YPO Climbs Mount Rainier

Peter Whittaker leads members of YPO to the top of Mount Rainier. Here is a short montage of the climb.

Dave Hahn - Rainier, August 25 - 28

Forecasts weren't calling for particularly good climbing weather when we went up Friday the 27th. At Paradise we began in mist and wet cloud with not much to look at for views (other than about a million wildflowers along the trail).  Unexpectedly, we emerged from the cloud just before Pebble Creek and were treated to big views of Mount Rainier.  The last hours of our approach hike put us well above the cloud layer which seemed to cover all of Southwest Washington and Northern Oregon.

That evening, conditions seemed to continually improve and when we woke at 12:30 AM things couldn't have been much better for a summit climb.  We left Camp Muir at 2 AM and walked in calm, starry and crowd-free conditions up to Ingraham Flats at 11,000 ft.   For late August, it was still relatively easy and straightforward for our teams to traverse onto Disappointment Cleaver and proceed up the rocky spine of the ridge.

We could see the first hints of daybreak from the 12,300 ft top of the Cleaver around 5 AM as we rested.  Next we pushed up and over onto the Emmons Glacier and we were happy to find that a tenuous crevasse bridge at 12,700 ft was still hanging in for us.  The teams eased up onto the Northeast corner of the mountain, zig-zagging up the Emmons Shoulder in a very cold breeze.  At "high break" around 13,500 ft, we watched the sunrise, but by then we were wearing big down coats and were destined to keep them on for several hours before the sun gave us any heat to go along with the daylight.  It was plenty cold as the rope-teams moved into the summit crater, but winds weren't bad on Columbia Crest, which we reached in a little more than six hours from high camp.  Seattle and Tacoma still looked to be deep in cloud, but all of the Pacific Northwest big mountains were out and in the clear.

Descent to Camp Muir went smoothly -we reached it around 1 PM- and although the day was still a little on the cold side, nobody seemed to mind wearing a sweater in the refreshing breeze.  We reached Paradise just before 5 PM and returned to summer in Ashford by 6 PM.

-RMI guide, Dave Hahn

Caroline George: Cosmiques with Mom

I like to think that climbing is in my genes because my parents were climbers. We travelled the world to climb. And it’s still with great pleasure that I go climbing with them. My mother, Martine, is always excited to go on an adventure. At 65 though, her knees are giving her much trouble. So, I try to pick climbs which don’t involve much approach or descent.

This year, we headed to the Cosmiques Ridge on the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix, France. After a frothy capuccino and still warm croissant in town, we rode the cable car nearly 10’000ft up to the top of the Aiguille du Midi. There, the view stretches out to Mont Blanc and onward to Italy. The Aiguille du Midi is also the gateway to the Vallee Blanche, a classic ski run in the winter, which ends 10’000ft later back in Chamonix.

Hiking out of an ice cave, we made our way down the knife edge snow ridge which drops steeply down 3500ft to the north, and down to the col du midi on the other side. You don’t want to fall down on either side there. The terrain eases up passed the ridge. We contoured the base of the striking south face of Aiguille du Midi, which rises like a bright orange flame out of the glacier below and kept heading west to the start of the ridge proper.

Although I had already done this climb with my mom, she was thrilled and excited, blown away by the beauty of the scenery around, as though she was there for the first time. It felt so special to be here with her. We climbed up mixed terrain, some time on snow, some time on the reputable Chamonix granite. This ridge is climbed and guided so often that locals have drilled holes in the rock to make it easier to climb with crampons. Only in the Alps could you see that! We traversed a snow couloir, contoured gendarmes – one of them has the highest 5.13 crack in the world: Digital Crack – and made it to the crux of the route, a diagonal slanting crack up a used-to-be blank-now-drilled-all-over-wall. This section is always a bottleneck, with people struggling up the 10m high crux. We killed time rehydrating, soaking in the view and enjoying each other’s company until it was our time to climb. My mom made quick work of the section and we climbed on, traversing into the north side of the ridge before reaching the summit, where a crowd of people coming out of the cable car was snapping picture after picture of us.

