Entries By dustin wittmier
June 20, 2022
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Abby Westling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
The Five Day Climb June 16 - 20 enjoyed a beautiful morning on the mountain and view from Muir Peak. Route conditions prevented the teams from going above Camp Muir today. The teams began their descent from Camp Muir around 9 am in the sunshine with a cloud deck below them around 7,000'. All climbers will return to Rainier BaseCamp early this afternoon.
June 5, 2022
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Grayson Swingle
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
Poor weather and low visibility kept RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier, Grayson Swingle and Team from reaching the summit on Mt. Rainier today. The team will be spending the morining at Camp Muir and return to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford later this afternoon.
Congratulation on facing this challenge and seeing it through to your full capacity! I hope your descent is smooth. Mother nature is a beautifully powerful force and I hope she sees you safely down the mountain today.
Posted by: Rosemary on 6/5/2022 at 5:07 pm
Dad - hello daddy. how are you doing? your daughter Elle
Posted by: Elle Bolton on 6/5/2022 at 1:17 pm
June 2, 2022
Posted by: Brent Okita, Dustin Wittmier, Kiira Antenucci, Mira Schoeberlein, Lacie Smith, Evan Sather
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,200'
The Four Day Climb led by RMI Guides Brent Okita and Kiira Antenucci reached Ingraham Flats at 11,200' on their summit attempt before poor weather forced them to turn and retreat to shelter of Camp Muir. The team is going to enjoy the morning on the mountain before descending.
Congratulations to today's team!
May 30, 2022
Posted by: Grayson Swingle, Charlie Harrison, Mira Schoeberlein, Dustin Wittmier, Tatum Whatford, Nick Sinapius
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,400'
The Five Day Climb May 26 - 30 led by RMI Guides Grayson Swingle and Dustin Wittmier were turned around by avalanche danger this morning near 11,400'. The team safely returned to Camp Muir they reported blue skies above and a cloud deck below around 7,000'. The teams left from Camp Muir just after 9 am on their descent to Paradise. We look forward to seeing them at Rainier BaseCamp later today.
May 24, 2022
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Bryan Mazaika, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 11,000'
RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier and the Kautz seminar team called 11,000’ their high point. This morning, Dustin reported that high avalanche conditions would keep them from climbing. Despite the route conditions, the teams enjoyed beautiful weather on their ascent, great views of Mt. Rainier, and were able to use their time to train and learn glacier travel techniques, anchors, and more to prepare them for their next big adventure!
The team will conclude their program tomorrow with a celebration at Rainier Basecamp.
May 12, 2022
Posted by: Brent Okita, Dominic Cifelli, Dustin Wittmier, Seth Burns, Jess Wedel, Lauren Macklin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
What a difference a day makes. 40mph snow and wind at Camp Muir. A perfect day to train inside.
After a cloudy walk up the Muir Snowfield on Monday we enjoyed two gorgeous, sunny days of training on Tuesday and Wednesday, learning the basics of snow and ice climbing, glacier travel, crevasse rescue and ice climbing.
This morning the weather has changed! Blowing snow all night and day has us thankful for the shelter of the bunkhouse at Camp Muir where we're learning about avalanches - how to avoid them, use the tools of the trade and perform a rescue.
We'll continue with other topics of interest and get out for some hands on training if and when we can do it safely outside.
Everyone is doing great and happy we got so much training in even though our summit aspirations are no longer realistic after finding serious signs of avalanche hazard on the slopes leading to the summit.
We'll be headed down tomorrow morning after some training and packing up in the morning.
Thank you for all of the updates for those of us at lower elevations here in the Twin Cities and others! I am sorry to hear you won’t be able to summit but am glad you all are taking precautions. Enjoy the views from up there, it’s something not everyone gets to experience in their lifetimes. Good work team!!
Posted by: April Londo on 5/13/2022 at 4:34 pm
May 6, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,080'
RMI Guides Dave Hahn and Dustin Wittmier and the Mt. Rainier Five Day Climb teams endured a steady and consistent spring storm at Camp Muir. Windy conditions prevented the teams fom ascending above Camp Muir but will make for epic stories of traveling to the outhouse while at camp. The teams will return to Rainier Basecamp in Ashford this afternoon.
Sorry to hear that, looks like last three expeditions able to go up Muir Camp only due to weather.
Is May is good month to go (just wondering)?
Posted by: Umesh Patel on 5/8/2022 at 5:01 pm
Sorry to hear the May 6th team got turned around due to weather….
I am ready to tackle Rainier on August 3 - 6…. I am hoping the weather is not a factor
I would LOVE to hear of your experiences and recommendations so I can learn more
Posted by: Jeff Duqutte on 5/7/2022 at 9:36 am
February 3, 2022
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 19,348'
Good morning,
I am happy to report that on a beautiful morning the team made the summit of Cotopaxi. Sunny skies and light winds made for great climbing conditions. The local guides have departed and the team is headed back to Quito for an afternoon of relaxation and a celebration dinner. This trip has thrown some curveballs, but I'm proud of the team for sticking with it and being flexible along the way. Everyone, regardless of whether they went to the summit of Cayambe or Cotopaxi did a really fine job pushing themselves towards goals they have worked so hard for. Cheers to this team!
Thank you for following along with our blog and please continue following the final RMI Ecuador trip of the season which starts next week!
RMI Guides Dustin, Avery and Team!
Awesome!! Sunny Summit!!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/4/2022 at 3:45 am
Congrats all! Great to see that mountain summited
Posted by: Sam on 2/3/2022 at 12:50 pm
February 2, 2022
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Good morning,
The team is getting a final bit of relaxation at Chilcabamba Eco Lodge this morning. It's blue skies and the mountains are out. The group seems to be in good spirits as they prepare to head to the Jose Ribas Refugio today, where they will rest for the evening before a very early start tonight. The summit of Cotopaxi and the climbing route is visible from Chilcabamba this morning, giving everyone some additional motivation!
All the Best for clear skies Dustin!!
Posted by: Dave Kestel on 2/3/2022 at 4:34 am
Good luck, Dustin, Avery, and team!
Posted by: Dylan Richey on 2/2/2022 at 9:27 am
January 31, 2022
Posted by: Dustin Wittmier, Avery Parrinello
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 18,997'
After a late start due to poor weather last night, the team got moving this morning with the promise of a nicer day. However, conditions deteriorated once they reached the glacier with humidity and worrisome flashes of lightning in the distance. Those flashes ended up subsiding and the weather turned marginally better making it possible to reach the summit of Cayambe. Just a few members of the team reached the 18,997' summit, but everyone fought hard with every step. All team members pushed themselves today and will enjoy a rest day at the Chilcabamba Eco Lodge tomorrow.
We have our hopes for better weather on Cotopaxi and I know that any of these climbers stand a good chance to reach the summit of one of the highest active volcanoes in the world!
Pleasure to meet you all! If you ever find yourself passing through Atlanta airport, please let me know. Will do anything I can to help you navigate through the busiest airport in the world. Cheers!
Posted by: Buddy on 6/23/2022 at 3:23 pm
Proud of this team! Great folks made for great times even while enduring tough conditions. Proud of our ascent to Ingraham Glacier 11,200!!
Posted by: Bo Rucker on 6/21/2022 at 9:03 am
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