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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!

On May 8-10th RMI Guides Zeb Blais and Tyler Jones took advantage of the good weather in the Pacific Northwest to do a multi-day ski mountaineering tour on Mt. Rainier. The duo spent three days on the mountain and skied an incredible total of 21,000 vertical feet! We caught up with Zeb and Tyler before their next mountaineering adventure. RMI: On the first day of your trip you left from Paradise and skinned to Camp Muir. What were the conditions like? Zeb Blais: The conditions getting to [Camp] Muir were ideal with fast-gliding and supportable corn snow that made for quick travel. Tyler Jones: The warm afternoon snow conditions gave us a chance to get in a nice ski run in on the Cowlitz Glacier after we reached Camp Muir. At the same time, it provided us with a good trail for the morning to climb the Gibraltar Ledges Route to the summit. From there, our plan was to traverse to Liberty Cap to get a view of the big runs! RMI: That night you left Camp Muir with the intention of skiing Liberty Ridge. Were you able to ski that line? Zeb Blais: The key to skiing big exposed lines is always the snow conditions. When you're looking at skiing a line like Liberty [Ridge] you can only know what the conditions are like when you get there. We were hoping that the north and northeast facing snow would be chalky, smooth, and wind packed, but when we looked at the entrance to Liberty it was clear that it wasn't going to be skiable. The Liberty Ridge Route looked like mid-summer, maybe good for ice climbing, but certainly not skiable. The Liberty Cap Glacier was down to blue ice with lumps of rime glued to it, which I imagine is fairly common since it is so steep, but the skiing below looked the same. Rappelling the Liberty Cap Glacier and skiing the rest of the line did not look like an inviting option. RMI: What did you end up skiing instead? Zeb Blais: After realizing that Liberty was not suitable, we turned our focus to the Mowich Face - an amazing, steep face on the northwest side of the mountain. This looked tempting at first, but it was heavily rimed with blobs of water ice. It was not a place to be on skis! We retreated back to the ridge above and decided we needed to focus on warmer, spring like-snow. We decided on the Sickle, a west-facing chute on the Tahoma Glacier. The snow in the Sickle was prime for skiing! Tyler Jones: On our ski we had nice soft spring snow down to 8,500 feet. From there we were able traverse to our objective for the next day: Success Ridge between the South Tahoma Glacier and the Success Glacier. We spent the night on the ridge, getting some well-deserved sleep, with the magnificent 4,000-foot Success Glacier Couloir above us waiting to be skied. The conditions on the Success Glacier were superb. The snow was firm for climbing and soft for skiing. After the amazing fall line decent, we continued traversing to [the trailhead at] Paradise. As we hit the Nisqually Glacier we added more vertical to our trip and finished at the Nisqually Bridge. In total Zeb and I traveled 24 miles, gaining 19,000 feet and skiing 21,000 feet in 3 days. RMI: How does being a Guide help prepare you for trips like this? Tyler Jones: Being a guide helps to develop your intuitive mountain sense, which is very important for making good decisions in the mountains. It is that gut feeling that can make all the difference. Zeb Blais: Guiding also gives me a good base-line fitness for doing long days in the mountains. Mountaineering is a unique sport that requires specific techniques and fitness to be efficient. The more you do it the better you get! RMI: What was your favorite part of this ski trip? Tyler Jones: My favorite part of this trip was seeing a few new places, skiing a new run, and enjoying the views of the Tahoma Glacier from Sunset Ridge. Zeb Blais: A huge part of the trip was sharing it with Tyler. Moving in the mountains with a partner who you enjoy and trust makes all the difference. There are thousands of big and small decisions to be made when doing a trip like this, from what gear to bring to what line to ski to 'do we go left here or right?' Making these choices and learning from other experienced climbers or guides is always something I enjoy. Can't forget skiing! Maybe I should have said this first, but the skiing was awesome! Steep, exposed skiing with great snow is one of the most exhilarating things a person can do. RMI: What adventures do you have planned next? Zeb Blais: I am guiding a mountaineering trip on Shasta at the end of the month, and then I'll be back on Rainier for the climbing season with a Denali West Buttress trip at the end of June. Tyler Jones: I am guiding a Denali trip in June. After that I am planning on flying back onto the mountain for a ski trip with my fiancé Laura. After that I will return to guiding on Rainier and the Grand Teton. Then, I am getting married in September!

