April Expedition Skills Seminar

RMI Guide, Andy Bond gave us a trip report from the April Expedition Skills Seminar. Here's a look at their week spent on the mountain:

After a day of orientation which included knot tying, transceiver practice, Leave No Trace Training and getting ready for our 4500' climb up to Camp Muir, our group was ready to head up the mountain for a week of training. Camp Muir is located at 10,040' on the south side of Mt. Rainier at the top of Muir Snowfield. Climbing Rainier in the winter, you never know what to expect in terms of weather. This trip provided us with a little bit of everything! We left Paradise on a pleasant day with good snowshoeing conditions but with a 1000' left to Camp Muir we found ourselves in a whiteout, but thankfully with no precipitation.

After moving into our hut which we called home for the week, it was time to start training. Camp Muir sits on a ridge separating the Muir Snowfield from the Cowlitz Glacier providing a perfect area to get in some avalanche as well as glacier travel training. Climbing to the Ingraham Flats gave us spectacular views of the Ingraham Headwall and the upper mountain as well as an opportunity to travel on glaciers and experience massive crevasses which would serve as the focus for training the next day.

The next days training focused on crevasse rescue and anchor building where everyone learned about different haul systems to pull people out of crevasses. One of the nice parts about being at 10,000' is that a lot of times we are above the clouds enjoying sunshine. Our group was able to enjoy the nice weather for training but also were able to see some beautiful sunsets.

Summit day was upon us which meant an early waking or alpine start. We put our harnesses, helmets, and crampons on and headed out up the Disappointment Cleaver route (Standard Route) with ice axes in hand at the early hour of four in the morning. After walking for an hour and arriving at our first break at the Ingraham Flats we found ourselves in a whiteout with snow falling and the wind blowing. Today was not going to be our day so we headed back to Camp Muir to get out of the storm. Thankfully the storm abated later that day and we set up some fixed lines practice for bigger mountains like Denali and Everest as well as nice 100 foot repel off of Muir Peak.

All in all it was a great week with lots of laughs and skills learned.

McKinley Season

McKinley season is just around the corner with RMI's first trip heading out on May 4th! While we're gearing up and outfitting the climbers as they prepare for their expedition, RMI owner and McKinley Expert, Joe and RMI Logistics Manager, Shawn are up to their ears in food! Check out these photos of the two of them packing for all of the McKinley climbs - that's a lot of food! They are meticulously counting and sorting out 22 days worth of breakfast and dinner for 12 climbers - for all 9 Alaskan expeditions! The only thing they aren't counting is calories!

Ed Viesturs Autographed Books!

Autographed copies of Ed Viesturs' books have arrived! We have Viesturs' newest book, K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain - an unforgettable account of triumph and tragedy on the world's second tallest mountain. We also have No Shortcuts to the Top - a memoir of Viesturs' quest to stand on the summits of the world's fourteen 8,000-meter peaks! Don't miss the opportunity to own autographed copies of these books!

*Click the images of the books to purchase online

Winter Expedition Skills Seminar - March 14-19

RMI Guide, Tyler Jones gave us a recap of the March 14-19 Winter Expedition Skills Seminar. Here's what Tyler had to say:


The week on Mt. Rainier was a blast! Our guides Billy, Andy, Pete any myself had a great group of folks from all over the world. The week started in Ashford with a day of packing, prepping, knots, and rescue skills. The next morning we had a perfect winter day, climbing to Camp Muir with blue skies and a light winds.
That night and through the next day a wild storm pounced on Camp Muir with the wind gusting to 80+ mph. Team endured the poor conditions in full attire while we constructed a grand snow cave to sit 15, along with building expedition quality camp walls for blocking wind and gained key foul weather self care skills. At the end of the day conditions were intense and we were all thankful to retire back in the bunkhouse.
The following morning was cold, blustery, and yet gorgeous blue bird day at 10,000ft on the Cowlitz Glacier. We practiced our ice axe and crampon skills, then broke the ropes out for a glacier walk. Our rope teams went to look for crevasses, to have a hands on live experience with crevasse rescue. I had my personal favorite crevasse rescue training session on Rainier and the group vibe was strong. That evening the guides had another lecture on mountain medicine, tour planning, and avalanches.
The last usable day we made an attempt for the Summit and achieved 11,500ft on the Gibraltar ledges route. We had a great time with spectacular exposure and an exciting rappel but the mountain’s avalanche hazard and cold wind from the north made conditions too unstable for the teams to continue. “There is always next time!” Overall, the day was outstanding! It was great to see everyone learning and having a great time, climbing up or down the snowy faces of Mt. Rainier.
The final morning broke to blue sky and we had beacon search training for breakfast. The team then packed equipment, closed up the bunkhouse and descended from Muir. The teams made it back to the parking lot easily in two hours!
Back in Ashford we had lunch together and said farewell to our new climbing friends having had a fun and safe experience in the mountains. I feel the guides all spilled their passions and knowledge of the mountains and gave one of the best skills seminars possible! I look forward to my next RMI skills seminar in Alaska for nine-day trip on the lower glaciers and peaks of Denali. It should be another one of a kind experience. Hope to see you in the mountains!