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It's easy to forget how wild it is here. Over the past several days we have been surrounded by the hustle and bustle of helicopters, mules, and other climbers rushing in and out of Aconcagua Base Camp. Today brought a lovely change. Carrying our gear higher and higher, we were reminded of how incomprehensible the land we are exploring in is. The surrounding mountains took depth and the air became noticeably thinner. It was calm. No wind, no helicopters, no loud music. Just climbing. Wonderful. 

Till next time,

RMI Guide Luke Wilhelm & Team

The Five Day Climb May 19 - 23 led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and James Bealer reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 8 am.  The team reported windy conditions and don't intend to stay too long on the summit.  This is the first RMI Team this season to reach the summit.  The group will return to Camp Muir for a short break and to re-pack their gear.  Then they will continue their descent to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

We met yet another stray dog friend today- oh wait, that’s not what this blog about! We are incredibly happy and proud to say that every single team member stood on top of North America’s 3rd highest peak, Pico de Orizaba, today! What a day it was too! We awoke for our alpine start to find that the sky was clear, the wind light, and the temperatures still warm from the previous day. The route takes us up an old aqueduct, then up a rocky slope for a couple of hours until you reach a feature called the labyrinth, aptly named. That is when the weather started to turn from warm and windless to bitter and howling. Up we went, navigating the labyrinth with all its ice, mud, and rock and to the base of the of the Jamapa Glacier. A team member described the glacier as “walking up a descending escalator”, never ending and relentless. On we pushed, with perseverance stretched to its limit we crested the caldera ridge and on to the true summit where we met back up with our 2 other rope teams and embraced.

We are back down now, safe and sound, about to jump in our showers and wash up before dinner, our last one as a team. Seems surreal for it to be over so soon, but we look forward to seeing everyone in the mountains again. This is the Mexico climbing team signing off.

Except there is the picture of our dog friend walking us down to Base.

RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli, Abby Westling and Team

RMI Guides Abby Westling, James Bealer, and teams stood atop Mt. Baker yesterday. After waiting out the rain all night, they departed camp in the morning and enjoyed the daylight during their ascent. The teams made it back to camp yesterday evening to enjoy dinner and some well-deserved rest. They will walk out of camp today. 

The Four Day Climb August 17 - 20 led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Nikki Champion reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  Mike reported moderate winds and a busy route.  Camp Muir sandwiched between two layers of clouds, dense clouds above Camp Muir and a light marine layer above Paradise currently.  The climbers will take a short break at Camp Muir to repack and re-hydrate before starting down to Paradise.  Once at Paradise the shuttle will return the climbers to Rainier BaseCamp where they will conclude their program with a short ceremony.

Nice work today everyone!

Sunday, December 5, 2021 - 8:26 pm PT

We were back to high camp at 10:45 PM for a round trip time of just under 13 hours. Pretty normal for Vinson. Great views, fine weather.  We had dinner back in camp and ran stoves forever to melt snow for water. Now 1:30 AM, the end of another long but magnificent day. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

The advice “show up in the best shape of your life” can mean very different things for different people. People from all sorts of different backgrounds come to Mt. Rainier for an adventure and they can all have great success, but it helps to know what you are training for. For an Ironman triathlete, perhaps it isn’t so much about showing up in the best shape of their life, but in the right shape: the physical demands of mountaineering can be very different than those of a triathlon. For someone venturing into the mountains for the first time, building overall aerobic fitness and core strength may be the focus.

Numbers that help to understand the climb:

17,982’ (5480m) of total elevation gain and loss

21 hours on our feet

45-55 lbs of weight potentially in your pack (pack weights do decrease for summit day)

30,000+ steps up and down (no one has ever actually counted them all for us)

2/3 roughly the amount of oxygen available to us at the summit versus sea level.

