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The Expedition Skills Seminar - Shuksan August 26 - 31 reached the summit of Mt. Shuksan via the Sulphide Glacier today around 11 am PT.  RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Evan Sather are leading the six day seminar and reported a beautiful day with a light breeze.  Prior to their summit attempt the team conducted basic mountaineering skills training.  Their training will continue and expand to include anchor placements, various self and team crevasse rescue techniques, belays, rappelling, knots, route finding and fixed rope travel. Thus giving them sufficient skills to continue their mountaineering persuits.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

After an early morning and quick breakfast the team was off again. Our first stop, Amecameca, to grab food, water, and of course the street food.

When we get to the entrance of the national park, we generally like to walk the rest of the way. It’s a bumpy, unpleasant road to get to La Joyalita and it’s nice to stretch our legs after a long day of driving. Perfect weather once again with the only clouds being the ones in the valley below us.  The business starts here though as we prepare for our climb of Ixta with a thorough gear check, packing demo, and refresher on tent setup. We’ll eat a hearty dinner and try to sleep as best we can at 13,000 ft. We start our first big climb tomorrow and the team is excited and ready for the challenge.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Dominic Cifelli

The Four Day Climb for August 1 - 4 led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Joe Hoch were unable to summit today due to a descending cloud and gusty winds. The teams reached the top of Disappointment Cleaver but were unable to continue due to weather.  As of 7 am the teams were safely back at Camp Muir.  They plan leave Camp Muir around 9 am to make the remaining 4,500' descent to Paradise.  We look forward to seeing the teams at Rainier Basecamp this afternoon.

The Soul of a Climber 

The mountains hold the soul,

And light fire in the hearts of some men.

It leads them to do things,

Others don't just understand.

It's not only the summits,

Though that's what we oft speak of.

It's the journey, the effort,

And so much more that we love.

It's trekking the valleys,

That lead to the trailhead.

And the anticipation of adventures,

During the journey ahead.

It's the early morning sun,

As if it illuminates the peaks.

All through the day until sunset,

These are the beauties we seek.

We realize it will take effort,

That there will be moments of pain.

But the mountain gives more back,

It is much more of a gain.

It's the time spent with others,

Telling tales of past climbs.

And of more ventures ahead,

That excite each climber's mind.

There is time spent together,

There is tile spent alone.

But mostly it is time in the mountains,

In this place we call home.

The time comes to leave, 

It invariably does.

But our hearts and souls have been nourished,

By these sacred mountains we love. 

-Tim Cavanagh

Thursday, June 3, 2021 - 6:15 pm PT

Good afternoon! This is RMI Guide Eric Frank calling on June 3rd from the summit of Denali, the highest point in North America. We are up here on a beautiful afternoon, in-and-out of the clouds. Sometimes we can see 100 miles; sometimes we can only see our climbing boots. We had an awesome climb today. Started off a little chilly in the shade, but all-in-all it has been a wonderful day of climbing.  We are enjoying 15 minutes on top right now. It is about 5:15 local time. We are going to pack up and head downhill where we should be back between 9 and 10 pm tonight.  Thanks everyone for following along.  Friends and family- I am sure you’ll be happy to hear from your respective individuals in a few days.  Our hope is to move down to a lower elevation, thicker air and catch a plane to the land of burgers and beer within a couple of days.  Thanks for following along. Bye.

RMI Guide Eric Frank

Hello again everyone back home.

It was another enjoyable day here in the Khumbu Valley, the team woke up to bright beautifully clear skies, and mountains in every direction. We had a nice relaxing breakfast and then decided to visit a Monastery in Thamo. It’s home to female Buddhist Monks that are Tibetan refugees. They apparently escaped over the boarder which is only a few miles away and have made this home like the Sherpa community did some 500+ years ago. When we arrived the nuns were milling about and tending to their greenhouse that they use to grow their vegetables. We purchased a few prayer flags and prayer beads to help support them and then made our way back to Namche for lunch.

Then evening was spent exploring Namche and doing a little bargaining for a few gifts. 

All is well and everyone is doing great.

Casey and Crew

Hey,

This year, the monsoon has not been kind to the climbers on Manaslu. Snow, rain, and more snow have prevented most climbers from going higher than Camp 3 (22,000’). Fortunately, we were able to fit our second rotation in between two storm fronts and have some beneficial days on the mountain. Though our plan for rotation 2 was to cache gear at Camp 4 (24,000’) in preparation for our summit push, we were happy and fortunate to reach Camp 3 in good weather. 

Two long nights were spent sleeping at 21,000’. We saw every hour come, and every hour go. Getting a good night's rest becomes more difficult as you go up the mountain, but it’s all part of the process. We have to let our bodies adjust to the new altitudes we’re asking it to rest at, which often involves climbing higher than we sleep at night. Climbing without supplemental oxygen takes more time and patience than climbing with. The body is highly stressed; it needs more time to acclimate and more time to recover. We’re trusting the process and our bodies as we prepare for the summit push. 

We’re back down at basecamp resting, playing cards, Backgammon and seeing how much caffeine the human body can handle. We’re hopeful for a weather window opening up towards the end of September/early October. The summit awaits. Wish us luck!

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli,  Dustin Wittmier, and JT Schmitt

The Mt. Shuksan Sulphide Glacier Team led by RMI Guides Joe Hoch and Dan May reached the summit on Thursday, September 22, 2022. The team had great weather, smoke free skies, and a great climbing route. With incoming rain, the team descended a day early to beat the deteriorating forecast.

Congratulations Team!

Words by Clarence Norment:

I’ve been climbing Rainier for a long time – 40 years to be exact! I first climbed with Wilderness Ventures, through RMI, in 1982 when I was 16. Since then, I’ve climbed 4 additional times – in ’96 with my late wife Mary Elisa on a cross-country trip right after we got married, in ’97 on a 5-day Muir skills seminar, in 2012 with Casey Grom, and in 2017 with a group of seven friends on a team led by Jess Matthews! This time around, I brought my daughter, Charlotte, who has wanted to climb ever since she was little, but had to wait until she was old enough! She’s heading into her senior year in high school, which is exactly when I first climbed. So this is a really cool full circle experience for us. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to have some awesome experiences with RMI, led by some amazing guides: John Day and Craig Van Hoy back in the 80s, George Dunn and Phursumba in ’96, Jeff Witherspoon in ’97, Casey in 2012, and Jess Matthews in 2017.

Charlotte and I had an AWESOME climb with Nikki. The summit wasn’t in the cards this time around, but we did get to the top of the DC and had an incredible experience – and got back down safe and sound, which is always key! It was the first time I haven’t summitted, and my joke at the post-climb celebration was that it took me forty years and 6 tries to finally get a “Certificate of Accomplishment”! In all seriousness, I really am proud of this climb. Charlotte absolutely crushed it and was super strong – she would’ve continued on if I had – and I think the fire has been lit in her to make this a part of her life now, too. We’ll absolutely be back again, and my other two kids, Elena (20) and Clay (15) were very envious of Charlotte and are wanting to climb now too – so mission accomplished!

It has been such an amazing 40-year history, and having my daughter climb with me this time brought things full circle. She reminded me of myself when I climbed at her age – no fear whatsoever!