Mt. Rainier: Winter Seminar Team Training at Camp Muir
Posted by: Brent Okita, Mike King
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,000'
Everyone is doing great on day four of our seminar. A hard day up to Muir was followed by a full day of training on Tuesday in increasingly challenging weather conditions.
Today dawned sunny but quite windy. As forecasted, the winds stayed strong throughout the day. Not being one to let a little wind get in the way of some great training, we did have to moderate our plans to cope with the 40-45 mph sheets of blowing snow that swept thru Muir all day.
Sticking close to camp allowed us to bail back to the bunkhouse for the occasional break. There were no complaints about not getting out on the glacier for the day. An earlier exploration by Mike and me proved the winds were just as strong out there as at camp.
Anchors, crevasse rescue, fixed rope work and rappelling filled the day completely. And for the evening: mountain medicine and mountain weather is on the docket.
We're looking forward to another good day of training tomorrow, though we might have to deal with another little storm to keep us honest.
Alas, I'm afraid a summit bid has been shelved due to the increasing avalanche hazard up high. We're safe here at camp, and that's how we'd like to keep it.
All for now.
The crew at Muir
