Summer Is Finally Here!

Another successful day on Rainier this morning!

The teams left Camp Muir and headed for the summit with a nearly full moon in the sky.  It was a warm morning with no wind - and most climbers left Muir with no baselayer.  As they made their way, winding up the mountain, clouds developed and even a few snowflakes fell from the sky.  RMI guide, Miles Clark said they kept their eye on a developing "mothership" of a lenticular cloud  just off the top of the mountain.  The climbers were rewarded with an amazing, pink sunrise early this morning.  Miles said that for about 6 minutes everything was beautifully lit.  Although the summit was sunny, the climbers experienced a very cold and windy stay on top with limited views down below.  As they made their way downhill, the lenticular cloud dissolved and everyone enjoyed awesome, blue skies for the remainder of the trip!  At the top of the Disappointment Cleaver everyone was "roasting hot" with the sun blaring down.  After a quick stop at Camp Muir, the teams made their way down the slushy, hot Muir Snowfield. Another great day on the mountain! Let's hope this weather sticks around!

RMI climber, Mark Friedrich took some awesome photos on his climb!  Here's a look at a few of his photos:

An awesome view of Rainier with the lenticular cloud forming up high.

A gorgeous sunrise!

 A big thanks to Mark Friedrich for the photos!

Stay tuned for a SPOT Adventure with more photos!

A Bluebird Day on the Summit!

A cloudless sky greeted the climbers this morning as they reached the summit of Rainier!  RMI guide, Patrick Erley gave me the lowdown on the climb...

When the teams departed Muir en route for the summit around 2am there was a steady breeze, however, a ceiling of stars above.  The route continues to ascend the Ingraham Direct and all the guides agree that it's as fast as they've ever seen it!  During their 5 hour climb to the top, the winds subsided as they neared the crater rim.  Once on top, everyone was rewarded with cloudless views in all directions!  The climbers endured a "blazing hot" descent from Camp Muir back to Paradise in deep, mushy snow - post-holing the whole way down.  After a hard-earned summit this morning, everyone is relaxing in the sun down here in Ashford - enjoying burgers and beer!

Everyone did an awesome job on the mountain today! (Including the Bay Area Contingent Birthday Crew - their guides, Win Whittaker, Patrick Erley & David Merin say they 'Rocked It!') Congratulations, everyone!

RMI guide, Brent Okita had a particularly special summit today - He celebrated his 400th climb to the top of Mount Rainier!  Congratulations, Brent!   

 Brent, standing on top for his 400th time!

Here's another shot from guide, Win Whittaker - around 6:30am, the sun just beginning to rise...

A White Summit

The RMI climb today was 100% to the top of Rainier!  Although the weather wasn't the greatest, all of the climbers sill made it up!  RMI guide, Walter Hailes said the climb left Camp Muir around 1:30am in baselayers and softshell jackets - a warm morning heading up towards a cloud capped summit.  The climb was greeted by increasing winds as they ascended higher up the mountain.  The upper mountain brought low visibility with the growing cloud layer.  Walter said the the climbers' view from the summit was just a wall of white.  Upon descending, they managed to escape the clouds around the Ingraham Flats.  The team descended in similar conditions until they were below Muir on the Muir Snowfield, where the snow conditions turned a bit worse.  The snow was "punchy" and they were post-holing most of the way down to Paradise; however, the climbers welcomed a bit of sunshine on their descent.  Everyone's enjoying some sunshine down here in Ashford after a hard-earned summit this morning!

RMI guide, Win Whittaker is on his way up the mountain today.  Here's a photo that he took en route to Camp Muir on the Muir Snowfield:

 

 

Cold & Wintery!

Another cold day on Rainier - and yet another summit for RMI!  The guides radioed down from the summit around 7:10 this morning - but they didn't stay at the top for very long!  It was a frigid morning on the summit - with a foot of fresh snow! (The guides said they wished they had their skis...)  Fortunately, for the majority of the climb the team was sandwiched between two cloud layers - they weren't in the cloud until they reached the top!  There is no change in the route - it continues to be extremely direct and fast. The guides said it was really well-wanded and easy to navigate despite the new snow. The snow didn't turn to rain until they were almost back to Paradise and the snow conditions on the Muir Snowfield were prime for both walking and skiing!

Congratulations, everyone! Keep up the good work on the mountain! 

June 15 - 18 Summit Climb - Trip Report

RMI guide, Mike Hinckley carried a SPOT tracker with him on his climb - here's a full trip report from the climb and a map with the route that the climb took to the summit!

Go To The SPOT Adventure

Another Summit for RMI!

Low visibility and a moist day on Mount Rainier didn't stop the climb from reaching the summit today!  The climb ascended in the clouds with limited visibility until they arrived at the summit when they had a lucky break in the clouds for a well-earned bit of sunshine!  The guides said they were bombarded by a steady stream of groppel falling from the sky for most of their climb on the upper mountain.  Right now, the route continues to be fast and direct with little day-to-day variation.  Although the climbers were confronted by wintery, cold conditions they experienced a relatively calm, low wind day on the mountain.  


