Entries By erika birkeland
August 14, 2024
Posted by: Mike Bennett, Erika Birkeland, Arianna Drechsler
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,541'
RMI Guide Mike Bennett and the entire Glacier Peak Team Reached the 10,541' summit yesterday afternoon. After the summit they returned to high camp, packed up and moved their camp down to White Pass and plan to descend to the trailhead today.
Congratulations Team!
August 8, 2024
Posted by: Daniel May, Mike Bennett, Erika Birkeland, Will Ambler, Mac Nolde, Avery Stolte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
RMI Guides Dan May and Mike Bennet led their Four Day Climb August 5 - 8 to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. Skies are clear with a light breeze. The teams were able to spend some time in the crater before starting their descent from the crater rim around 7 am. They will return to Camp Muir, take a short break and then continue down to Paradise.
Nice work today teams!
August 1, 2024
Posted by: Drew O’Brien, Erika Birkeland, Hannah Blum, Robert Whyte
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 10,500'
Good Morning,
Last night after the move to Camp Schurman the team elected to split into a group focused on advanced climbing/crevasse rescue skills and a summit team.
The summit team woke around 10pm for their summit push. After dealing with warm nighttime temps, isothermal snow, and punching through multiple snow bridges the team decided to turn around at about 10,500.
All team members are now back in camp beginning a day of ice climbing, glacial navigation and crevasse rescue training.
RMI Guide Drew O'Brien
PC: Drew O'Brien
July 23, 2024
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Erika Birkeland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,541'
Today, we achieved what we sought after and more. Waking up to a pool of mist, we were happy to be carrying feather light packs, compared to the last 2 days. With a break in the clouds and the moon to help light the way, we set off. It was everything we could do to catch a view, but we finally caught a glimpse and climbed high above the clouds just past Glacier Gap. The morning brought views our eyes couldn't believe. Passing onto the Cool Glacier, we new we were close. We pushed on through the switchbacks and snow on the final ridge until 100% of our team stood on top. It was 5 for 5 volcanoes in WA for some, and a first for others. Huge congratulations to our team for pushing through! We are now back at camp resting before we load up our heavy packs again and descend back to White Pass for the evening.
RMI Guides Ben Luedtke, Erika Birkeland, and team.
July 23, 2024
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Erika Birkeland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 7,300'
July 22, 2024 - 5:48 pm PT
We started the morning with riddles from Ben. We continued to make our way up steep terrain and sandy trails, seeing our first patches of snow. We shooed a brave marmot (Jerry) away at snack time. Rock hopping, we made our way to high camp. Setting up camp in a beautiful snowy basin, we spent the afternoon honing our snow travel skills.
-RMI Climber, Miranda Chisholm
PC: Ben Luedtke
July 22, 2024
Posted by: Ben Luedtke, Erika Birkeland
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 5,900'
July 21, 2024 - 5:45 pm PT
Glacier peak. Aptly named for the features we climb, our team set out today for the long journey up. For some of us, it will be 5 of 5 for the Washington volcanoes if we are successful! But alas, it won't come without it's challenges. Off the start, we had a hint of wildfire smoke here and there as we lugged our heavy packs down the trail. It started off cool and calm as we admired the shady grove of old growth trees and picked salmon berries to keep ourselves satiated along the way. But then, we hit the switchbacks. With sweat dripping down our faces, we trudged along in and out of the sun and coolness of the trees. Now, we are set up at camp at White Pass for the evening fending off the swarms of mosquitos with our head nets as we prepare to make dinner, some of us trying to hide in our tents.
RMI Guide Ben Luedtke
It is great to hear day one went well for the team! Great job everyone!
Posted by: Chris Dennis on 7/22/2024 at 12:52 pm
July 18, 2024
Posted by: Drew O’Brien, Nick Sinapius, Arianna Drechsler, Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland, Stella Johnson, Claire Pennell
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Climb July 15 - 18 led by RMI Guides Drew O'Brien and Leif Bergstrom reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 7 am. The team reported a warm morning with low winds and cloud deck below near 6,000'. The teams spent a bit of time on the summit before starting their descent. Once back at Camp Muir the climbers will repack and continue the remaining 4,500' to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
PC: Drew O'Brien
Congratulations! Was this via DC route? I’m assuming the ladders are back up now on that route? Thank you!
Posted by: Johnny on 7/19/2024 at 6:08 am
July 11, 2024
Posted by: Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland, Tom Skoog, Claire Pennell
Categories:
Elevation: 14,410'
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 7 - 12 team led by RMI Guides Leif Bergstrom, Erika Birkeland, Thomas Skoog and Claire Pennell, reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 6 am. The team will descend to Camp Schurman for their final night on the mountain. They have completed additional training during their days together including rope travel, cramponing, ice axe arrest, crevasse rescue, and expedition camping skills. Tomorrow they will return to the trailhead and make the drive back to Rainier BaseCamp in Ashford.
Nice work team!
August 12, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Sam Hoffman, Erika Birkeland, Cal Seeley, Ellison Boord, Trevor Katz
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman reached the summit of Mt. Rainier on Friday Morning. The team took advantage of the cooler temperatures which made for good climbing on the route. They spent the night at Camp Muir sharing stories and soaking in their success and all the views. The team will descend to Paradise in the early afternoon today.
Congratulations team!
You guys rocked this trip. Side messages.. Cal thanks for the bottle of water. Can I please get an invite to the google pics/vids sharing of the group of 8 I wasn’t in? I know some team members had some cool stuff to share. Thanks!
Posted by: Jimmy on 8/27/2023 at 1:18 am
August 7, 2023
Posted by: Dominic Cifelli, Steve Gately, Sam Hoffman, Jackson Breen, Erika Birkeland, Hannah Blum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,200'
The Four-Day climb of Mt. Rainier led by RMI guides, Dominic Cifelli and Sam Hoffman, were turned around this morning due to thunder and lightning. The team is currently on their descent and will celebrate their hard work at Basecamp in Ashford before team members head their seperate ways.
Congratulations to you all! You did it Bubba! We miss you!
Posted by: Tanya Benavidez on 7/24/2024 at 11:07 am
Great Job Miranda!!
(And everyone else)
Posted by: Jim Chisholm on 7/23/2024 at 2:06 pm
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