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The whole team is standing on the summit of Ixta at 8:10 am central time! It was a chilly climb but the sun is shining now and it is warming up a bit. The team did an awesome job getting up here. Now we will shift our focus to a smooth descent. That's all for now. We will check in again from thicker air!

RMI Guide Grayson Swingle

Hey everybody back home, this is Casey checking in from the Cho Oyu Expedition. The team has safely returned from our first acclimatization foray up on the upper mountain. On Sunday we left ABC and headed up to Camp 1. It took about 45 minutes less than our first climb up there. The team did great. We spent the night again to continue our acclimatization. In the morning we woke up to a beautiful morning so we got up and hiked to almost Camp 2, which sits about 23,000'. We set some new altitude records for a few folks. We headed back down to Camp 1 and had another night's rest up there. This morning we woke up early and descended the rest of the way back to ABC. Everyone's doing great but a little bit tired from all the walking and hard breathing at this high altitude. Everybody's in great spirits. On our acclimatization hike, the only day we had to go to Camp 2, it actually didn't snow that day but it did snow that evening. We've been here about a week and it has been snowing every day, light accumulation but it is a trend that we've had. Been kinda nice but at the same time we are missing the sunshine. Another positive note is that it has been three weeks since we left the states and we are officially halfway through our trip. Hopefully in about two more weeks we are looking to reach the summit. And then maybe in about one week after that we'll be leaving the mountain. We are going to spend the next two days resting here at ABC. We will check in again in another day or so.

The Mt. Rainier Women's Climb, led by RMI Guide Hannah Smith, reached the summit at 6:30 a.m.  The team reported nice weather and good route conditions.  They spent some time on top before beginning their descent back to Camp Muir at 8:00 a.m.

We look forward to congratulating the team this afternoon at Raineir Basecamp!

Due to avalanche activity, the Four Day Climb with RMI Guides JT Schmitt and Alex Halliday did not climb above Camp Muir this morning. The mountain received 8+" of new snow yesterday afternoon and there were numerous slides on the Cowlitz Glacier with several going over the trail. In the first picture, you can see evidence of avalanche debris that has been deposited along the first steps of the route.

The team has started their descent and will back at Ashford Basecamp early this afternoon.

RMI Guide JM Gorum called from Camp Schurman (9,440') around 9 am, the Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons June 25 - 30 team had made it safely back to camp after making their summit attempt this morning.  The team encountered soft snow and poor route conditions at 12,600' which caused them to turn back.  The team will spend their third and final night on the mountain tonight.  Tomorrow they will pack up camp and descend to the White River Trailhead and return to Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford.

We hope they had a great week of training and climbing on Mt. Rainier!

RMI Guide Peter Whittaker along with Ed Viesturs led a team of eight climbers to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Peter reported light wind, great climbing conditions and a beautiful day on Mt. Rainier. All eight climbers in the party reached the summit. The Five Day Summit Climb led by Solveig Waterfall also topped out this morning with 100% of her team on the summit as well. Both teams were beginning their descent from the crater rim around 7:20 am. The teams will return to Camp Muir for a short break before descending down to Paradise and then to Rainier BaseCamp this afternoon. Congratulations to today's Summit Climbers!

Hello everybody back home, this is Casey Grom checking in from the Cotopaxi Express Ascent. Today we left the busy city of Quito and traded in for a little rustic countryside visit. We did a short acclimatization hike on the Illinizas where we reached just over 15,500’. Everybody did fantastic and we even got to use our gore-tex jackets with fresh snow falling on us today. We have since descended and have retreated to the Hacienda Chilcabamba where we have just finished a delicious meal and great conversation. Everyone seems to be doing really well and everyone's relaxing right now inside. We are looking forward to some clear skies tomorrow and a nice view of Cotopaxi. That's all for now and we will check in again tomorrow. RMI Guide Casey Grom

RMI Guide Mike King and the Mt. Baker Coleman Deming July 20 - 22 team reached the summit this morning.  Mike reported a cold and windy day with firm conditions on the Roman Headwall.  The team returned to camp shortly after 11 am.  After packing up camp they descended to the trail head and concluded their program.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

