RMI Guides Kel Rossiter and Mike Uchal led their Four Day Summit Climb teams for July 19 - 22 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. They reported moderate winds and mostly clear skies.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
I did the 4-Day Rainier Climb in 2012 with guides Lindsey Mann and Casey Grom. They were great guides and provided our team with an enjoyable experience.
This year, I brought eight friends with me to again do the 4-Day Rainier Climb, with RMI Guides Kel Rossiter, Taylor Bickford, and Lucas Haaland. Again, RMI provided us with 3 more amazing guides. The climb was awesome and everyone - both guides and clients - had an great time! It was so much fun!
For those thinking about climbing Rainier, here’s my advice: use a guide service (RMI has the some of the world’s best climbers as guides, puts a high premium on safety, and is reasonably priced), train & prepare for the climb, listen to your guides, tip your guides well, and have an awesome experience!
Posted by: Kelly Steele on 7/24/2017 at 8:37 pm
Wow. Our guides were out-of-this-world amazing—Mike, Pete and Bryan made sure our group felt comfortable, prepared and were safe throughout the experience. I would, hands down, recommend RMI to ANYONE looking to get into mountaineering. My family had an incredible experience because of them. Thank you RMI and a special thank you to Mike, Pete and Bryan for helping us make it to the summit and back!
The Five Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guide Adam Knoff reached 13,200' on Mt. Rainier today. The team reported blowing snow and strong winds from the west as they climbed into a cap. With the deteriorating conditions and slow climbing, the team made the decision to turn before the summit.
Congratulations to today's team!
June 2, 2017
This is Pete Van Deventer calling from Denali. It's been a long day, we have been on the move for a while. We left 17,000' Camp at about 10:50 this morning and have been on the move ever since. We went down through from the thin air up there to 14,000' Camp and saw Brent Okita and Tyler Jones there and then through 11,000' Camp and saw Jake Beren there. Now we are down in the thick, warm air of 9,600 feet the Base of Ski Hill. So we're going to stop here for the evening and eat some dinner and throw the tents up for a little bit and sleep for a few hours. Then we'll get back on the trail and get back to Base Camp for what we hope to be early morning flight 8 or 9 o'clock Saturday morning. With any luck will be back in Talkeetna before we know it. Everybody's been hanging in there really well, it's a lot of walking but the further we go down the better we all feel as they air gets thicker and temps warmer. The cold on the way in feels pretty balmy at this point after sitting what we have sat through and being as high as we have been. We're looking up at the sunshine on the summit of Denali and still lighting up the Orient Express and the Messnar Couloir some of the classic faces of the upper mountain above 14,000' and really couldn't imagine a more perfect setting than where we are right now. So, we will enjoy one more night on the Kahiltna Glacier and look forward to being in town soon.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer checks in from 9,600 ft on their descent.
June 1, 2017
Well we were given another blue bird day today with amazing views abounding in every direction. As many of you may know, clear skies usually correspond with cold temperatures, and that was true as ever this morning. At 8 am Christina ventured a peek at her thermometer inside the tent, and her findings confirmed our suspicions, the mercury read a measly -10 F.
After we huddled around some hot beverages, and waited for the sun to start working its magic, the day truly began. With temperatures rising steadily, a few of our climbers who were feeling particularly well acclimated headed down hill to pick up some of our food and fuel at 13,500 ft while the rest of the crew honed in on their fixed rope skills.
We did a bit of lounging whilst preparing and practicing for our carry to high camp tomorrow and enjoyed drying out and soaking up some rays! It was appreciated by all to have some nice sunny weather to balance out all the snowy weather we endured earlier in the trip. That is all from 14 Camp!
RMI Guides JT, Brent and Christina
This is Mike and JM checking in from our Camp 2 after a good carry to Cholera High Camp located at 19,600'. The camp gets its name from the wind that swirls around and attempts to destroy your camp.
The Team took in fantastic views of the Andes and enjoyed some warmer temperatures after yesterday's cold and blustery conditions. There is some sort of an Andean hawk that has been hanging out taking people's Oreos.
Quite and calm in our tents, an update you might be tired of reading but the Team is taking every moment of available rest to apply towards summit day.
Tomorrow we move up to Cholera and will keep our fingers crossed for accurate weather reports and a trail of compacted snow to the top of the Southern Hemisphere!
RMI Guides Mike King & JM Gorum
Hi! It is our last day on safari and we are back in Arusha doing some last minute shopping. Our next stop is the Dik Dik Hotel to repack, shower and then head to the airport. We will of course be squeezing one more fantastic dinner in as well.
Kikoti Camp was a great place to spend our last evening in Tanzania. The sunset was spectacular and the scenery there is great. This morning we had a nice game drive with tons of elephants playing in the Tarangire River.
I think we are all psyched to head home but it has been a real fun group and everyone has gotten along together amazingly well. All of us will be flying out overnight so for the family and friends following along... See you soon!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Time to bring it on home Patty. We want the stories! Be safe til we see you.