My parents opened my eyes to climbing and taking my mom on climbs now is not only a way for me to give back, it’s also very rewarding to take such an accomplished climber with me. My mom has pushed the boundaries of woman climbing in her own way when she was younger. She climbed great classic such as the Gervasutti Pillar, the Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, did the first female ascent of the Naranjo de Bulnes in Spain, climbed in Peru, came first in many ski mountaineering competitions. She is a true model for me and I am grateful to be able to share time with her in the mountains.

 

 -Caroline George, Into The Mountains  | http://intothemountains.com/blog/

Camp Muir, Mount Rainier

Whittaker Mountaineering owner, Peter Whittaker gives you a quick tour of Camp Muir.

Mt. Shuksan: Sulphide Glacier Trip Report

Mt. Shuksan: Sulphide Glacier
North Cascades National Park
Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. 

Day 1: Mike Walter and I met the crew at the Sedro Wolley Ranger Station at 7am where we went through a quick gear check and got our climbing permits. We drove the hour to the trailhead where the skies were threatening with rain. The approach into the Sulphide Glacier is about 4,000’ where you walk on a trail through a dense forest before topping out on a beautiful ridge offering views of Mt. Baker to the west. About two hours into our six hour hike the rain started as we put on our Gore Tex pants and jackets. We arrived into camp soaked as we put up camp and tried to dry out in our tents.

Day 2: The rain continued throughout the night but we awoke in the morning to cloudy but try conditions. Our camp is right at the base of the Sulphide Glacier in the rocks and typically offers up impressive views of the summit pyramid of Shuksan. However, with clouds the summit wasn’t in our sights and we would have to wait until summit day before we got our first glimpse of it. The Sulphide Glacier provided us a great place to train for the day where we covered self and team arrest, walking techniques for snow and rope travel. After a quick snow school we headed to the rocks where we covered some basic climbing techniques. The afternoon was spent drying out and relaxing before our summit day.

Mount Baker

Day 3: We woke up at 3 am and quickly got out of camp heading towards the summit pyramid on the Sulphide Glacier. This was the first time all trip that we could the summit pyramid we were about the climb. It’s quite an impressive site from camp and looks daunting in the distance. After two stretches we arrived at the base of the summit pyramid where we took a nice long break before climbing the last 800’. The route we took was up the central gulley which had a couple of snow patches in it but also provided us with some 3rd, 4th, and 5th class climbing on rock. We were two teams in the gulley and made our quickly to summit of Mt. Shuksan where we had views of Rainier to south and Canada to the north. Mt. Baker loomed large to our west and the weather was beautiful with warm temps and clear skies. We spent two hours on the summit waiting for other teams to climb up the gulley so we wouldn’t knock loose rock down on them. We descended the central gulley getting lowered until we were back on the Sulphide Glacier. On the descent back to camp we were able to glissade a good portion back to our camp where we hung out and enjoyed the evening before heading to bed.

Day 4: We awoke early in the morning and headed back out the trail we walked in on back to the cars at the trailhead. We headed back into Burlington and ate some Mexican food before saying our goodbyes.

RMI Guide
Andy Bond
(Photos: RMI Climber, Mi Hillefors)

Down Jackets on Mount Rainier

When it's super hot down here at Basecamp, people often wonder if they really need to bring a down jacket on Rainier.  In the wee hours of the morning before the sun comes up, and you're on the upper mountain, you'll be glad you brought your puffy... Trust us, (and these guys) it's cold!

Dave Hahn's August 14 - 15 Summit Climb

Dave Hahn leading the climbers up the Muir Snowfield.

August 14-15 Summit Climb

Forecasts were calling for perfect weather and that is pretty much what we got.  Our climbing team began to expect such perfection after three fine days during training and the approach to high camp.  At 11:45 PM, when we brought  boiling breakfast water to nine lucky climbers at Camp Muir, winds were calm and skies were clear, allowing nice views of the odd shooting star.  The team was up and out just before 1 AM, crunching crampons across the Cowlitz Glacier.  We seemed to have the climbing route to ourselves until we crested Cathedral Gap and saw  headlights sprinkled all up and down Disappointment Cleaver and the upper Emmons Glacier.  This didn't surprise us, it was the weekend after all, and we still had plenty of peace and quiet while taking our rest break in the dark of Ingraham Flats at 11,000 ft.  One of our climbers was dealing with a pulled leg muscle and took the opportunity to head back toward Muir with a couple of RMI guides who'd come up for just such eventualities.  The remaining climbers got busy toiling with the Cleaver.  Thankfully, the many climbers above us were careful and we didn't experience any rockfall as we traversed onto the ridge.  The team cruised to 12,300 ft where we took another break before venturing out onto glacial ice once again.  One more climber chose descent at this point and RMI guide Mike Hinckley did the honors, keeping the main team updated by radio of their downward progress.  Sunrise caught us at 13,500 ft as we took a final rest break.  By then we'd caught up to the "crowd" of weekend climbers on the upper mountain, but traffic jams were minor and easy to deal with as the perfect conditions put everyone at their ease.  There was the sporty ladder crossing to negotiate over a crevasse at 13,900 ft, but no-one seemed to have particular difficulty with it.