36 hours in which to do all this (*four day summit climb)

First off, aerobic fitness: For most, summit day on Mt. Rainier will be far and away the longest period of sustained exertion that they have ever done. A typical summit day involves 15 to 16 hours on our feet; as a general guideline that includes an hour of packing and prep, 10 hours of climbing to the summit and back to Camp Muir, an hour of packing and recovery at Muir, and 3 more hours down the Muir Snowfield. Even though the overall pace of our movement is slow, the sheer amount of time on our feet and moving adds up to be exhausting. Now consider that the previous day, the team spent 5 or 6 hours climbing to Camp Muir, and then got maybe 6 hours of somewhat fitful sleep prior to waking for the summit push. Having a deep aerobic base is the only way to be able to push through all these hours, and consequently, the bulk of your training should focus on this realm.

Recovery from anaerobic spurts: While 99.5% of the climb is accomplished in that zone of aerobic endurance, there are small sections of increased effort. It may be just a handful of tricky steps through a boulder jumble on Disappointment Cleaver, or a more sustained section of ice climbing through a tricky, steep section on the Kautz Ice Chute. At altitude, since we are breathing in less oxygen, these increases in effort can quickly become anaerobic, and the ability to recover mid-effort from these bursts is essential. Interval training helps to increase your body’s anaerobic threshold (the level of exertion at which you begin to create large amounts of lactic acid) and also builds your body’s ability to metabolize that lactic acid, effectively recovering. This way, though a few tricky steps may leave you feeling breathless or winded, you are able to recover in a matter of moments with a few deep breathes and fall right back into your rhythm.

Strength: While many focus on overall leg strength — consider that we will essentially be doing shallow squats all the way to the summit — and it is important, core strength and balance are perhaps even more important and more often overlooked. Throughout the climb you will be carrying a pack of varying weight. Your core muscles are responsible for helping to manage a load that is trying to pull you over backwards, keeping it stable and your posture in a position for efficient movement, and a base of core strength allows you to accomplish the more athletic moves that steeper climbing requires. While your core is doing the work to deal with your pack and much of your balance, the small muscles of your ankles and lower legs have to deal with ever-changing terrain: no step is the same, and your ankles and knees have adapt to the changes in slope and pitch to allow the rest of your body to remain in balance. Overall strength is still important, but strength exercises that incorporate an element of balance and coordination or involve your core will pay huge dividends once you find yourself on uneven terrain.

As you build your training plan, take these elements into account, and assess where you already stand. If you come from a strong endurance background, continue with that, but place more of your focus on recovery and core strength. If endurance sports are new to you, start here, focusing on building your base (as that really is the foundation of the rest). Most of all, have confidence that if you follow your plan, your will show up ready for the adventure of a lifetime!

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Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!

We made the all important break from basecamp today.  The day began sunny and calm and we were feeling good, so the decision was easy.  We began stirring at 9 AM and made it a leisurely morning of packing and sorting.  Our rope team of three pulled out of Vinson Base Camp just after 12:30 PM.  At first, the sun was strong and we stripped a few layers so as not to sweat, but as we neared yesterday’s high point, some clouds intervened to make it a little cooler again, but not desperately so.  Our faces weren’t freezing but we couldn’t lounge around at rest breaks.  We took on the sleds full of supplies that we’d stashed yesterday and made the tricky pull up and around the Branscomb Glacier’s big 90 degree corner and made it under the two great ice streams pouring 2,000 meters down Vinson’s West Face.  Walking conditions weren’t the easiest, the surface was alternatively rough or super smooth and firm.  We put on crampons to gain better purchase, which helped but which isn’t exactly the normal way of things below Low Camp.  We made it in to 9,300' Low Camp just after 7 PM and set to work building platforms for the tents, setting up and anchoring tents, and getting moved into them.  That and digging a kitchen and dining area in the super hard packed snow/ice took a good chunk of the evening.  The sun finally pulled out of the clouds to make our 10 pm dinner a bit more pleasant.  This camp gets direct sunshine until 2 or 3 in the morning, making the tents comfy in the evening, but then it gets a seriously cold shadow until 11 AM, making mornings cold and slow.  But since we’re in the comfy phase now, we won’t worry about tomorrow. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn