Seven in the morning and we are out at the airport in Punta Arenas, through security and ready to fly to the Ice.
Lots of excited and oddly dressed people. There will be eighty people on the flight. Some climbers for Vinson, some skiers for the South Pole, some Emperor Penguin lovers and some eclipse watchers.
The Mt. Rainier Four Day Summit Climbs led by Paul Maier and Lindsay Mann reached the summit at 6:30 a.m. Both teams were able to enjoy the bluebird views for over an hour before beginning their descent at 7:50 a.m.
Congratulations to the summit climbers!
The Nisqually Glacier is the most easily viewed of all the glaciers on Mt. Rainier. Facing the Paradise Visitor Center, it runs four miles from the 14,410-foot summit down to about 4,500 feet in the Nisqually Valley. At about 12,500 feet the ice forms a giant cliff where the glacier breaks apart over a large rocky step and smashes itself back together 1,000 feet below. Usually unskiable, the heavy snows this winter have filled in one side of the cliff and a continuous line appeared, begging to be skied.
My friends Tyler Jones, Andy Bond and I had a random convergence in the Northwest after being on separate agendas for the winter. Tyler had been ski-guiding in La Grave, France, Andy spends his winters in British Columbia, and I had just returned from a trip to Haines, AK. Andy had recently been bombarding me with emails about how the ski conditions on Rainier were about to 'go off' so we all met up in Ashford, WA, to wait for some good weather.
After a few days in town, the necessary conditions stacked in our favor, and we took the opportunity to pull off a big line on Rainier. In the Northwest, a full winter of storms on an endless conveyor belt had been pounding the mountain with snow. Now, with an approaching high pressure system, we had a few days of guaranteed sunny weather. So on Thursday, April 22, we left Paradise in a snow storm hoping that the forecast would pan out as advertised and once at Camp Muir the weather would break. Typically we could each do the trip to Muir without the aid of GPS in any conditions. We have over 200 summits of Rainier between the three of us. But this year every landmark is covered in snow, making navigation impossible without the aid of electronics. A quick consult with the GPS was all we needed to find our way to Muir.
Once there, we packed into the tiny RMI hut that normally sleeps two. Poor Andy had to sleep on three coolers; it was either that or the snowy floor. The weather was pretty cold most of the night so there was no rush for us to start climbing until the sun came up. To our surprise there was another party climbing that day. They had left about an hour ahead of us and it was nice to follow their track for the first part of the day. We climbed up towards the Gibraltar Ledges route. This gave us a great vantage point of our desired ski route and I was able to take some pics in case we needed to use them as a quick-reference guide on the descent.
Once we caught up to the other party, we took our turn breaking trail towards the summit. Conditions were great and we were able to make quick progress to the top. Our total climbing time from Camp Muir was four hours on the dot. Not bad for carrying skis on our backs! On top we spent some time checking out the different aspects of the mountain and taking photos of the gargoyle-like features of rime-ice; created as water vapor from the recent storm cycle beat against the mountain, freezing instantly. The wind was howling, so soon after, we clicked into our skis and started downhill towards the top of the ice cliff.
The upper part of the mountain skied nicely. Rainier is like a big dome and the upper reaches aren't extremely steep and the snow was firm but edge-able. Once we dropped about 1,000 feet, however, the slope angle increased dramatically and the snow became even more firm. At 13,000' we could see directly down the glacier to the top of the ice cliff. From here we were committed, and any slip could result in a long slide off the cliff. Precise, controlled ski turns were necessary and we skied one at a time in pitches to keep an eye on each other.
The line through the ice cliff was fairly straight forward. We trended gradually right, through an ever narrowing gap between big rock cliffs and the edge of the ice. The snow conditions steadily improved as we dropped lower on the mountain. In total we skied about 3,500 feet of terrain in what we considered a "no-fall" zone. The stress of all the exposure relented bit-by-bit as we descended, and by the time we exited the ice cliff section we were relaxed enough to fully enjoy the pitch out from under the cliff.