Our nine climbers on two ropes rolled into the summit crater just before 7 AM and ambled through suncups and past steam caves toward "register rocks."   The summit register happened to be chock full and we were lucky to be able to squeeze names into the final two inches of paper in the book.  All on the team were stunned just a hundred feet beyond the register to top the rim and see just how clear the morning was turning out to be.  Puget Sound was visible in its entirety and it was easy to see the big buildings of Tacoma, Seattle and Bellevue.  Nothing obstructed the views of the Olympic Range and the North Cascades and we could look south to see individual crevasses on Mount Adams and seemingly every lava rock in the crater of St. Helens.  After a rest back down in our own crater, the team got going on a safe descent.  We chose the "new" route down the Emmons Glacier shoulder and were rewarded with very straightforward and easy, uncrowded conditions.  Then came a careful reversal of our route down the Cleaver.  We witnessed a few washing-machine sized rocks bouncing down the mountain as things began to heat up, but nothing came close to our team and before too long we'd safely reached Muir.  Re-united with those who'd descended early, we all now headed for Paradise, reaching it at 3:30 PM to complete and safe and enjoyable summer climb.
-Dave Hahn

Windy Rainier Summit With Peter Whittaker

Whittaker Mountaineering owner, Peter Whittaker on the windy summit of Rainier on August 12th. 


... Earlier this season on the summit.

Photos From Rainier

Take a look at some awesome photos taken by RMI guide, Jason Thompson on his summit climb early this week.

Ed Viesturs: Risk on Mount Rainier

Whittaker Mountaineering Guide Team member, Ed Viesturs talks about risk management on Mount Rainier. 

On top (and inside ) of Mount Rainier

Take a look inside Mount Rainier! Whittaker Mountaineering owner, Peter Whittaker takes you inside the steam vents on the summit of this active volcano...

Mount Rainier Route Conditions August 5, 2010

Head down Rainier with Whittaker Mountaineering owner, Peter Whittaker as he takes you from the summit back to Camp Muir on August 5th.

Dave Hahn - Rainier, July 31 - August 1

The moon was blood red, coming up through forest fire smoke, at 11:45 PM when the climbing team woke at Camp Muir.  There wasn't any wind and the stars were spectacular overhead.  There were surprisingly few climbing teams around us as we set out across the Cowlitz Glacier at 1 AM.  Conditions on the Cowlitz are still excellent and uncomplicated and so we quickly reached Cathedral Rocks and then the Ingraham Glacier.  With just six climbers and three guides, we took a quiet rest-break in the dark at Ingraham Flats.  Getting on Disappointment Cleaver was a snap and although we were on our guard for falling rock, nothing moved.  Twenty minutes of careful steps on the boulders and busted lava of the lower part of the Cleaver brought us up to a good track in the snow along the southern flank.  Around 4 AM we were sitting on our packs at 12,300 ft talking about how smoothly the Cleaver had gone.  We set out on the the steep switchbacks of the upper Ingraham Glacier and, as expected, came to a difficult crevasse with a rickety ladder.  It took perhaps twenty minutes of chopping and hammering to get the ladder level and safely anchored to the mountain.  With that chore being done, the team was anxious to climb hard in order to build up heat in the pre-dawn shadows.  During the 13,500 ft rest break, the sun came through the smoke layers and life got a little easier.  We made it into the summit crater five hours and forty-five minutes after leaving Camp Muir, took a few minutes to eat and drink and then trudged on up to Columbia Crest.  There we found our only breeze of the day... about ten miles-per-hour... and a view of low clouds smothering Tacoma and Seattle.  We still got big views of Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens, despite all of the forest fire smoke (reportedly drifting in from BC)  Our descent was smooth and easy -even the ladder with its deep crevasse- and we made it back to Camp Muir by 12:30 PM.  At around 3:45 we were gulping ice-water as we boarded the shuttle in Paradise and an hour later we were gulping tastier beverages in the summer heat down in Ashford.

