biggest factors. It is easy to worry about both of these things, but I can promise you as a guide I learned not to worry about those things until the time is actually right. The determination of whether to continue or turn back is always a calculated decision made in the moment, and this is one of the fascinations of the challenge. A climbing team can have a hundred percent perfect weather forecast and if there’s a slight air pressure change two hours from the summit, this can result in white-out conditions and winds so high that turning around is the only reasonable option. It is also true that many successful climbs start out in poor visibility and inclement weather which dissipates as the team climbs higher. No one knows what the conditions will be like on your summit day and this is why the gear list contains clothing and equipment for all conditions. What you can count on is the knowledge that no matter how many times your guide has walked out of Camp Muir in the middle of the night, she or he does not forget what it was it is like the first time. Try and suspend thinking about what is happening above the clouds; I say this with absolute assurance, you will be supported by a world-class guide team.
On this note, many people report that the experience of being part of a team is one of the most memorable aspects of the climb. Being connected by carabiners and a thin nylon rope is certainly a bonding experience. The famous French guide and writer Gaston Rébuffat often spoke of the “Brotherhood of the Rope” to symbolize the connectedness of everyone on the team. It’s an amazing experience to share the mountains with like-minded climbers!
If at the end of next week, you stand on the summit of Mount Rainier, it will be because you put one foot in front of the other, over and over again, and met the challenge of climbing 9,000’ from the alpine meadows of Rainier’s foot to the glacier capped summit. Along the way, you will find synchronicity with your teammates. You will boost them when they are tired and they will do the same for you.
_________
John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
We woke this morning to another unbelievable day at 17,200' camp on Mt. McKinley. The sun was shining, there was no wind blowing, and folks were comfortable in soft shell coats eating their grits and Pop Tarts. If you don't have a frame of reference for how unbelievable that kind of weather is, it's more typical for people to be wrapped in every puffy coat and pant that they brought to the high camp, while the wind threatens to blow you right off the mountain. Needless to say, we were psyched.
We started walking down the buttress route soon after breakfast, and make excellent time across the knife-edge, exposed walking from camp to the top of the fixed lines. A short, technical descent down the lines had us all sweating by the time we reached the bottom, and we stripped down to base layers for the moderate descent back to our cache at 14,200'.
After we grabbed all the group food and gear, we loaded heavy packs and headed down in the scorching sun towards our old stomping grounds at 11,000'. We arrived in calm, clear skies, and we quickly got up tents and got out of the sun. We're drinking a ton of water, looking forward to the group food fry of leftover cheeses, meats, and breads this evening, and getting ready for the 3am launch down the glacier tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll have the weather to fly back to showers, greasy burgers, and cold beer tomorrow.
Until then, stay tuned for the latest and greatest from the team!
Hasta luego,
RMI Guides Tyler Jones, Garrett Stevens and the sore but happy team
The crew moved up to Chopper Camp. It's currently dumping up here, with the forecast calling for 4-6" of accumulation. Tomorrow's plans call for a quick carry to Plaza Cholera (high camp) which means we're getting close to pulling the trigger on our summit assault. We need some cooperation from the weather but it looks like we're going to get a good window in the upcoming days!
Stoke meter is climbing (with the barometer)!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent and the gang.
Tell Papa(Steve)that we love him and can’t wait to see him. Love, his grandbabies.
Posted by: Sierra and Kira Curtis on 2/11/2011 at 8:25 am
Enjoy the rest days. When the hots are up, go get um…fill up with all the great oatmeal and pasta your guide prepare for you. Summit day is a bit long, but well worth the effort when you step onto the top. Git-er-done team two!!! Hey Pete…hope you’re enjoying #2…remember…only one trip up to the summit this time!!!
The Mt. Rainier Summit Climb teams, led by Brent Okita and Walter Hailes, reached the summit at 7:00 a.m. The winds were 20-25 mph and a clear day. They are currently descending to Camp Muir.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz, led by Garrett Stevens, is currently on the summit reaching the top via the Kautz Glacier Route.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Greetings from Elbrus Basecamp,
We completed our last leg of travel today and reached Basecamp. The day started with a nice breakfast served in our rooms at the hotel, and then we loaded up the vehicles one last time and headed towards the mountain. In recent years, there has been a lot of road improvements so much of the drive is now paved. The last 8 miles though is still the same with huge mud holes, deep ruts, and very steep drop offs. Since it has been raining the last few days, the road was extra slick and this changed what would have been a 15 minute ride into a very entertaining two hours. We ended up walking down while another vehicle carried our gear. As luck would have it, that vehicle broke an axle so we went back to the vehicle to carry it ourselves. After we arrived at the jeep, we learned that another vehicle had been found so we walked back to basecamp. It was raining the whole time and without our gear it is a little difficult to set up a camp. We were finally reunited with our gear and we moved into a nice camp.
The driver who helped us out today ended up cooking us dinner. We walked back down the same path for the third time today to his shack. He was waiting for us and motioned us into his home. He had obviously been cooking since we last saw him and we were first offered a local milk drink that tasted like yogurt, drank from a communal cup, then steaming hot bread, and finally a whole pot of lamb and potatoes. It was a delicious meal and an experience we will not soon forget.
Now it is off it bed so we are ready for our carry day tomorrow.
Best,
RMI Guides Jeff, Pete & Team
I hope the weather clears and it looks like it should on Thursday. We are all rooting for you - from our recliners of course. :) Wishing you great climbing!
Both RMI Forbidden Peak teams reached the summit yesterday! After a leisurely breakfast, they hiked out to the trailhead, sorted gear and bid farewell. A glorious four-day program in the North Cascades!
RMI Guides Jake Beren and Eric Frank
Just finished a wonderful meal at The Dik Dik hotel with the whole team.
They all look about the same as when we started the climb, but I believe everyone of them has change in some sense inside. I think a greater self awareness and positive outlook on just how tough and how much they can endure was brought to life over the course of this expedition. Thank goodness for the available hot showers this afternoon it was a nice touch to have them change on the outside.
Perfect weather for our 3 hour hike to the end of the trail where we said good by to a fantastic group of local men who helped us with the climb of Kilimanjaro. Couldn't have done it without them. Thanks so much to The Dik Dik Hotel and RMI staff for all they have done.
We will start the Safari part of the program tomorrow and I will do my best to keep you in the loop.
May it be a short time before this group gets to a new trail head for the start of another great adventure.
Cheers,
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Mary Beth is the best! So proud of you! Ten cuidado y te amo cuñada!
Posted by: Angela Spinner on 1/29/2023 at 5:01 pm
View All Comments