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Posted by: JJ Justman, Solveig Waterfall
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Elevation: 10,000'
On The Map
Posted by: Jake Beren, Josh Maggard, Leon Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 358'
On The Map
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Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Southside
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Henry Coppolillo, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mt. McKinley
Elevation: 17,200'
May 27, 2023 7:28PM PT
Things were exactly as we hoped this morning, calm, and blue above.
We woke earlier than most, and had our chores taken care of quickly to get out of camp.
We were roughly the second team out, which turned out to be the right move as it seemed like nearly everyone at 14 headed to the fixed lines today. From the top, we could see a near to continuous line that stretched back to 14.
We made good time and rolled into camp at 17 around 4pm. Then started the laborious work of building camp. It's hard to do anything up here quickly - walk, shovel, stand up too fast, so it took some time, but we are now settled in - working on melting snow for water and hoping that tomorrow gives us our summit shot.
Pete, Henry, Tatum and Team
Go Bailey! Hope the weather window is good and that you get an amazing summit push! Stay safe!
Posted by: Cecilie on 5/28/2023 at 9:29 am
Posted by: Kel Rossiter
Categories: Guide News Guide Grant
Ultimately, beyond peering down a microscope, knowing the snow is a very sensory experience, incorporating sight, sound, and touch in order to determine its stability: windslabs are often squeaky like styrofoam, while faceted grains bounce off a gloved hand and make for a poor snowball. Of course, once stability is determined, the sensory experience is the pure enjoyment—how well does it ski? Through careful tracking of the Wasatch area over our week of study, we knew that north aspects were retaining the best snow. So, after our final exam, involving each person doing a complete analysis of the season's snowpack and weaknesses, we gathered together for a final run back into the front-country. We ripped our skins and then laid tracks down a beautiful bowl, each up us kicking up huge roostertails of powder joy—a reward for all of our diligent study.
The pleasures of backcountry skiing and the benefits of big mountain climbing with skis are becoming increasingly known in the outdoor world and RMI is right out in front of the trend. Safely partaking of those pleasures and benefits involves really coming to know the snow. While in its essence knowledge of the snow is like knowledge itself, where “The more one knows the more one knows they don't completely understand,” coming away from the Level 3 avalanche course, I feel good in knowing that I'm keeping the learning edge sharp. That sharp edge will aid me whether cramponing up alpine routes on Rainier or schussing down couloirs in the North Cascades.
hi im in Gayle Staffords reading class please can you get Matt Brennan to respond
Posted by: Karli L on 12/3/2018 at 10:57 am
Posted by: Seth Waterfall, Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Elbrus Northside
Elevation: 12,300'
On The Map
Seth: A comment you taught me could be appropriate at this time: the three P’s, perserverance, patience and a positive attitude along with a bit of luck will get you there! Best on a safe climb!
Posted by: phil usher on 9/1/2013 at 6:33 pm
Choo and team,
Bit bummed to read about the weather stalling things but I’m sure you’re still making the most of it! Only a success if you make it up…and back down…so be safe!!! Fingers crossed and sending wishes/thoughts/prayers for it to open up and give you a chance if it is right!!!
Pulling for ya! Enjoy and have fun!
LT
Posted by: Lauren on 9/1/2013 at 4:17 pm
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Posted by: Jack Delaney, Mike Bennett
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 4,500'
Sunday, May 7, 2023, 10:01 pm PT
Be very quiet…we’re hunting for crevasses!
Today we took our skills out into the wild, to test ourselves against the Ruth Glacier. No we didn’t walk around until someone fell in, we instead wandered through the maze of crevasses looking for the perfect one to safely lower someone into and haul them out of. The intricacies and difficulties of crevasse rescue don’t fully translate practicing on flat ground. Our biggest challenge was finding a crevasse that wasn’t drifted full of snow from the last storm and subsequent winds. After a lot of weaving and winding through the broken edge of the Ruth we finally found one that was a little more open than the rest. We sent RMI guide Mike Bennet in as our guinea pig to see if the snow floor could be collapsed and our crevasse deepened. Surprisingly the snow floor was deep and solid, so we made due with the 25 feet of snow wall we had available. The team performed admirably and even dialed in a second crevasse rescue system known as the “Drop C”. By midafternoon the sky was blue and the sun was hot and the team had completed training. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging and organizing
for our move to high camp tomorrow!
Beunos noches,
RMI Guides Jack, Mike and the team
Hi all!
I’m trying again to post. Sunshine and crevasse rescue. What a day. Enjoy your trip!
Susan
Posted by: Susan on 5/8/2023 at 9:35 pm
Have fun & be safe - big props from Seattle!
Posted by: Stacey Guerrero on 6/8/2013 at 8:49 pm
Zurich wishes all the best and good luck for the whole team.
Posted by: Tom&Jerry;$ on 6/6/2013 at 12:06 pm
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