-Dave Hahn

Whittaker Mountaineering Guide Team

Have you heard about our Guide Team?

It's no exaggeration to say that Whittaker Mountaineering's Guide Team is comprised of the most experienced assembly of guides and climbers in the world. From Ed Viesturs, the first American to summit all 14 8,000-meter peaks (without oxygen), and Dave Hahn, who has a record 12 Everest summits and 26 climbs of Mt. Vinson in Antarctica, to alpinists like Caroline George, who has climbed the great North Faces of the Alps and regularly places in world-class ice climbing competitions. They know what gear to trust in the high mountains, and their expert advice helps Whittaker Mountaineering to offer it to you with confidence and pride.

RMI Elbrus Summit

Whittaker Mountaineering Guide Team member, Casey Grom stood on top of Mount Elbrus (18,510') in Russia this morning!  Here is Casey's dispatch from today:

100% on top!!!
The team has safely returned to our high camp after an amazing climb. The day started pretty early with breakfast at 1:00 a.m. We departed camp at 2 a.m. and rode a snowcat for about 30 minutes which dropped us off at 15,000'. A rather convenient start, but it's the norm here and was enjoyed by all.
The climb took about 6 hours to reach the summit (which is the highest point in Europe) and 5 hours to descend. The weather continued to be perfect, with only a slightly chilly breeze blowing out of the north. It was an incredible adventure with a great team.
Currently everyone is relaxing back at camp and we are all looking forward to sleeping tonight.
-Casey and crew

Also, Congratulations to International Mountain Guides owner, George Dunn - who stood on the summit of Rainier for his 500th time this morning! What an accomplishment!

Mount Rainier Route Conditions July 28, 2010

Check out the current route conditions as Whittaker Mountaineering owner, Peter Whittaker takes you to the top of Rainier. 

With August just around the corner the climbing on the Disappointment Cleaver Route is just now transitioning to our typical summer conditions.  Although the snow is gone on large portions of the Cleaver itself, the climbing is still mostly a snow trail and I think most of the guides would agree when I say that the route is as good as it has been in years.

Upon leaving Camp Muir the route across the Cowlitz Glacier is very straightforward as there are just a few crevasses opening up.  Some caution is required as you enter Cathedral Gap as you are exposed to rockfall at the end of Cathedral Rocks.  You can see the evidence of rockfall all over the glacier at this point.  The Gap itself is entirely rock and scree now but the climbers trail is easy to follow.

Once you ascend the Ingraham Glacier above The Flats the traverse onto Disappointment Cleaver is not complicated.  A good bit of attention must be paid to route finding on the lower part of the Cleaver as there is no snow here and if you find yourself off route you can easily knock loose rocks down onto parties below you.  Once you have climbed about one third of the way up the Cleaver it is an easy to follow snow trail to the top of the Cleaver at 12,300 ft.

Our main area of concern now is the crevasse systems above the Cleaver.  Currently the route ascends straight up from 12,300 ft.  But the cracks are widening quickly and the route may have to transition to the traditional Emmons Shoulder soon.  The will make the route slightly longer but it may become the only option available in the next few days.

Above 13,000 feet the climbing is excellent with only a few large and obvious crevasses to navigate.  If the route does switch to the Emmons Shoulder then we will have to put a traverse back to the current route here or find a new way through the crevasses.

The crater is still chock-full of snow but caution is advised when nearing the edges of the rim.  The caves are starting to melt out and they seem to be bigger and more widespread than normal.  Don't fall in!

The Muir Snowfield remains in excellent condition.  The route is direct, snowy and crevasse free.  Please remember to stay off of the meadows below Pebble Creek as the growing season is about a month behind schedule this year.

The mountain has been a popular climb this year, most likely due to the excellent conditions.  Please be mindful of other folks climbing around you now that there are loose rocks exposed on the route. Courteous communication is the best tool for climbing safely amongst other groups.  

