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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!

Friday, December 31, 2021 - 4:39 pm PT

Rest day at Vinson High Camp was restful.  And welcome. Many of the team felt the altitude of our new home after a night of tossing and turning.  But breakfast and another fine day, weather-wise got folks feeling a little better as the day went on.  We drank lots of water and snacked throughout the day in order to recoup from yesterday and prepare for tomorrow.  The forecast is certainly in our favor.  We could see clouds forming far down below us and a few wispy formations on nearby peaks but there wasn’t much evidence of wind anywhere in the range.  We’ll see how the gang fares with this second High Camp night -nobody had explicit plans for partying hard on this New Year’s Eve- but all things being good we’ll set out for the top tomorrow. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The Five Day Climb June 10 - 14 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The teams were lead by RMI Guides Walter Hailes and Joe Hoch who reported a gorgeous day of climbing.  The teams reached the crater rim a little before 9 am and were able to spend time crossing the crater to the Columbia Crest.  As this is a Five Day Climb, the teams will return to Camp Muir to rest and relax.  They will spend their second night on the mountain tonight. Tomorrow the teams will descending the remaining 4,500' to Paradise and return to Rainier BaseCamp.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

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!

Saturday, February 12, 2022

As I write this from my top bunk in the third row of five from the hypoxic altitude of 15,100 feet, I have a strange nostalgia of a sixth grade slumber party.   With nine grownups stacked side by side, telling jokes and having laughs, I wonder if we aren’t actually at RMI’s Ecuadorian summer camp.   

Hannah was a camp counselor in her younger years but come tomorrow, our activities should resemble more of a mountaineer trip than that bad 80s flick. 

But, before we put the cart before the donkey, let’s hear about today.  

It started famously with chirping birds, hot coffee and a lovely breakfast.   This got everyone all fired up for our mega shopping extravaganza at Otavalo, Ecuador’s largest craft market.  After we crushed our huevos, we then needed to carry our big bags down the street a ways to load up because the day before, Hector our driver, accidentally ripped a chunk of the entrance gate off with the bike rack and was put in the penalty box 50 yards away.   Wait, I don’t think Ecuador has hockey.    

Once loaded we left our beautiful hacienda and our brave group of summer camp mountaineers dispersed into the stalls of color and crafts ready to finagle the deal of a lifetime.   I highly doubt this happened but with wobbly espanol I think we all managed something.  Don’t worry significant others, you’ll probably get a gift.  

After the market we had lunch at a sandwich shop shared with some “hot and rugged” older bikers, (that wasn’t my quote) and then proceeded  to the secret rendezvous point where we did a covert transfer from the bus to the 4x4s.  

It was here we finally found some real adventure!  Fifteen miles up the windy cobblestone road, we hit a mud bog likely to make any redneck proud! With our trucks tearing up the track, only to fail 30 feet from gripable salvation, we worried we might not make it to the hut.   I think we cheered, never fear Jaime is here! And he finally won the mud track battle.  With all the trucks passed the crux we had a relatively smooth go up to the refugio.   

A fine dinner of coke marinated chicken and water grass soup readied us for bed, so here we are.  Snuggled up just waiting for someone to start snoring!  

Find out tomorrow if that happened.   

RMI Guide Adam Knoff

RMI Guides Win Whittaker and Josh McDowell lead their teams of American Lung Association Climbers to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Win reported light winds and a fabulous day on the mountain. Congratulations to today's climbers for their efforts in fundraising and supporting the ALA and for all their hardwork training for this climb! A special congratulations to Josh McDowell, today's summit is his 100th summit of Mt. Rainier!

The wind came in at 2:50 this morning.  It had been up above, already working high camp since 11 or midnight but we hoped it would forget to come down to visit.  Thankfully it didn’t blow hard down here, although we could hear it howling elsewhere.  And it eased off of camp by sun up at 10:40 AM, making it a bit easier to get out for breakfast.  We were getting sunshine but there were big and serious storm clouds raking the peaks above.  It was an easy decision to sit put… a storm day was declared.  There was plenty to do, as far as toughening up our little camp.  The kitchen/dining pit needed to get deeper in the ice for protection, snow block walls needed to be quarried for the tents.  We alternated between snacking, napping and working hard.  Forecasts call for the storm to continue tomorrow (Thursday) but there is reason to believe that things will be better on Friday.  Cold fingers crossed. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn and Team

July 16, 2022

We began our morning with another alpine start and left basecamp under the stars at 2:00 a.m. for our summit attempt of Urus Este. We climbed the steep rocky approach in the cool night air. With frosty packs the team made the toe of the glacier and donned our crampons, ropes, and axes just before the skies became purple and pink. Reaching the summit of Urus Este in style, 100% of the team was all smiles!

More to come!

RMI Guide Alan Davis and team

The estimated mileage today was 13.1. It was totally worth it. We left around 6 am and had the trail mostly to ourselves. The hike was mostly “matt approved” but it did require some climbing and large steps that after nine days made several of us glad that we were nearing the end of our trek. Last night in Refugio Torres Central there was a disco that kept some awake and those in tents dealt with a cantankerous set of crepuscular song birds that wouldn’t be silenced, but I digress. The Towers were out upon our arrival in the large granite cirque and the wind was moderate. We watched wannabe influencers take photos and more than a couple almost wreck themselves doing the “jumping” 80’s photo thing that won’t die. The contentious total was 93.4 miles and 16,000' elevation gain over the last nine days.

The entire group is showered and ready to dive into some pizza and continue to quench that irresistible thirst that has stalked us since Lago Dickson. When we distill the trip down, Patagonia is beautiful, sore feet were experienced by all, fun and laughter abounded and now two grown adults dressed in penguin onesies are delivering drinks to say “salud” to a great group and trip together. 

RMI Guide Mike King

Hey, this is Dave Hahn, and I'm on the summit of Vinson with a wonderful team. I'm with Billy Nugent, Seth Waterfall, and eight very strong climbers. We had a wonderful day. We got up on top at 4:45 in the afternoon. We headed out of camp this morning at 9:30, it all went really well and we lucked out on the weather. We've got blue sky and sunshine. On the top right now with gloves off and it's just a beautiful day. We're all feeling extremely lucky. We will give a call again from our high camp, when we get back there. I don't expect to have too many troubles getting back there as everybody's climbing really well. Everybody seems quite happy here on the highest point in Antarctica, 16,067 feet. There we are. Very good. RMI Guide Dave Hahn