We then threaded our way out of the large amphitheater formed by the ice cliff and through a myriad of crevasses onto the benign slopes of the Muir Snowfield. There were several groups of skiers there enjoying the fresh powder and sun. We stopped to chat before continuing on our way and they congratulated us on our journey. The snow was so good from here that we decided to drop below the elevation of the parking lot all of the way to the Nisqually Bridge at 3,500 feet. We knew that this could mean a long wait for a hitch hike back to the car but the day was going too well to worry about that. Plus, the lure of getting the longest ski run in the 'Lower 48' on top of a new route on Rainier was too much to resist.
I think we waited for a total of 15 seconds before a really nice guy from Fort Lewis Army Base gave me a ride back to Paradise to get my car. Our luck was good all day!
Gangs all here! There are six of us in total this time. Everyone is doing well and we have enjoyed the RiverTrees Lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro.
Today was officially Day 1 for us. So we had our usual round of introductions and then discussed the upcoming program for the days ahead. The team spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our peaceful lodge and getting adjusted to the nearly 12 hours of time change.
Tomorrow we hit the trail and everyone is looking forward to seeing the mountain and stretching the legs after those long flights!
Dave Hahn here calling in from 21,300' on Mount Everest, Advanced Base Camp. A big day for us. We went as planned up on the Lhotse Face. We went to 23,500', very nearly to where our Camp 3 is gonna be, just short of that. A good day out on the Face. We broke Dan Johnson's altitude record. We didn't quite break Seth's or mine. But really nice to be climbing up on the Lhotse Face and a beautiful day. And from way up there, looking at Everest, the top of Everest and the plume blowing off, it was impossible not think of the day that Jim Whittaker and Nawang Gombu, two of our heroes, summitted the mountain 50 years ago in a big cloud and snow plume, in high winds. But pretty remarkable anniversary and neat to be around the mountain for that anniversary. We are definitely thinking of that incredible accomplishment 50 years ago, but also our own incredible accomplishment today. It felt really good getting up there and getting back down. And as well, a number of Sherpas, from various teams got together and fixed rope all the way to the South Col today. So rope is fixed to 8,000 meters and that is pretty much opening the door for summit bids. May is here and it's all gonna start happening. But we're pretty psyched with what we accomplished on this round. We're headed down in the morning and looking forward to the comforts of Base camp. Bye for now.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Dave Hahn calls in from Advanced Basecamp.
Way to GO Dan!! We are following your progress and send our prayers via west winds. Our best to all our Sherpa friends who helped us out at Base Camp Everest this year- we had a wonderful time. Mark- Khumbu Masters?
Posted by: Elsie Bemiss on 5/1/2013 at 6:38 pm
Congratulations Dan on your new milestone. More to come!
I’m trying to keep track of Base Camp trips up and back. What will be the roundtrip total? Five?
Namaste from Ama Dablam Camp 2,
We climbed to the famous Yellow Tower, surmounting the most technical terrain that this route presents. We dragged our feet leaving Camp 1 as to get bathed by the sun a little bit. Then we crossed with ease the beautiful yet incredibly exposed crest with several hundreds of feet to drop on either side, contemplating how the now distant Base Camp became smaller and smaller down in the valley.
The winds are strong here, but the sun shines and it is comfortable inside the tents. Air feels thin, but our acclimatization process has been productive. We're going to hope for the best with the winds and we will put up a good fight, smart though, but we won't know until we get higher later tomorrow morning.
We sure hope to make a phone call from the summit!
RMI Guide Elias de Andres Martos
I recently completed the American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) 10 day Rock Instructor Course (RIC) held at Smith Rock near my home town of Bend, Oregon. The RIC is the first in a series of courses by the AMGA to become certified as a rock or alpine climbing guide. The course exceeded all expectations by provided valuable knowledge and techniques that I can apply not only to rock guiding but to Rainier and much of my personal climbing.