-Whittaker Mountaineering Guide Team member, Seth Waterfall gave us the most up-to-date route condition report on Rainier

Caroline George Summits Mont Blanc!

Whittaker Mountaineering Guide Team member, Caroline George climbed Mont Blanc while guiding in Europe - Here is her report from the climb:

It's 7.30am when we reach the summit of Mont Blanc. At 4810m (15,782ft), Mont Blanc is the highest peak in western Europe and in the Alps, which means that right now, it feels like we are standing on top of the world, higher than any other peak that the eye can see. It's quite a show! Standing on the knife edge snow ridge, we have one foot in Italy and one foot in France. Chamonix, to the north, is still in the shadow of its surrounding giants, while Courmayeur, to the south is already in the sun. We bask in the morning sun, enjoying the fruits of our effort, catching our breath and already looking on to future possible ascents: the Gran Paradiso -highest peak in Italy - to the south, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa to the east, the Eiger to the north.  

The climb started when the three of us guides - Tomaz from Slovenia, Daniel from Switzerland and myself - met the six clients the previous day at the Bellevue cable car in Les Houches, a few kilometers down valley from the alpine climbing mecca, Chamonix. We rode the lift to then catch a little mountain train to the start of the trailhead at the so-called "Nid d'Aigle". We hiked from there up steep switch backs and a rocky spur to the Tete Rousse Hut at 3167m. The Tete Rousse hut is a beautiful and comfortable little hut perched high above the Vallee de l'Arve, with the north face of the Aiguille de Bionnassay and the strenuous Gouter Ridge looming above. The great thing about climbing in the Alps is that you don't need to carry any camping or cooking gear with you. The hut system is so well done, that all you need is your climbing gear and warm clothing. The huts are equipped with beds and comforters and the hut keepers cook delicious pies to snack on before or after the climb - it was a real challenge for me to pick between the blueberry and the walnut pie!!! - and all-you-can eat meals, with soup, cheese, main course and dessert.

At 1am, we woke up, had breakfast and headed out in the moonless night up the 700m long rock ridge to the Gouter Hut. We encountered one of the cruxes of the route 20 minutes into the climb, when crossing the infamous "Grand Couloir", a 50m wide couloir which sees tons of rock falls and that you need to run across. After that, we scrambled up easy but exposed rocky terrain to the Gouter Hut, which sits on the Aiguille du Gouter at 3817m. Lots of people stay there to climb Mont Blanc, but it's got a bad a reputation for being extremely crowded and dirty, with people sleeping on tables and rats running around. A new hut is getting built and should be ready to host the hordes of people that climb Mont Blanc by 2012. From the Gouter hut,we follow an almost horizontal ridge toward the Dome Du Gouter (4237m), and onward to the Vallot Hut (4362m) - a trashed observatory that people go in to find warmth on cold windy days or when waiting out bad weather. From there, we climb steeply up the sometime knife edge west ridge called the Arete des Bosses - The Bumps Ridge -, going over the Grand Bosse (4513m) - The Big Bump - and the Petite Bosse (4547m) - The Little Bump - and along the narrowing ridge to the top of Europe.

My clients today are Josi and Stuart from the UK. They were fit and we made it to the summit in good time. There is no wind on the summit and it's a bluebird day with warm temperatures. We snack, rest and my mind drifts to how it must have felt to be the first people - Jacques Balmat and Michel Paccard - to summit Mont Blanc back in 1786. People had tried to summit Mont Blanc long before that time, but the main concern was how to get up and down in just one day since the local peasants did not believe that one could survive a night in the open, in the snow, a reference to the old superstition dating from the time when the range was known as the Montagnes Maudites - The Accursed Mountains. When a man, Jacques Balmat, got lost on the mountain, was benighted and came back to tell the tale, he was living disproof of the legend. It would now be possible to climb Mont Blanc in more than a day and Jacques Balmat proved it by summitting on June 8th, 1786. Over 200 years later, Mont Blanc is ascended by an average of 20,000people. 

This is my fifth ascent of the peak. I have climbed it through different routes: from France over the Arete des Bosses, the Three Monts Traverse and the Grand Mulets, and from Italy by climbing the Freney Pillar, one of the hardest routes in the Mont Blanc range and one of my greatest climbs ever! I always look forward to climbing this beautiful and prestigious peak, for myself or with clients. 