Top of Geneva Spur. The whole climbing team is about twenty minutes away from the South Col. Dave reports conditions on the route best ever. Weather still perfect. All members feeling GREAT. Perfect timing for them to get settled in at the Col and start resting for the early start from the Col for the push to the top. They will continue to use oxygen while at the Col. Main goal will be to keep melting water, and drinking, drinking, drinking. It is so important to start this next part of the climb well hydrated. Sleep will be a bonus but not a necessity; calories into the tank a must. They will have to plan on very short and tough breaks on the way to the summit. Best to have as much of these elements in the bank stored up to withdraw from later. Looking Good! RMI Guide Mark Tucker

The Four-Day climb led by RMI guides, Mike King and Leif Bergstrom, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The teams were standing on top at around 5:40am after a quick ascent. 

They will descend to Rainier Basecamp this afternoon to bask in their success and enjoy a bit of rest after their hard work. 

Great job team!

Friday, June 17, 2022 1:47 AM

June 17th 2022 - THE TEAM SUCCESSFULLY SUMMITS!

Well hot diggity dog we did it! We went to bed with several inconclusive weather forecasts stressing us out and a weather check at 4:30 confirmed cloudy skies. Alas our actual wake up of 6:30 gave us the surprise “nowcast” we had been waiting for, clear skies and no sign of winds! Huzzah! We quickly set about rallying the troops and making hot water for breakfast. When it was all said and done we were walking by 8:30 headed up, up, up! We first scaled the imposing and cold “Autobahn”. A large steep traverse that gains us about a 1,000 feet. Next we zig and zagged through “Zebra Rocks” gaining more elevation rapidly. Next we meandered slowly and steadily uphill crossing the Denali summit plateau until we got to the “Football Field” a large flat zone that led to our final two obstacles. “Pig Hill” and the summit ridge proper! Pig Hill is a daunting final push up several switch backs to gain elevation before traversing the true summit ridge. The Summit Ridge gave us incredible views and big exposure before finally giving way to the true summit itself! The highest point in North America! There was much congratulating and picture taking and before you know it, it was time to head down. We retraced our steps safely and efficiently all the way back to camp. The crew was tired, thirsty and hungry but by jove they’d done it! All told 13 hours round trip. After being fed and watered, it was quickly lights out for everyone.

Talk to you tomorrow friends, family and loved ones!

RMI Guides Avery, Jack, Liam and the Team

We huffed and puffed our way up to Camp 2 today, which sits at 18,300 feet. The team did a great job with the move! Arriving at camp this afternoon, everyone felt a major sense of accomplishment. Ear to ear smiles, and hugs all around! Our hard work today will be rewarded with a much deserved day of rest tomorrow. We have now situated ourselves perfectly for a summit attempt in the coming days.

 

Till next time,

RMI  Guide Luke Wilhelm and team

Mission accomplished.  For today, that is.  We had fine weather today, sunny and calm (but you might be surprised to see how much clothing and gear we still put on for sunny and calm conditions).  We made a carry up the steep and nasty part of Mt Vinson… the fixed ropes, and put a cache of supplies at 11,800 ft. before returning to our 9,300 ft camp.  By intention, we stopped about an hour short of 12,500 ft High Camp.  To go up and back is a lot of work, but we hope it is the kind of work that will help with our acclimatization, making us stronger and safer when we go up there for real.  The fixed rope section is a continuously steep and firm snow slope which definitely gets your attention as a physical challenge.  We normally get up it in three hour long pulls with some dicey rest breaks thrown in on precarious ledges.  The views are otherworldly… with ice stretching to the western horizon and then blending with the sky, and jagged peaks of rock and ice increasingly visible to our north.  We were out a little more than seven hours, returning to Low Camp at 9 PM.  The strong evening sun kept us comfy in our dining tent for a 10:15 supper.  Rumor has it that winds may increase on the upper mountain tomorrow.  We shall see. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

It has been a busy few days here on Shishapangma. Yesterday a number of teams reached the summit and we are very happy for them. Our team is back at Base camp after a solid rotation up high. Our team carried, put in and spent a few nights at Camp 2, roughly the same height as the summit of Aconcagua. On this last round were able to get in a pretty windy carry to Camp 3, somewhere around 24,500’ above the ocean. Now we're resting and recouping here at Advance Base Camp. If weather holds we will launch this weekend for shot at the top. RMI Guide Jake Beren

Led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Matias Francis the Mt. Baker - North Ridge team reached the summit of Mt. Baker yesterday. The team enjoyed a variety of weather on the climb, including rain once they got back to Hogsback Camp after their summit attempt.

RMI Guide James Bealer checked in from the summit of Mt. Baker this morning. He reported that 100% of the team was on top! The team enjoyed a beautiful bluebird day with little to no wind on their ascent to the top.

They were beginning their descent back to camp to celebrate and will get a good nights rest before packing up camp tomorrow.

Congratulations to the climbers!