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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!
Posted by: Kiira Antenucci, Joey Manship, Augi Fleer
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
RMI Guide Kiira Antenucci and Team reached the summit of Mt. Baker via the Easton Glacier. The team had a great three days of climbing. The Easton Glacier Route of Mt. Baker is perfect for the beginner looking to learn about climbing on glaciers, or the experienced climber seeking to stand atop a northwest classic.
Congratulations Team for taking on the challenge!
Posted by: Hannah Smith, Devin Guffey, Keeley Rideout, Jess Wedel
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Mt. Rainier RMI and SheJumps Climb, led by Hannah Smith, reached the summit today at 5:40am with 100% success! They have started their descent from the crater rim and will return to Basecamp later today.
This team humbly crushed the route and completed in style!
Posted by: Number one fan on 7/13/2021 at 11:38 pm
Congrats!!! What an amazing accomplishment!!
Posted by: Kimberly Austin-Ellis on 7/12/2021 at 3:45 pm
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Alex Halliday
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Alex Halliday reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Alex reported windy conditions on top. The teams will descend and return to Ashford later today.
Congratulations climbers!
Posted by: Casey Grom, Hannah Smith
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Everest BC Trek
Elevation: 11,300'
Hello again everyone.
All is still well here in the Khumbu as the team members made our way back into Namche. It was a nice day on the trail passing by climbers, trekkers, yaks, and porters all bound uphill to Everest Base Camp. We slowly made our way through the maze of traffic and enjoyed one last good view of Everest.
Tomorrow we'll be moving out early on our final leg of the journey back to Lukla. So please keep you fingers crossed we have good weather and can make our flight back to Kathmandu the following morning.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
This is all so Awesome!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 4/2/2022 at 11:06 am
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer
Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
The ability to measure your gains throughout a training program is a great way to stay motivated and identify areas that you want to work on more. In college I raced on the cross-country ski team. On the team, we had several different benchmark sessions throughout our summer and fall training seasons. These sessions helped measure strength, anaerobic threshold, race speed, and endurance. While the demands of nordic ski racing are somewhat different than mountaineering, these categories still apply directly to mountaineering. If you incorporate tests into your training plan early, you’ll have a benchmark to compare each subsequent test to. With a tool to identify your progress, you’ll be amazed at the progress you will make in getting faster, stronger, and fitter!
As food for thought, a couple of the events that we used were:
A Strength Test: The test encompasses three different core exercises that isolate different muscle groups: sit-ups, push-ups, and dips. Starting with sit-ups, do as many complete sit-ups as possible within a 1-minute span, rest for 30 seconds, and then repeat. We did the same with both push-ups and dips, keeping track of the numbers. When repeating the test later in the season, you are able to track your gains in core strength.
3000-meter running test and time trials: Both allowed us to compare times over a consistent course and test aerobic thresholds. The 3000m is long enough (7.5 laps of a standard track) to attain a good idea of how you can push and maintain over an extended distance. Time trials are the same, though distance and mechanism can vary (20 kilometers on a bike or a 45 minute uphill run). Longer courses focus on aerobic capacity (endurance), while shorter events move more towards the aerobic threshold (the ability to process lactic acid and maintain aerobic respiration).
Uphill sprint test: Running uphill as hard as I could pushed me into the anaerobic zone and measured maximum performance. Alpine ski areas, a local uphill grind, or even a long set of stairs are a great place to do this test. Find a section 2-3 minutes long, duck your head, and give it all you have.
Be creative with creating your own benchmark tests! Enter a 5k race periodically, use your local stadium stairs as an anaerobic test, and create a strength test that works for you. The options are pretty limitless, and when you see how much time you’ve dropped on that uphill run, or how many more sit-ups you can do over the period, you’ll be that much more psyched to keep getting after it. As always, be careful, especially at the beginning. Training only works if it’s making you stronger so train smart and stay injury free!
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Pete Van Deventer is a senior guide at RMI Expeditions. A former collegiate nordic skier, Pete climbs and guides around the world, from the Andes to Alaska. Pete is leading an expedition on Denali's West Buttress in May. Also an avid skier, Pete has sailed and skied on several occasions through Norway's Lofoten Islands, read about the adventure on the RMI Blog.
Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
Dave Hahn checks in from Camp 1
Be following this blog Dave. Me Knee’s doing better than the other one now. My heart a bit better as well, at a big conference with lots of loving friends. And with you on your hill. Be safe & warm Bro. See you when you get home.
Posted by: Carl Gilmore on 4/26/2012 at 2:52 am
Posted by: Alex Van Steen, Mark Tucker
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Carstensz Pyramid
On The Map
Houston`s climate is not that bad after all. Hope you all will keep up the good spirit and enjoy the reward of being able to do what you are doing.What an experience it is. I am curious to see some pictures after you are all back in good health.
Pap en Mam
Posted by: Richard van Steen on 7/2/2012 at 6:26 am
Alex, Mark and team, Amakane!Mark your blog reminds of a poem my Mom wrote “Oh give me a mountain to climb! Im leaving the jungle trail, the steamy swamps and the lowlands, give me a mountain to scale. I’ve been cut by the jungle grasses, I faint in the tropical heat, to plow through the mire is exhausting the mud has made heavy my feet….” You will soon be wondering at the towering crags above you, gasping at the vast unclimbed faces! Hey that wall of roots is pretty wild, eh? 5.8 climbing in the jungle! Ka noae!
Posted by: amy on 7/2/2012 at 2:29 am
Posted by: Mike King, Camille Leininger, Leif Bergstrom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
The Mt. Baker Coleman Deming team July 23 - 25 reached the summit today around 6:45 am. RMI Guide Mike King reported a warm night and great views north to Vancouver of the North Cascade peaks. The team returnted to Camp before noon. They will continue their descent to the trail head and conclude their program this afternoon.
Nice job team!
What a great climb with a great group of people. Truly appreciated our amazing guides that were flexible with the route.
Posted by: Heather on 7/26/2021 at 7:48 am
How Awesome of a challenge Jake! Great job Team! Looking forward to seeing pics and hearing about your climb
Posted by: Jodi Walny on 7/25/2021 at 6:15 pm
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in from Ecuador.
Great job guys! I wish I were there to celebrate with you. It was great to meet all the guys on the climb & Casey & Adam.
Posted by: Rejan on 12/16/2011 at 8:25 am
GO BILLY!!! So proud of you! We will be praying for you and your team that you all may have a SAFE expedition!!!
Posted by: The Terry's on 12/16/2011 at 8:19 am
Congratulations to all Army hikers who have found their grit again. You made it!
Posted by: Vickie on 8/2/2022 at 2:21 pm
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