- Caroline George with www.intothemountains.com

Dave Hahn - Rainier, July 23 - 26

RMI guide and Whittaker Mountaineering Guide Team member, Dave Hahn tells about his most recent climb of Mount Rainier...

We woke the climbing team at 11:40 PM and a little over an hour later, the rope team began leaving Camp Muir for the summit. There were just enough breezes to keep from overheating during the hour-long climb across the Cowlitz Glacier, up through Cathedral Gap and onto Ingraham Flats. We expected a busy day on the route since many teams were camped at Muir for the night, but "traffic" was well spread out and not really a problem. Getting onto Disappointment Cleaver was fast and easy and all of the rocks seemed well-frozen into place. Taking a break at the top of the Cleaver around four in the morning, we could begin to see the first signs of dawn. It was cold enough at 12,300 ft that many climbers added a jacket for the next 1000 ft up through the crevasses of the Ingraham Glacier. Sunrise caught us at the final rest, around 13,500 ft and it was great to feel a slight warming as we crested the crater rim around 6:45 AM. Conditions were perfect for strolling over to the true summit and catching a look at Puget Sound, Tacoma, Seattle, the Olympic Range, Baker, Shuksan, Glacier Peak, The Stuart Range, Dragontail, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Jefferson, and St. Helens. After a bite to eat and a bunch of pictures and handshakes, we rallied the team for a smooth and safe descent. As expected, the intense heat of late-July caught up with us, but not until we were strolling back into Camp Muir around 11:30 AM. We made it down to Paradise by around 3:15 PM and into Ashford for cold beverages and celebrations by 5 PM. Route conditions are excellent as things are still quite direct with good snow cover and well-briged crevasses... there isn't too much walking on rock at the moment and most folks are thankful for that.

McKinley June 8, 2010

Mount McKinley

June 8, 2010

Whittaker Mountaineering Retail Manager, Laura Rodgers

Watching the sunset behind Mt. Foraker from the bank of the river in Talkeetna, flying from the lush green landscape near sea level to glaciated white and black mountains, cruising the Kahiltna glacier in the quiet of the early sunlit hours of the morning, soaking up the views in all directions from the narrow picturesque ridge of the West Buttress, breathing heavily on the classic cornice of the summit ridge of Denali with a tangible feeling of success welling up in your throat, are just a few of the high points to note from this summer’s June 8^th Denali trip. 

Of course all of these glory moments one must try to keep in mind while hauling a heavy sled, choking down some food while not feeling well at a new altitude, breathing out a headache, taking in a whiff of a stale tent, the iPod dying 30 seconds out of camp on the day of a long carry, or dealing with the repercussions of a misfire of the pee bottle while attempting an acrobatic in-sleeping-bag maneuver.

Although the latter may be a few of the realities of an expedition, they are easy to handle when each day no matter how productive, provides a reward.  This could come in the form of an amazing view, dialing in that sled-rigging system so you can be ready first to help a teammate, breathing and eating and drinking well enough to feel strong on a move day, coming up with a great way to dig a fortress around the tent, or winning the last round of cards for the day.

I was fortunate enough to take part in the June 8^th Denali trip this year and our trip began as most do, with the flight to Anchorage.  With some pre-trip jitters and careful packing so as to not have to pay an over-sized baggage fee, I arrived in Anchorage and met the rest of the climbing team.  This was an exciting moment for me, as I had pictured everyone dispersed from wherever they were coming from getting prepared and going through similar decisions on equipment and lunch food.  After a nice drive to “beautiful downtown Talkeetna”, we dropped off our equipment to be sorted and checked the next morning at the hangar. 

Equipment checks done, all packs weighed in correctly, and it was time to relax for the evening in town.  A few of us went down to the river in Talkeetna to take in some beautiful views of Mt. Foraker, Mt. Hunter, and see Denali in person for the first time (re-insert pre-trip jitters here).  The next day the weather was not flyable, so an extra day in Talkeetna was in order.  This actually worked out well because it afforded us some time to practice sled-rigging, knots, and get all of the tents set up ahead of time.  Come the next morning it was time to fly.  This was a noteworthy portion of the trip.  You are on a flight with five other people cruising through green Talkeetna and over many rivers, then are suddenly surrounded in glaciated terrain.  Seeing basecamp from the air and quickly descending towards the snowy village where you will depart from for nearly twenty days is a surreal experience.  We swapped planes with another RMI group and were preparing our tents and equipment to have an evening at basecamp.

