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The Four Day Climb July 3 - 6 led by RMI Guides Hannah Smith and Ben Luedtke enjoyed a beautiful morning on Mt. Rainier.  The teams reached the summit at 6:15 am under clear skies and great route conditions.  The team enjoyed an hour in the crater before starting their descent.  Once back at Camp Muir the climbers will have a quick break and then continue the remaining 4,500' down to Paradise.  We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later this afternoon.

Nice work team!

6:55 a.m. Nepalese Time ON THE SUMMIT! Perfect conditions with some other teams around. Everybody in great shape. Congratulations to RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Linden Mallory!!! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

On The Map

As the climbing season on Mt. Rainier gets underway, I want to acknowledge the hard training that has been logged. For climbers attempting mid or late season expeditions, I also want to offer encouragement for the remaining weeks and months ahead.    The Fit To Climb training program is rigorous and to complete it in its entirety requires a substantial commitment of time and effort. Do people follow it to-the-letter? Sometimes yes, often no - people become ill, work or family situations come up and the best plans work on the basis of flexibility.    A quote I find useful is, "My current circumstances do not determine the outcome, merely the point from where I begin." No matter where my fitness is today, my job is to make the best of the remaining time between now and my climb. Practically, I'll assess things in order of importance and re-evaluate strengths. For example, I have a Mt. Rainier climb on July 11th. I'll be a little short on training time during the next month so I need to improvise and adapt. I feel that I have the muscular strength I need now and I'd like to be better prepared to 'go long' and to improve hiking efficiency. So, in order of importance, long hikes, back-to-back long hikes, and stair intervals will go in my calendar as priorities. I'll also pay close attention to rest and nutrition to ensure that I can recover well.     I'll also make sure that I focus my attention during training to ensure that I'm doing each session in a way that ensures quality results. For me, that means attention to detail; everything from gear to food - and a full effort, especially on interval training.    A paradox of training for a major climb is that we want to set the bar high in training in order to replicate the demands we'll have during the expedition, however, we also want to maintain confidence if we fall short of a training session or goal. It's rarely a linear process; sometimes we feel awful just when we expected to be strong, sometimes our perfect plan goes sideways, and sometimes we feel doubt when everything has been completed perfectly.    As you start the final push, think of the key elements of success: Maintain momentum, rest when you need to, push hard when you feel strong, and constantly think about how you can recover well. And most importantly, be confident that your efforts will pay off; many people have climbed and succeeded in their goals while having not completed all of the training or while feeling sub-par. I remind myself that one can miss a few classes and still graduate. It's progress, not perfection, that counts. - John Colver Have a question? See the Fit To Climb FAQ for explanations of specific exercises and general pointers to help you through the Fit To Climb Program. John Colver is a longtime climber, former mountain guide, and certified personal trainer with the American Council of Exercise. Colver introduced outdoor fitness classes to athletic clubs throughout the greater Puget Sound region before creating his adventX brand. Currently, adventX leads training programs in Seattle and Colver presents clinics on outdoor fitness at companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, the American Lung Association, and REI. Colver lives in Seattle, and is working on his second book, Fit to Climb - a 16 week Mount Rainier Fitness Program.

Our Four and Five Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Dan Windham and Casey Grom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. They reported beautiful skies, but the weather was cold and a bit breezy. Both teams are en route to Camp Muir and we expect them back at Ashford Basecamp later this afternoon. Congratulations to today's teams!

Hello again,

We awoke to another beautiful sunny day here in the Khumbu. We started early to beat the traffic to Lukla. The team made good time on the trail and made sure to enjoy this peaceful and majestic place.

There were still dozens of loads headed for basecamp, as always, because much of the needed supplies that arrive via plane or by mules.

With a little luck, we hope to be back in Kathmandu tomorrow morning!

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Casey and Crew

The Five-Day Climb led by Nikki Champion and Steve Gately reached the summit at 6 am this morning. After a warm walk uphill to Camp Muir on Saturday, teams enjoyed a good night's rest and a beautiful day of training before their ascent this morning.

The teams are currently on their descent and will return to Basecamp this afternoon for a celebration of their accomplishments! Congratulations team!  

The Five Day Climb teams led by RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer and Dan Windham reached the summit of Mt. Rainier last night.  Pete reported great route conditions and a beautiful day on the mountain.  The teams are now back to Camp Muir and will be descending to Paradise later this morning.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

This January 9 - 20, 2012, RMI Guide Lindsay Mann participated in an AMGA Ski Guide Course in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. First Ascent Athletes Zach and Reggie Crist were among her classmates, and First Ascent Athlete Kent McBride was an instructor. The 12 day course focused on various ski guiding techniques such as belayed skiing, short roping, downhill guiding, pace setting, and navigation skills. The course involved resort skiing, sidecountry skiing, backcountry tours, snowcamping, and a yurt trip. Although the course was ski specific, many of these skills are transferable to glacial guiding. During the course Jackson Hole received over a foot of snow, which made for some great skiing. Lindsay plans to take more AMGA courses in the future.

Monday, June 28, 2021 - 10:37 pm PT

Good evening,

We went to bed with the excitment of going for the summit the following day. The sky was clear and all looked calm enough in the morning. The light was green for take off. As we packed for the day clouds began to build to the south. We hoped they would stay at bay but before long they were swollowing the upper mountain. Our nice looking day took a turn and the light turned to red. Instead of taking a walk, we took a nap. Today was not our day. Snow and clouds came and went throughout the day. Camp remained quiet as no one left for the summit. What is one more day of waiting if we can summit tomorrow? Weather is looking ok for tomorrow and we are hoping with everything we half left in us that tomorrow will in fact be the day we go for the top. Patience, food, and time are running low so here's for some good weather.

Good weather, good weather, good weather,

RMI Guide Hannah Smith and team

RMI teams led by guides Will Ambler and Joe Crawford made their summit attempt this morning. As a result of recent snow accumulation and strong winds on the upper mountain, they found evidence of snow instability and decided to turn around at 12,450'. The teams had made their way back to Camp Muir and are doing additional training for the remainder of the morning. 

Nice work team!