This past November I and several other RMI guides had the opportunity to further hone our guiding skills by participating in the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) Rock Instructor Course (RIC). I decided that after five years in the industry it would be enlightening to gain a perspective into this organization and put myself in the position of a student. The RIC is designed to create a foundation for guides looking to pursue a certification in the rock or alpine realm and is a prerequisite for many other AMGA courses. The program was set up as a contract course by RMI and was partially funded by the Eddie Bauer/First Ascent guide grant which kept the tuition costs low and excitement high. The course took place in the world renowned climbing area of Red Rocks; just outside of the world renowned capital of partying and gambling, Las Vegas, NV. Red Rocks is formed out of beautiful Aztec sandstone that was left behind by sand dunes 180 million years ago in an environment much like today’s Sahara Desert. With relatively short but, often complex, approaches and descents to long classic routes this is the ideal place to learn and play. The available climbing ranges from short sport climbs to 2500’ big wall routes, however, this course focused on guiding in class 4 terrain and traditionally protected routes to the 5.9 level. Most of us arrived at least a few days early to prepare for the course and get used to the rock; climbing Washington state granite, Bozeman ice, or glaciers on Mount Rainier doesn’t always prepare you for long lines on soft sandstone. I arrived one week early and was thoroughly psyched to leave the soggy sight of the Puget Sound for a sun soaked desert. I quickly found myself back in the rock climbing culture at the local BLM campground, with campfires and some mellow acoustics at night as well as the blow torch sound of a propane stove firing in the morning. It was early to bed and early to rise for the next few weeks to maximize the limited winter light. The sun rose at 6:30 am but left us by 4:15 pm. After 6 great days of climbing and several months of preparation, I was ready to start the course. It was a crisp Sunday morning and we were all up extra early to make sure our gear was in order and looking good. We had received a rather detailed itinerary via email and a few phone calls before the course but still were not sure exactly what to expect at the Red Springs picnic area that morning. For most of us this was our first experience with the AMGA and none of us had taken a “guide track” program before. I had heard that it was going to be serious and to go in prepared, which led me to have questions like “what will these instructors be like? And expect of us?” “Does my hair look okay?” ”How much am I really going to learn?” Upon arrival it was the classic first time meet up. Overall pretty quiet with a few light conversations, introductions, and of course a lot of sipping coffee. At 8 o’clock sharp we began and the mood eased exponentially over the day; by 2pm there were dirty jokes being thrown around. The three instructors were not out to judge or be hardcore; they were clearly there to mentor because they love guiding. The first part of the RIC was used to make sure we were all on the same page with the basics and begin to learn a few more advanced skills we would need later in the week. By the end of the second day it was becoming clear that some foul weather was in store, so we decided to get on the rock and start tugging as soon as possible. Over the next two and a half days we split into teams of four and got in well over 1000 vertical feet of climbing on a few classic routes. Our management of three ropes and four people on a hanging belay quickly went from obnoxiously poor to…….well…..not half bad. The stoke was high, and we were all excited to be learning from and climbing with some of the best guides in the business. As I was two pitches up on the four pitch “Big Bad Wolf”, I looked over my shoulder and saw huge bands of rain pummeling Las Vegas in the valley below. We made the hasty call to link the last two pitches and bring a few ropes at a time to finish the climb before the rain hit us. As the last climber was cresting the top I felt the first drop hit my forehead. We continued with a crash course in short roping off the backside. As the dust turned to mud before my eyes I couldn’t have known that the climbing portion of the course would be over. We were in the desert, right? Over the next three days we practiced and perfected rescue and rope skills as the rain fell nonstop all around the pavilion we were under. It was fun to focus purely on the timed drills and creating one handed hitches as they were called out. Looking out we could see the rock getting wetter than it had been in months. The sandstone in Red Rocks is porous and thus absorbs water like a sponge. Even in the warmest months the rock needs 24-48 hours to dry after a soaking rain and we had a lot of soaking rain with cool temps and low sun. The issue with climbing on the damp rock was not going to be its slipperiness but rather the danger of holds breaking and a leader falling onto protection in that same type of rock that just broke. As the sun rose for the last three days of the course we had to turn down perfect climbing weather because of poor route conditions. I sympathized with the climbers I work with on Mount Rainier: they come from across the country after months of training, time, and money spent, only to be shut down by avalanche hazard or icy conditions on a beautiful, sunny day. All was not lost however; we were able to learn and practice new skills in the horizontal plane, on very sunny aspects, and in steep off trail terrain. We agreed that we learned just as much if not more in this manner than we would have high on the rock. This was my first AMGA experience and it could not have been a better one. It solidified many skills that I can put to use in my current guiding and climbing. It was a great opportunity to develop myself in my profession and has opened the door for more courses and certifications. These courses and certifications are not required for guiding in the United States and many great guides are fully qualified through experience. This program and others offered by the AMGA however, get guides on the same page and forces us to be the best we can be, whether it be on Red Rocks sandstone, Mount Rainier Glaciers, or a remote peak in the Andes. Thanks to RMI, Eddie Bauer/First Ascent guide grant, and all the guides on the course for making this possible. Climb On!

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons team stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier at 10:15 am today. The high winds from yesterday and overnight calmed in the early hours, it was cold, so the team waited for the temperatures to warm before starting their summit attempt.  The waiting paid off and the team had a clear beautiful summit day via the Emmons Glacier. They will spend the last night on the mountain training, before returning to Ashford Basecamp tomorrow afternoon.

Congratulations Team!