We left for 7,800 camp at night after the glacier had re-frozen so that travel would be quick and safe on the heavily crevassed Kahiltna.  It was wild to be traveling at night although it was full visible light out.  We got to 7,800 camp around 2:00 am and dug in for a few nights there.  One of the days at 7,800 we did a carry to 10,000 ft to prepare for our move to 11,000 ft.  That way we had less to carry up Ski Hill on our move day to 11 camp.  

We ended up spending five nights at 11 camp due to various weather constraints, however these days were easily broken up into rest time, back-carries, and carries.  From my perspective, the nights at 11 camp were helpful for acclimatization.  I definitely got some headaches due to the altitude on the second day we spent there.  I felt better throughout the course of the next day and felt just fine when we moved to 14,000 ft.  Doing carries I thought to be helpful not only to split up the loads, but also so that on the move day you had a good idea of how the day would progress.

The move to 14,000 camp was an exciting day.  It was at this point that I felt like we were on the upper mountain.  We had beautiful views of Foraker and Hunter looking out of camp.  Looking up towards the mountain one could see the fixed lines and the West Rib.  We had taken a rest day after arriving at 14 camp on a nice sunny day with the radiance of the sun allowing us all to enjoy a brief moment of freedom without our stinky baselayer tops on.  The next day we tackled a carry to the top of the fixed lines.  Although the fixed lines appeared a bit daunting, they go fairly quickly and you feel quite secure as your rope team is close to one another, as well as attached to the lines.  We got an early start so that we didn’t have to wait for other teams in addition to avoiding the heat of the day.

Once we had done the carry we got the word that the weather was going to be prime for climbing for the next three days.  Given our time spent at lower elevations everyone was feeling strong and excited that the summit push was in sight.  The move day up to 17,000 ft Camp was beautiful with low winds and pleasant temperatures.  This was one of my favorite days of the climb because the ridge was very aesthetic.  Lots of focus on breathing helped prevent headaches during the digging of the tent platform and sleeping that evening.  We had a chat about the summit day that night, so the combination of excitement, nerves, and altitude didn’t lead to a lot of sleep. 

Upon awakening the next morning the clear skies meant that it was time to roll.  We were up and out of camp quickly with light packs, which was a nice change of pace relative to our move day.  The walk along the Autobahn towards Denali Pass was the coldest part of the day since the pass does not get sun in the morning.  This portion of the climb seemed long with clipping through pickets and a more lengthy section to get to the sun.  After one more break past Zebra Rocks I could hardly believe we were about to approach the Football Field, Pig Hill, and finally, the summit ridge.

After seeing so many pictures of the summit ridge it was really exciting to get a view for myself.  The few clouds that had gathered on top during our time on the Football Field and Pig Hill dissipated and we had clear skies on the summit.  We spent about half an hour on top, taking in the views and snapping pictures.  It was satisfying to know that a large portion of the mission was complete and now our focus was turned towards a safe descent.  We had a pleasant descent with high spirits.  It was amazing how hot we were going down the Autobahn compared to the chilly morning temperatures.  After getting back to camp I quickly removed my sweaty boots and got straight to hydrating and eating some delicious ramen noodles.

That evening I got out of the tent around 4:00 am to use the bathroom and stretch the legs.  I was able to catch the sunrise over Foraker and the cumulus clouds around it.  This was a nice solo moment with no one else awake at 17 camp before we had to leave.  We began our descent the next day around 7 or 8 am to head to 11k.  Descending the West Buttress was just as amazing as going up.  We had a couple hours of layover at 14 camp to get rid of some supplementary lunch food to those at camp shopping for more, as well as re-organizing our equipment for the remainder of the descent.

It was amazing how well I felt after getting back to 11k camp, being at what was relatively lower altitude.  This was a nice bonus especially after having not felt very well at this altitude originally.  We set up camp quickly and ran into some folks from another RMI trip who were on their way up.  We dug up our cache here and added a bit more to the packs to carry out.  The next day the plan was to make it down the Kahiltna and to the airstrip.

