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It was a day without sun. Mostly. We had it for a few minutes this morning as we walked to the base of the Great Barranco Wall. But then we were swallowed in cloud and mist just as we started to get serious on the wall. Perhaps that helped those of us with a fear of heights to concentrate solely on the rock and the path ahead. Our guides, Freddy, Naiman, and Thomas kept us moving well and guarded us on the tricky steps. We’d prepared for traffic jams on this normally busy section of the route, but there were none. We cruised the wall in just over an hour’s time -about half of what it might have taken with normal traffic. Our amazing dining tent “waiters”, Hamedi and Shwahibu, had scaled the wall even faster and had tea and snacks out within moments of our arrival at the 14,000 ft “summit”. Although we had no view whatsoever from this normally stunning viewpoint, we lingered for forty five minutes anyway, enjoying the snacks and the swirling mists. The remaining hours to camp were easy by comparison. We took the time to review efficient hill-climbing techniques on our way up the final steep path into Karanga Camp at 13,200 ft. Now, in early evening, we’ve yet to see the place. The visibility is perhaps 100 ft although the weather is not unpleasant. Just a little static.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
PC: Dave Hahn
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Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari August 5, 2025
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Trevor Katz, Michael Murray
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons June 4 - 9 stood on the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. RMI guide, Dustin Wittmier called from Camp Schurman to report their success. The team has spent the last few days making their way from camp to camp before their climb this morning. Along the way, the team enjoyed many training oppurtunities to prepare them for larger expeditions like Denali or Aconcagua.
The team will do some more ice climbing tomorrow morning before beginning their descent back to Basecamp in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Nice work!
Posted by: Elias de Andres Martos, Mark Falender
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Great job Glenn. The Wenatchee Valley Chamber of Commerce is proud of your accomplishment!
Posted by: Jerrilea Crawford on 6/12/2014 at 5:08 pm
Way to go CWH Team!!! CONGRATULATIONS!! I want to see some pics!
Posted by: Jenny Sass on 6/12/2014 at 9:48 am
Happy winter solstice!! Stay strong and take lots of wide angle shots of Aconcagua. You can never have too many (-;
Posted by: Monsieur Homme on 12/21/2013 at 8:28 am
Peter Whittaker calls from Basecamp
RMI Guide Mike Haugen calls from the summit of Denali, Alaska.
On The Map
Congrats Glo Roe and Team 6! Safe steps on the way back down!
Posted by: Kyle Parsons on 7/1/2017 at 3:01 am
Congrats Julian & team! SO excited for you all!!! Well done! :)
Posted by: Cheryl on 6/30/2017 at 3:11 pm
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Categories: Mountaineering Fitness & Training
As your next climb approaches, it’s a great idea to revisit your training plan with a critical eye and make a plan for how you are going to tune-up for the big event. Within four to six weeks of your climb, assess what is going well in your training and what could use a boost. This might mean entering a race or checking back in on a set of benchmarks that you’ve been using. It’s difficult to make an effective difference in your endurance base at this point—there simply isn’t time. Cramming in all of the hours that you wish you had done earlier is more likely to lead to injury or showing up to the climb already fatigued. Have confidence that you’ve done the job of setting yourself up with a good base and look to these other areas of your fitness for the final tune-up:
Core strength: Your core is comprised of all of the muscles that surround your spine, the side muscles, pelvic muscles, the glutes, as well as (but not just!) the abs. These muscles provide the link in the kinetic chain between your upper and lower body, and thus, nearly any movement you make ripples through the core. In climbing, a strong core helps to link the movements that we make rest stepping uphill with the stabilization of the upper body, including a heavy pack. Add an extra workout or two per week of core strength—focusing on the whole core not just the abs—in the weeks leading up to your climb. The extra strength that you build will help you to climb more efficiently, for longer!
Anaerobic threshold: Your final weeks of training should include some tune-up interval workouts. Try to find a mix of slightly longer level 4 interval workouts to increase your anaerobic threshold, and shorter, speed oriented workouts to tune-up your fast-twitch muscles. Emphasizing some harder intervals and speeds during your final weeks can give you a greater ability to recover from hard efforts during your climb and give you a few more gears should you need them.
Flexibility: A focus on strength training often comes at the expense of flexibility. As the muscles are broken down by training and recover again to build strength, they tend to tighten. If you haven’t dedicated much time to stretching and flexibility, use this opportunity to build it. Building flexibility will help your muscles work more efficiently during the climb and can help to prevent injuries or discomfort that may arise from the effort.
In your final tune-up don’t leave out your long workouts completely, but you can reduce your training volume or hours, and in doing so free up some workout time to focus on these areas. Though mountaineering is an endurance sport, strength, flexibility, and your capacity for high output activity are all important and the effect of your training can be greater in these areas over this last period of preparation. Pick out the elements that could use a tune-up, and take this opportunity to maximize your gains and head into your climb feeling ready and prepared.
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Questions? Comments? Share your thoughts here on the RMI Blog!
On The Map
That was pretty cool Dan b safe God bless
Posted by: Tony Carrillo on 2/3/2013 at 10:11 am
Watching your posts; watching the clock. Hopefully you have reached the summit by now. Congratulations to the entire crew on a fantastic achievement! Love you, Dan Man.
Posted by: Linda Cate on 2/2/2013 at 8:44 pm
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mexico
Awesome Dustin!!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 6/9/2023 at 4:05 am
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