Posted by: Bill on 2/6/2015 at 1:27 pm
Safe travel home, Team!! Patty, looking forward to seeing you and hearing all about your African adventure! I am ready for a long run:)
Be safe… see you soon
This was a day for naps and meals and diversions. The wind was on again and off again throughout the day. The sun never did break through and snow kept falling on Union Glacier. There was never any question of airplanes coming to visit. One of the ALE snowcat drivers plowed up a fifty foot long, eight foot high snow berm as a shield around our sleeping tents, which is certainly a comfort. As usual, the staff kept serving up excellent meals (for about 130 staff and guests) and presenting great lectures to fill the time. For evening entertainment, we watched “the Perfect Storm” in the library tent.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Thursday, July 5, 2018 - 6:12 PM PT
Hello!
Your favorite Expedition Skills - Perú team here, getting into sleeping bags after a beautiful day here at Ishinca Base Camp. We slept in this morning, and enjoyed omelettes and strong Peruvian coffee before we set out to review and learn some important knots and hitches for our upcoming climbs. The afternoon brought some cloud cover, but we had a chance to get out and stretch the legs for an hour on a hike above our camp. Pretty soon, the unthinkable happened here in the dry season in the Cordillera Blanca; it snowed! Luckily, our plan was to rest tent-side all afternoon anyway, and the sound of snow and rain lulled us to sleep for a well deserved siesta. After a delectable caramelized onion, chicken and rice dish, we are back in the tents, resting up for our big day up to the Ishinca Glacier for some on-snow skills tomorrow. We’ll hit yet another high point at 16,200’ if all goes according to plan. Wish us luck!
Best,
RMI Guides Robby, Alan, William, and crew
May 28, 2017
Though the moisture and winds we've been sitting through were forecasted to dissipate today, Denali had other plans. We haven't seen much all day due to blowing snow and gusty winds. For the brief period that we went over to the ranger tent for a visit, the max gusts hit 42 mph. We made the best of it by inviting Mike's team over for breakfast burritos. Tent fever spurred a lively and long lived game of "heads up." The weather this evening explained our current situation: a low pressure center moving to the NW of the mountain, and frontal passage over the mountain. Things should settle out once the front passes, and once Denali gives the OK, we're ready to take advantage. Until then, we'll listen to the wind blow.
RMI Guides Pete, Jess, Jenny and Team
We all hope for weather change in nearest future- we wish you a lot of sunshine with no snow and no wind.
Your creativity with meals and entertainment in such difficult conditions is amazing!
Jan- we are keeping you and the whole team (actually both teams) in our thoughts.
Our first clue that things had changed was that it was COLD this morning. Still cozied in our sleeping bags, we peeked out of the tent, and couldn't find a cloud in the sky anywhere. Psyched to have a break from the rain, we layered up and headed out to fire up breakfast and get our train rolling uphill.
The climbing above Camp 1 follows a broad glacial shoulder almost straight up to Lenz Rocks above us. As fast as we can tell, most Russian climbers don't believe in switchbacks. There is a wide trail punched into the snow, but it goes straight up. We made some switchbacks of our own, cruising up to our next camp in style, where we deposited a load of food and a bit of fuel, before returning. The downhill trail couldn't be any better for making good time, and quickly we were back at our tents at 12,300'. The rain even stayed away for us to have a nice dinner outside together, and take some night shots of the moon rising over Elbrus' twin summits.
If all goes well, we'll pack up camp tomorrow to move to Lenz for the night and start our summit bid. The next couple of days should be busy!
Best from way up here,
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, JM Gorum and team
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I did the 4-Day Rainier Climb in 2012 with guides Lindsey Mann and Casey Grom. They were great guides and provided our team with an enjoyable experience.
This year, I brought eight friends with me to again do the 4-Day Rainier Climb, with RMI Guides Kel Rossiter, Taylor Bickford, and Lucas Haaland. Again, RMI provided us with 3 more amazing guides. The climb was awesome and everyone - both guides and clients - had an great time! It was so much fun!
For those thinking about climbing Rainier, here’s my advice: use a guide service (RMI has the some of the world’s best climbers as guides, puts a high premium on safety, and is reasonably priced), train & prepare for the climb, listen to your guides, tip your guides well, and have an awesome experience!
Posted by: Kelly Steele on 7/24/2017 at 8:37 pm
Wow. Our guides were out-of-this-world amazing—Mike, Pete and Bryan made sure our group felt comfortable, prepared and were safe throughout the experience. I would, hands down, recommend RMI to ANYONE looking to get into mountaineering. My family had an incredible experience because of them. Thank you RMI and a special thank you to Mike, Pete and Bryan for helping us make it to the summit and back!
Posted by: Lindsey Effner on 7/24/2017 at 9:59 am
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