We awoke at 3am with the intent of beating the heat on the lower glacier in order to avoid crevasses and snowshoes.  The plan worked and we had great conditions.  We didn’t bring out the snowshoes until Heartbreak Hill.  The walk out was beautiful.  It was chilly but light in the early morning.  It was a great time to reflect on the trip while walking out and I was sad to leave.  It was surreal to be walking away after we had been on top just a couple days prior.  Arriving back at the airstrip was a bizarre feeling knowing that our time on Denali was coming to a close. 

The skies cleared for flying quickly and the first plane flew part of the group a mere two hours after our arrival at the upper airstrip.  The flight out was just as breathtaking as the flight in, including a re-introduction to the colors green and blue.  We landed back in Talkeetna for the gear re-sort and dry.  

That evening we ended the trip in the place that it began for a few of us, and went down to the river for summit certificates.  We had a great time taking in a glimpse of the Alaska Range and sharing memories from the trip.

Now that the trip is through, I have a few take away points that I learned or was happy that I had done…these are of course a few of many.

1)      For the ladies, I found the pee funnel to be a huge benefit.  I used a specific narrow oil funnel and modified it a bit.  Practice ahead of time was helpful.  Also, I was able to use the bathroom while tied into the rope without undoing any portion of my harness.  This was a huge time saver on breaks. 

2)      Bring sausage and cheese for 14k and above.  When I was first on the mountain I was psyched to be eating candy, but didn’t really get the craving for meat and cheese until I was on the upper mountain.  Then, naturally I was not happy with myself for caching some of this down lower when I didn’t think that I would have a taste for it up high.  Cream cheese seemed like a good idea at first, but after multiple freezing and thawing cycles, it gets to have a very strange texture and became considerably less appealing.

3)      Have a light-colored hooded baselayer for the glacier.  It gets unbelievably hot and sunny during the day so to have a light color on and a hood to hide in was very helpful.  Thanks to a baseball hat, a buff, and a hooded baselayer (in addition to sunscreen applications every break) I managed to avoid a single major sunburn.

4)      Breathe, drink, and eat heavily.  It is better to be conscious of doing this as you are moving whether or not you feel good.  Yes, you have to pee a lot on occasion.

5)      Don’t worry, it hurts a bit sometimes at new elevations but it gets better after a day or so.  Odds are, everyone else is feeling it a bit too.  I found myself thinking too hard about every slight or major headache, exactly how bad my stomach ache was, etc. on occasion, but it does pass and it isn’t something that I would be as concerned about the next high-elevation go around.

Needless to say, I learned a lot more than that on the trip.  For more tricks and pointers, feel free to give a call at the shop.  The stoke is high and I can’t wait to get back up to Alaska…

Crystal Clear On The Summit!

 This morning the RMI climb was on the summit around 6am! RMI guide, Jason Thompson said it was a crystal clear morning with spectacular views from the top!  The climb went to bed last night with winds gusting pretty high at Camp Muir - but when they woke up this morning for their alpine start, the wind had died down quite a bit.  They left Muir with light wind and fantastic, firm snow that was great for cramponing.  With only slight variations to improve the route, the climbers made their way across the Ingraham glacier and up the Disappointment Cleaver.  Jason said the Cleaver is still mostly snow covered, which makes for easy walking and the entire route is in excellent shape right now! Upon arriving at the summit, winds began to gust again, but not too bad.  Everyone had stellar views of all the mountains in the Cascade Range, including Mount Jefferson down in Oregon!  Jason also said that there was a crystal clear view of downtown Seattle from the top!  While descending back to Muir, the snow began to heat up and became slightly mushy but not too bad.  The Muir Snowfield was great today with "primo boot skiing" to give the knees a break!  

Check out this awesome photo from Jason Thompson from today's climb!

And here are some great photos from RMI climber, Ian Patrick - from the 4-day Summit Climb, July 16 - 19. 

6 best friends on heading to snow school

 Alpine Start - Getting ready to leave Muir Ridge

Sunrise

On the summit! Congratulations!

Dan and Scott on the summit :) 

Thanks for sharing your photos Ian! Congratulations on reaching the top!