During the 10 days, the weather ranged from sweating in a t-shirts to shivering in a down Jacket and although it threatened rain or even snow at times, the weather held nicely the whole course. The Canadian geese had arrived for nesting and were an ever present entertainment of squawking and fighting for nesting sites in the background. What really made this course for me were the quality people I met both instructors and students. We had three instructors that each brought years of unique experiences and different skill sets to the table. This gave a diverse prospective on each topic and provided many learning opportunities. The group dynamic with the other students was awesome and created a very fun learning atmosphere that yielded new friends. My RIC was made financially possible though the RMI / First Ascent Guide Grant and I want to thank them for their generous contribution to the course tuition as I look forward to future courses with the AMGA.
RMI Guide Cody Doolan
Hello from Kikoti Camp,
We had a bit more leisurely start to our day today and we were on the road by 9:00 heading to Tarangire National Park. En route there was a huge downpour, but all the rain stopped by the time we reached the entrance gate. From there, we worked our way south, stopping at every opportunity to view the animals. After yesterday, it seemed like we were in a dry spell because nothing can really compare to the amount of animals you see in one day in Ngorongoro Crater. In Tarangire, you have to find them! The usual suspects were all present, but the day was coming close to an end and we had still not seen a leopard. Then our safari driver decided to take a little detour, and 15 minutes later we were stopped in front of a tree with a leopard resting on a branch about 10 feet off the ground. Our viewing of the "Big Five" was complete. The last sighting of the day was a baby elephant, just a week old, with his mother spraying water on the both of them to help cool off in the afternoon sun. It was incredible.
Now we are at the Kikoti Camp, sitting out on the porch, looking out over the African landscape and listening to all the sounds around us. We're going to take a short hike before dinner and go out and watch the sun set, and take a few customary "sun downers" to enjoy as the sun dips below the horizon.
Unfortunately, this adventure comes to an end tomorrow, and we start to make our way home. It has been a great trip and we have enjoyed it. Thanks to all of you who posted comments and gave your support for us safely reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin & Team Simba Sita
Yay, Heidi and David! It has been so fun following your amazing adventures through this blog. Can’t wait to see you upon your return….travel safe! Smooches, Jules
Posted by: Julie Gregory on 2/23/2012 at 4:01 pm
What a besutiful sunset! Can’t wait to hear more details and see photos….hurry home Jim/Daddy - we miss you!! Safe travels home everyone. XOXO, P, j & c
The Four-Day climb led by Casey Grom and Abby Westling enjoyed the sunrise from Muir Peak this morning. After extreme temperatures in the forecast and a very warm night, RMI guide, Casey grom reported that the team was already starting to bake in th sun at around 7am this morning. The team is currently on their descent and return to Basecamp this afternoon.
The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by RMI Guides Tyler Reid and Eric Frank reached 12,600' before turning around due to avalanche hazard. It is a beautiful day on the mountain with light winds and clear skies. The cold temperatures from overnight are dimenishing with the sunshine. The team will be making their way back to Camp Muir after the guides spend some time working on the route. RMI Guide Tyler Reid said it was a difficult decision to turn the climb on such a beautiful day, however, conditions on the mountain were not safe enough for them to continue.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons led by RMI Guide Seth Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The team enjoyed a beautiful day on the mountain. They will return to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain. They may do some additional training tomorrow morning before returning to the trail head.
Congratulations to today's team and Happy Independence Day!
Congratulations to the entire team. Paul we are so proud of you!! Stay safe. Love you!
Posted by: denise heinen on 7/5/2012 at 11:07 am
Woohoo! Congrats, Joe and Will! At least, I THINK I see you in the group there, somewhere… Hard to tell under the parkas! Nice work- I’m so proud of you both.
WOOOHOOO!!! Way to go everybody!
Dan- can’t wait to see you soon <3 <3 <3
Posted by: Roz on 7/6/2013 at 9:28 pm
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