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The Four-Day climb of Mt. Rainier led by RMI guides, Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman, were turned around this morning due to thunder and lightning. The team is currently on their descent and will celebrate their hard work at Basecamp in Ashford before team members head their seperate ways.
Hi,
We are in St. Petersburg! This morning we headed out of the hotel and drove to Mineralnye Vody for our flight. Even though it is just about a three hour flight, it took most of the day to reach our final destination.
St. Petersburg is very different from what we have seen the last two weeks. It is best described as the cultural center of Russia, while Moscow is the center of government and administration. The architecture is stunning and the monuments truly impressive. The harder "edge" found in Kislovodsk is definitely softer and the curiosity surrounding foreign visitors is almost non-existent. It is also much easier to find a dinner menu with a little English.
We headed out for an early dinner at a nearby restaurant and to get a little preview of the city before we get the grand tour tomorrow.
All the best,
RMI Guides Jeff Martin, Pete Van Deventer, and the North Side Team
The Four Day Climb September 19 - 22 led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Ben Liken were forced to turn back at 13,300' this morning due to high winds and deteriorating weather. The groups will return to Camp Muir and then continue down to Paradise later this morning.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Kautz June 23 - 28, 2023 checked in this morning from the summit crater. After two days of training at Rainier BaseCamp and Paradise the team headed onto the mountain. With several days to train and ascend, the team launched their summit attempt this morning, reaching the crater before 7 am. After enjoying some time on top, the team is now on their descent. RMI Guide Mike Haugen reported a beautiful day with light winds. The team will return to Paradise later this afternoon and be transferred back to Rainier BaseCamp to complete their program.
Nice work team!
Pickled and fresh cut veggies, mouth watering empanadas, chicken thighs that fall off the bone. I think the
Bolivia team assumed our days of feasting on this trip were over, but no! Today we ventured into the mountains under cloudy, threatening skies, accompanied by our cook staff. Fortunately we made it into base camp before it started to rain. Once the tents were up, our kitchen team treated us to a three course dinner where we laughed and told stories, dragging the meal out to two full hours. After dinner, we walked outside to find that the clouds had lifted and we could see the Southern Cross stretched across the sky. Life at 15k ain't so bad!!
RMI Guide Eric Frank
First and foremost, we are safely off of
Mt. Elbrus, and back in Kislovodsk!
The last 36 hours have gone by in a rush to be sure. We woke yesterday to very light winds and clear skies all around us for the first time in several days. All indications were that it was a perfect summit day, so we rallied the troops, crammed down breakfast, and readied our summit kits for a big day. By 8:45, it was time to rope up and start walking. The first section of the climbing route follows the natural contours of the bowl between summits (Mt Elbrus has two summits, the west about 40 ft higher than the east) to the saddle that splits them. We found nice, firm cramponing conditions on the wind buffed snow, and the team moved very well. After three hours we had gained the saddle and our climbing route merged with that of the South side. As we climbed a steep pitch out of the saddle we passed many teams already descending. Seven hundred feet brought us to the summit ridge, a broad, flat stretch that leads to the very tippy top. Here the wind increased, reddening our cheeks and causing us to pull up our buffs and tuck deeper into our hoods. After five hours of steady climbing, our rope teams made the final steps to the top of Europe. Jeff had 5 summits of Mt. Elbrus under his belt, and despite the wind, this one was the warmest and nicest by far. After ample time for photographs and enjoying the moment, we bid adieu to the summit and headed for camp. The wind quickly died, but the cumulus clouds that were beginning to rise in all directions caught our attention. It was a short trip to retrace our tracks to camp, and once there, a poll of the group showed unanimous support for packing everything and continuing to Camp 1. Despite tired legs, thirsty throats and hungry bellies, none wanted to endure any incoming weather at Lenz Rocks. So with a bit more suffering. We descended another 3,000 feet to the relative comfort of Camp 1, ate dinner and called it a big day well done.
This morning we packed all of our gear one last time, and descended the trail, with wildflowers and views aplenty to base camp. Just like clockwork (not always the case here in Russia) the WAS vans that carry us to and from base camp rolled in just a few moments after us. We hurriedly packed our duffles and jumped inside as the drivers became more agitated about the prospect of rain. We made the river crossing and up the steepest, slickest section of road before the rain, quickly turning to hail (a fitting send off from the mountain).
The drive went smoothly, as eyelids took turns closing, and we now find ourselves back in Kislovodsk, showered, and ready for a big meal. It was a bit bittersweet to drive away from the mountain, or biggest objective now complete, but our trip is not over: we have tomorrow to explore this Caucus region town before heading on to St. Petersburg to enjoy the rich history and all that it has to offer. We'll continue to update you on our adventures. Thanks for reading,
RMI Guides
Pete Van Deventer,
Jeff Martin, and team
June 2, 2023, 11:39 am PDT
Yesterday we woke up to clear skies, but the clouds and snow quickly made their way in. A few planes snuck in, but we were unable to make our way back to Talkeetna. So we sit, and continue to wait for our weather window to get off the Kahiltna Glacier and return to Talkeetna, beds, and showers. Until then we keep eating our snacks and watching movies.
RMI Guide Nikki Champion and team
It was a successful summit for all team members on the Mt. Baker Easton Glacier Climb July 22 - 24. RMI Guide Seth Burns reported a beautiful day filled with lots of smiles!
Nice work team!
RMI's Mt. Baker Easton Glacier August 16 - 18 team reached the summit of Mt. Baker this morning led by RMI Guides Grayson Swingle, David Price and Tatum Whatford. Grayson and team reached the summit at 7 AM PT and reported that it was a beautiful morning to be on the mountain. Once they have taken all the hero shot photos and enjoyed the views, they will return to camp to breakdown tents and repack. They will continue out to the trail head later today completing their program.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Sunday, August 11, 2019, 10:36 PM PST
Our hope was that the forecast was overly aggressive in its wind prediction, but early in the morning, long before the sun rose, wind started to buffet our huts. As the morning wore on, the wind in camp wasn't much more than a touch unpleasant, but the evidence of its strength up higher rated in the plumes if snow ripping across the glacier above. It wasn't a difficult decision to stay in camp today in the comfort of our huts and try again tomorrow, when the forecast has the winds dropping to a manageable level. We passed the time with a lot of reading, napping, and some light core strength.
Hopefully we see the forecasted change tomorrow!
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal, and team "we have collectively read an entire library"
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Have fun and stay safe out there boys, wish I was climbing with you again this summer! Trip looks like a blast!
Posted by: Lowry on 5/25/2017 at 3:40 pm
Hey Mattie and team Eric—-all us slugs back at the office are rooting for you! Still expect a picture of you wearing a bowler hat!
Posted by: Steve on 5/25/2017 at 1:27 pm
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