By the time they began their descent from the Crater Rim, the snow had softened, creating difficult conditions for walking downhill.  Once they were on their way down the Muir Snowfield they ran into improving snow conditions - It felt more like spring, descending on corn snow.  


Everyone is glad to be drying out here at Basecamp - but excited about their success on the mountain today!  Congratulations, climbers!

June 15 - 18 Summit Climb

Today's RMI climb went to the tippy top of Mount Rainier this morning!  The guides are all really psyched on the route on the upper mountain right now!  They say it's "the best ever" - it's quick and direct!  This morning it took the climb 4 hours and 50 minutes to reach the top from Camp Muir! RMI guide, Mike Uchal said it was pretty cold and windy on the summit; however, with sunny skies on top, the climbers welcomed their hard-earned views!  Mike said there was a cloud layer from about 13,000' down to around 11,000' - but otherwise great weather!  

The Muir Snowfield is also in great shape - Mike said there is a well-established bootpack all the way up to Muir.  It was crowded up there today - hundreds people were lured up to the mountain to enjoy this nice weather!  After a sunny, warm descent on the Muir Snowfield, the climbers are treating themselves to pizza and beer at the Basecamp Grill!

Here's a look at the climbs' path on the upper mountain:

#39 is the true summit of Rainier!
Congratulations, climbers!
Stay tuned for a SPOT Adventure trip report from the climb!

Photos from the 4-Day summit climb - June 11-14

RMI guide Mike Hinckley took some great photos en route to Camp Muir on his climb! Check out the beautiful weather we had last weekend!

The climb taking a break on the lower snowfield...breaking through the clouds!

 Rest stepping their way to Camp Muir with blue sky above!

One last rest break before reaching Camp Muir

Looking out across the Cowlitz Glacier toward Little Tahoma peak

Cloud Sandwich!

Back to the top today!  Despite a bunch of fresh snow on the mountain and windy weather today, the RMI climb reached the summit of Rainier again this morning!  

For this time of year, we're still experiencing colder than usual temperatures on Rainier but the weather is good enough to summit!  RMI guide Katy Lavek said there were big storm clouds moving in and the wind was transporting a fair amount of snow on the upper mountain.  Although the route up the Ingraham Direct is well wanded still, the path has been filled-in in places.  The climb was above a marine layer down in the valleys and for the most part, below a higher layer of storm clouds - they were sandwiched right in between!  RMI guide, Eric Endert said that the climb experienced low visibility near and at the summit; however, they did occasionally get clear glimpses of the other Cascade Volcanoes, such as Mount Adams and Mount Hood! 

Congratulations everyone! 

Burrr!

With unseasonably cold temperatures and fresh snow on the mountain, the June 12-15 summit climb reached the tippy top of Rainier this morning!  According to RMI guide, Katy Lavek, it was a "retro throwback to winter" on the mountain!  Aside from the cold and wind, they had pretty good weather with mostly clear skies, above a low marine layer and only a little bit of snow this afternoon!  The route from Muir to the summit is still on the Ingraham Direct and the route is, well...direct!  Katy said it's an awesome route and they had great snow conditions to the top.  With the cold temperatures and new snow, the Muir Snowfield has firmed up creating easier conditions for walking.  Katy said that on her descent today, the snow didn't get sloppy and slushy until they were nearly back to Paradise!

That's two summits in a row for RMI!  Congratulations everyone!

4-Day Summit Climb 8 - 12

The 4-day RMI climb is back in Ashford - enjoying the sun and cold beers!  RMI guide, Zeb Blais gave me the rundown of their climb...

The climb left Camp Muir this morning around 3:30am and headed uphill! Zeb said it was a calm morning with clear skies.  The team climbed up through Cathedral Gap on a perfect, hard-packed route.  Just above the Gap, they ran into a breakable crust layer of snow that made walking rather difficult.  The guides made the decision not to go any higher on the mountain due to high avalanche danger.  There is still a considerable amount of concern on the upper mountain right now, but with the heat of the sun over the next few days, the snowpack is expected to settle and stabilize in the near future!  After enjoying the sunrise they returned to Camp Muir.

Since they turned back at the Ingraham Flats, the climb left Muir and headed down the Muir Snowfield early this morning, around 8am.  Zeb said that since the sun didn't have much time to warm up the snow yet, they were descending on very firm snow most of the way down.  Just below Panorama Point the snow had warmed up quite a bit and the climb ran into corn snow, making the walking a bit easier! 

Stay tuned! We'll have some photos from Zeb's climb soon!

Photos from the Expedition Skills Seminar -Muir

RMI guide, Tyler Reid sent me some photos from the Expedition Skills Seminar at Camp Muir, June 6 - 11. More photos and a trip report soon!

 A climber rappelling off of Muir Peak!

