The Four Day Summit Climb teams led by JJ Justman and Kel Rossiter reached the Summit of Mt. Rainier today. JJ reported good, but cold weather with calm winds. The teams are enjoying the views from the top and will make their way back to Camp Muir shortly.
Congratulations to today's teams.
A most excellent trip! We gelled as a team early and JJ, Josh and Gilbert were awesome. Look forward to climbing with you guys again. No one legged midgets though, please.
MP
Posted by: MIKE PROBSTFELD on 6/25/2012 at 8:38 am
Thanks to JJ, Josh and Gilbert for a great & fun trip and JP for getting the whole shootin match organized! Great way to start the summer of 2012
Well, we're still here at 17,200', day 7 up here and no summit in sight. In my 22 years of doing this I've never stayed here over seven days. I guess there's a first for everything.
But the team is still strong and committed to tagging the summit despite our little weather delays. And it's still only day 17 for us, so we're still well within our time frame for these trip.
This morning was nasty, so we relaxed in our tents until 11:00am and had the brunch that has become all too familiar these days. At that time the wind and snow abated somewhat and I entertained for the first time doing an evening climb of sorts. With a bit of a cloud cap over the summit conditions were not ideal, but we had been having some rather consistent clearing in the afternoon and evenings, and with daylight throughout the evening, late starts are not unheard of.
So, we set out for the summit knowing full well that if we encountered worsening weather we'd simply turn back. The important thing for us was to get in some walking to maintain out strength, acclimatization, and mental health.
The route that we had punched in the day before was gone, so we had to plow through 1-2' of snow to establish the route. Luckily the snow was quite stable and allowed us to reach almost 18,000' before I made the tough call to turn back in the face of some increasing winds and certainly not improving conditions.
But, we had reestablished the route and gotten in a little exercise. And everyone had climbed well! We'll be ready when the weather gods finally allow us to climb.
Back at camp over dinner we discussed just how long we might stay here at 17,200' waiting for our opportunity. Wednesday seemed like a date that would be reasonable to make our last day here. We have food and fuel to go beyond then, but for those of you wondering when your loved one will be coming back, I would say a few days after that would be reasonable. That being said, we do have some on the team that are willing to stay on beyond then. And for them, I guess I'd have to say that I too would be willing to stick around.
But... Let's not go there quite yet.
Kristen would like to wish Billy a happy birthday. And Gary would like to send Angela hugs and kisses from 17,200' camp.
All for now. Thanks for reading our dispatches!
RMI Guides Brent, Leon , Lindsay and the rest of the team
Good things come to those who wait...
At least that is what we must remind ourselves of. Another day of marginal weather had us scratching our heads about the possibility of a summit bid while other teams have had enough and are headed down. But with a fortified camp and a weeks worth of food and fuel, we plan to exercise patience and optimism. As storm days stack up, it is all too easy to let altitude and lethargy tear a person down. Exercise is the best remedy, and so this afternoon we climbed the first hour of the autobahn to stretch the legs and open the lungs. With new snow covering the route, we worked hard breaking new trail up to 17,700 feet, and the pickets that protect the steep slopes had to be dug out. To be sure when our time comes to go for the top, our team will be the most acclimated and best conditioned team at high camp.
High and Mighty at 17K
RMI Guides Okita, Davis & Mann
Hey Double A hope ypur not freezing your #$## off that would suck… Can’t believe you guys are hanging in there at 17k. Life at sea level is nice and warm but I’m sure the views and experience y’all are having is really special. Stay safe… Looking forward to good weather for you so you can achieve the summit, good luck too you and all your partners up there.
Posted by: mark on 6/8/2012 at 11:59 pm
“High and Mighty at 17K” is beautiful also in your realization of humility to circumstance—to your group, and specifically to Kristen who is the daughter of deepest friends and a young woman of deepest conviction, Godbless.
Well, despite Mother Nature's best efforts 100% of our team stood on the summit of Aconcagua, South America's highest point, at approximately 1:00 pm local time. We were accosted by moderate winds and cold temps most of the evening at Camp Colera so we decided to push back our departure to 5:30 a.m. We were hoping to avoid subjecting the team to too much cold. Well, despite our best efforts to mitigate the weather, we were thoroughly brutalized by wind and cold for the entire climb except for the last 2 stretches of the descent. Our climbers all did a terrific job taking care of themselves and preventing cold injuries. They climbed so efficiently that what is normally a 12 hour summit day we accomplished in 10! Maybe it was the short/lack of breaks, maybe they all possess mutant strength...