Expedition Skills Seminar June 6-11

The Expedition Skills Seminar just returned to Basecamp after spending a week training on Rainier!  I had a chance to catch up with RMI guides Tyler Reid and Katy Lavek...

They said Monday, on their ascent to Camp Muir they encountered a mix of conditions with decent visibility.  The climb did get beautiful glimpses of the mountain through the broken clouds!  They spent the week above the clouds; looking down on the rain in the valleys below.  With high avalanche danger at higher elevations, avalanches were the main topic of discussion this week.  After the guides assessed the snowpack more thoroughly, finding weak layers, it became apparent that the climb would not head to the summit.

With a wealth of training under everyone's belt, including a 50 meter rappel off of Muir Peak, the climb descended back to Paradise today.  They all enjoyed warm, calm weather before descending back into the clouds that will soon burn off!Tyler said the snow conditions were pretty good on the Muir Snowfield. He said that it felt like we finally transitioned from winter to summer! 

Stay tuned for some photos from the seminar!

RAIN-ier

It's been a wet and foggy summer season on Rainier so far...Right now, high avalanche danger and difficult weather are not permitting teams to reach the summit.  Today's climb woke up to rime ice and blue sky - but an unsteady snowpack sent them downhill instead of up.  RMI guide, Miles Clark said that snow conditions on the upper Snowfield were less than ideal.  They were punching through a crust and post-holing through to softer snow.  Lower on the snowfield they encountered sloppy, soupy, deep slushy snow that made for difficult downhill travel.

RMI guide, Win Whittaker took a few photos this morning... Check out Camp Muir!

Yesterday morning at Camp Muir...Low visibility & snow.

The climb woke up to blue sky at Muir!

...and rime ice on their shelter! Wow!

June 6th Muir Snowfield Conditions

With high avalanche danger and even more new snow on the upper mountain, the RMI climb decided not to leave Muir for higher ground this morning.  Around 1am this morning the guides woke up to snow falling, high winds and low visibility.  By 7am, it was no longer snowing but the wind was blowing the snow, creating difficult conditions.  When they left Camp Muir en route to Paradise, they encountered rain at about 9,200' and thick, gloppy, mashed potato snow.  Around Panorama Point, although it was still raining, the visibility improved greatly.

Hopefully we see some more sunshine this week!  Stay tuned for more route conditions!

Photos from 5-Day June 3-7

Waypoints from today's SPOT track of the climbs' ascent to Camp Muir.

Check out Whittaker Mountaineering's SPOT Adventures!

A warm, sunny day on the Muir Snowfield...

[Taken near waypoint #10 on the map]

 

 A helicopter dropping off supplies at Camp Muir.

June 5th Muir Snowfield Conditions

Blue sky! The clouds have cleared and the mountain is out today!

High avalanche danger has brought the 4-Day climb back to Ashford already. With the climb in high-spirits and enjoying the warm sunshine and a cold beer here in Ashford, I had a chance to chat with RMI guide, Mark Falender. He said that the great weather has brought hundreds of folks up to Paradise and the Muir Snowfield. On their descent today, he said the route toward Muir was heavily traveled and extremely well wanded. Since the team began their descent from Muir in the morning, the sun hadn't had much time to soften the snow at the higher elevations, so they encountered firm and icy snow conditions high on the Snowfield. Once they were lower in elevation, the snow became soft and slushy.

Let's hope the sun sticks around for a while!

Early June Rainier Conditions

The week long RMI Expedition Skills Seminar at Camp Muir just arrived back in Ashford. Guides Jake Beren and Solveig Garhart gave me a rundown of their week spent at Muir...

Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating for the climb this week - so they did not make it to the summit. The team climbed up to the Ingraham Flats in poor visibility to do some training for a day and that was their high point for the climb. Jake says that at Muir they were right at the freezing level all week - snowing and raining on and off. Solveig said the snow was like mashed potatoes today on the snowfield - a very saturated snowpack - which, once it consolidates will make for really great snow! Visibility on the snowfield was patchy, in and out - but not horrible. Jake says he saw a few patches of blue sky - something we haven't seen a lot of lately!

Win Whittaker is leading a snow school up at Paradise in Edith Creek Basin right now - here are some photos that he just sent in!

Blue sky! A break in the clouds!

4-Day Summit Climb May 28-31st

With the summer climbing season on Rainier well underway we've had the opportunity to test out some fun technology on the mountain! We sent a SPOT tracker up the mountain with RMI guide, Miles Clark. The SPOT allowed us to track the progress of the climb on a Google map in real-time - giving us a GPS way-point of the climbs' location every 10 minutes.

Check out the map, photos and Miles' trip report from the climb!

Rainy Memorial Day...

A rainy Memorial Day here in Ashford brought snow and inclement weather to the mountain.

The guides tell me that the route on the upper mountain is great and direct - it's the weather that's keeping them from the summit. This morning, the 4-day climb was forced to turn around at the Ingraham Flats. Stay tuned - We'll have a full trip report from the climb in the next few days! Keep your fingers crossed for some better weather in the near future!