Regardless, we're heading for Aconcagua Basecamp tomorrow!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
High winds kept the Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Bryan Mazaika and Matias Francis at Camp Muir overnight. The guides repoted an upper level cloud deck at 11,000' with a lower level cloud deck just above Paradise at 6,000'.
The team has started their descent and will be back at Rainier Basecamp in Ashford this afternoon.
Still at 14,200', I'm afraid. There was a cloud cap sitting on Denali at 7:45 this morning when we started checking weather. The cap meant snow and wind were working over the camp at 17,200' and so we weren't anxious to head that way without some improvement. That cap dropped lower as we ate breakfast and eventually it mingled with some clouds from below to put us in the soup. By midday it was snowing and we had to write off our chances for going high on this day. On the bright side, our team members that were suffering from minor colds yesterday had kicked those ailments by today... Vitamin C and bedrest. The gang put on climbing gear and walked up the first hill over camp, despite the steadily falling snow, just to get some exercise and some time out of the tents. Our forecasts call for more snow, unfortunately, so we had to do a bit of contingency juggling of supplies today. As we mentioned a few days back, we can't afford to be separated from our cache at 16 by avalanche conditions as our food supply at 14 Camp dwindles. This afternoon three of the guides broke trail up to the fixed lines and then ascended to 16,200' to retrieve the cache. There was plenty of recent snow to plod through and there were scars and debris piles from a few avalanches, but today things were stable enough and the mission was a success. The entire team greeted the cache raiders enthusiastically upon their return at dinner-time. We'd certainly hoped to use the cached supplies for our summit bid... and we cling to that hope. But now we have that food and fuel safely within our grasp should we need to retreat instead. The team is upbeat and optimistic... and realistic. We know we need the weather to improve in the next few days, defying the forecasts.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Arriving back into Everest Base Camp yesterday afternoon after twelve days of absence was a homecoming of sorts for me - in days since I was last here with our Everest Base Camp Trek and Island Peak team the community here at Everest Base Camp has come alive with the buzz of climbing expeditions that are now settled in. The trails that pick their way between the piles moraine, ice ponds, and clusters of tents, quite faint a few weeks ago, are wearing in and strings upon strings of prayer flags now emanate from the camps, strung up during each expedition's puja ceremony. When I diverged off the main trail that passes through Base Camp and walked into RMI's Camp, I was warmly greeted by our Expedition Team; after several days of quietly walking back into Base Camp by myself I was thrilled to rejoin the Expedition and catch up with everyone . Sitting around our dining tent in the evening we raised our steaming cups of tea and hot drinks to finally having the whole team together and our climb underway.
Clear skies greeted us this morning for our rest day and as the sun crept slowly across the valley we brewed up a fresh pot of coffee and pulled the chairs out of the dining tent to sit and watch the morning light gradually awaken Base Camp. Several teams nearby held their pujas today and the slow sound of the lama's beating drum could be heard across Base Camp while we sat there. With no other objective than to relax and recover from the days of training and walking, we enjoyed a calm morning. The early breeze that blew through Base Camp when we first awoke soon died and the sun quickly warmed up camp. While the rest of us were more intrepid, Tuck was even brave enough to stroll around Camp in shorts for a few hours. With it so warm out it was a perfect opportunity for each of us to grab a wash. After several days of walking back up the dusty trails of the Khumbu, the hot water and steam that filled the shower tent felt wonderful. Very rarely does putting on fresh clothes feel so luxurious.
Despite our objective of rest, we still had a bit of business to attend to in preparing our gear for our upcoming days of climbing. In the afternoon we spent a few hours sorting our gear and preparing for our first rotation to Camp 1 that will take place soon. After packing our warm layers, down suits, and the small necessities we will need up there, Tuck opened up the Base Camp stores for us to go "shopping" for our meals and snacks that we will need during the rotation. Much like the aisles of a grocery store, but on a far smaller but still no less impressive scale given our setting, Tuck opened up the barrels and boxes of dried fruits, salamis, cheeses, granola bars, candy bars, cookies, crackers, trail mix, freeze dried meals, hot drinks, and soups that we have here. Grabbing a zip lock bag in lieu of a shopping basket, we picked our way through selecting the items that we want to eat during the rotation. Bill jumped for the Fig Newtons and a bag of Trader Joe's Banana Chips and I spied some smoked salmon, cheese, and crackers, also grabbing a couple of handfuls of the bite size candy bars that are my weakness when sitting around the tent. Before long we had all of our snacks and meals portioned out and packed up for the move.
With the afternoon clouds rolling in and the temperatures returning to their normal chilly level, Tuck retired the shorts for a puffy coat in time to host a couple of climbers to a few holes of glacier golf around camp and a round of horseshoes. The horseshoes game came down to a nail biter one point game but thanks to some last minute technique tips from Tuck I managed to hit the winning point, ensuring our victory but sadly disappointing our guests. Nothing a fresh brewed pot of coffee and some cookies couldn't smooth over before they were soon calling for a rematch.
We are about to sit down to our first Burrito Night of the trip, an occasion that Tuck was kind enough to wait for me to arrive here at Base Camp before serving. After close to three weeks of dining in teahouses my stomach is growling just thinking about the tortillas, fresh cheddar, and salsa. Since first working with our expedition cook Kumar in 2009, it has been a very fun experience to show him some of the western meals that we enjoy cooking and I have now given up making nachos at home as I cannot make them as remotely enjoyable as his.
Tomorrow we are getting up early for our first true foray into the Icefall, hoping to climb up to an area midway through known as the Football Field. In addition to giving us additional exposure to higher elevations above Base Camp and building our acclimatization, it is an important step for our team in putting our training and equipment into action in the lower stretches of the Icefall and preparing us for our move through it up to Camp 1 in a few days. We are feeling well rested after today and looking forward to tomorrow's climb.
RMI Guide Linden Mallory
The team enjoyed an evening kayak near the large icebergs on Lago Grey yesterday. Today we had a windy but scenic 6.5 miles through the 2013 wildfire scar. The terrain is a series of rocky bluffs and valleys covered in burned and sun bleached trees. While holding onto thier hats, some were able to get pictures of Glacier Grey. Some, decided to forge ahead and get out of the wind. This Refugio is located on Lago Pehoe pay way) which has a brilliant turquoise color. We got our first views of the Cuernos (horns) of the Paine Massif. A short stay here tonight and we’ll head up the French Valley tomorrow morning on our way to Francis Domes.
We woke up in the wee hours of this morning, hopeful to see our summit window open up. The weather, however, had a different idea. As the skies became cloudier and the snow began to come down, we decided that another slow morning was in order. We gorged ourselves on bagels and plenty of bacon while we sipped our coffee. The afternoon was filled with lots of rest. We are steeling ourselves for a move up to 17k tomorrow, if the weather forecast holds true. Everyone is doing well and looking forward to the chance to move closer to our summit goal. Thanks for keeping up with the team!
We will check in tomorrow, hopefully from our new camp at 17k!
RMI Guide Jake Beren & Team
Please post pictures of you sipping whiskey at 17,000 feet.
-e
Posted by: erin on 6/14/2017 at 9:31 am
Stephen
You can do it
Many prayers and a lotsof guardian angels ( especially grandma and grandma/ my grandson the Dr) are with you
Do me a favor no more escapes for awhile
I need to recoup
So proud of what you accomplished
Posted by: Mom and Dad zabinski on 6/14/2017 at 6:48 am
Congratulations to Casey Grom and our Liberty Ridge Climb!
Nine and 1/2 hour ascent from high camp and they will descend to Camp Schurman tonight. The team is pretty tired, but great climb and beautiful weather on top!
A most excellent trip! We gelled as a team early and JJ, Josh and Gilbert were awesome. Look forward to climbing with you guys again. No one legged midgets though, please.
MP
Posted by: MIKE PROBSTFELD on 6/25/2012 at 8:38 am
Thanks to JJ, Josh and Gilbert for a great & fun trip and JP for getting the whole shootin match organized! Great way to start the summer of 2012
TVH
Posted by: Thomas Harmon on 6/24/2012 at 9:15 pm
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