Entries By jm gorum
May 28, 2021
Posted by: JM Gorum, Grayson Swingle, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
Friday, May 28, 2021 - 1:04pm PT
We expected weather to move in last night, but it was definitely windier than we thought it was going to be. Thankfully we had a strong camp built up and, besides waking us up throughout the night, the gusts really caused us no issue.
We hoped to break down camp early and get moving up the main fork of the Kahiltna, but it didn’t make sense to risk losing a tent breaking down camp in the wind. The sun stayed out for most of the morning, so we just sat around hiding from the wind and playing two truths and a lie until about noon. By this point, the wind had died down significantly so we decided to pack up and venture out to find a new home. We left camp around 2pm, walked downhill onto the main fork of the Kahiltna glacier, and turned north. We had scattered clouds and moderate winds, keeping the temperature comfortably cool. In full sun and light winds, it can be uncomfortably hot on the Kahiltna, so we welcomed our all-natural A/C.
Setting up camp just north of Mount Crosson took no time at all. Everybody is a pro by now. We’re all in our tents now hiding from the wind again. There are plenty of climbing objectives in our new neighborhood, but we’ll just see what the weather allows.
RMI Guides JM Gorum & Team
May 27, 2021
Posted by: JM Gorum, Grayson Swingle, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
Wednesday, May 26, 2021 - 11:54 pm PT
Another bluebird day here on the Kahiltna Glacier. Today was all about crevasse rescue for us. We found a nice big hole about 20 minutes from camp and practiced our haul systems from about 9 am until the sun got the better of us in the early afternoon. We retreated to our tents for our routine afternoon shade session.
The plan was to cover sled rigging and hauling before dinner, but all these perfect warm weather days caught up with the structural integrity of our camp. Our kitchen tent collapsed on itself as its foundation slowly melted away. Not a big deal. We moved it over twenty feet and built a new and improved version. Like so many home improvement hopefuls before us, once we started we just kept going, and before we knew it we had buffed out our entire camp and it was time for dinner.
We’ve got a bit of a weather system moving in over the next few days. It’s lightly snowing as I write. Weather permitting, tomorrow we’d like to pack up some gear and get out of town for a few days, venturing somewhere down on the main fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. We’ll wake up tomorrow, see how the weather looks and make our decision then. We’ll check in tomorrow, hopefully from our new home.
May 26, 2021
Posted by: JM Gorum, Grayson Swingle, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 11:33 pm PT
We had another great day here on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna Glacier. Not a cloud in the sky and balmy temperatures made life easy. We woke up a bit earlier today, around 6, ate a quick breakfast and started breaking trail up towards our first climbing objective. Radio Control Tower is a peak located just outside of Base Camp. We made good time getting up to the ridge, and put a lot of different climbing techniques to use.
We got back to camp and hid from the sun in our tents for the early part of the afternoon. Once it cooled off a bit we practiced some crevasse rescue systems around the tents, with the hopes of finding a suitable crack to practice around tomorrow.
Everyone is adjusting quite well to glacier life. We’ve already got a book club in the making, and our nightly live-broadcast podcast is really taking off. Everyone sends their best to the folks back home! You’ll hear from us again tomorrow.
A book club in the making. Now THAT is not what you’d expect to learn is happening up on a glacier. Shows the balance of working both body and mind though. So rock on!
Posted by: Melanee Strootman on 5/26/2021 at 12:17 pm
Way to go team, keep up the good work. The view looks amazing.
Posted by: Frances Shaw on 5/26/2021 at 7:22 am
May 25, 2021
Posted by: JM Gorum, Grayson Swingle, Henry Coppolillo
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Alaska Seminar
Elevation: 7,300'
Monday, May 24, 2021 - 11:13 pm PT
We made it in to base camp last night. We landed at our new home in the Alaska range around 7pm and got to work building camp. It took us about two hours to get settled in, and then we had a late dinner consisting of Talkeetna’s finest Mountain High Pizza Pie. It’s hardly ever a bad call to fly on to the glacier with four large pizzas.
This morning we had a leisurely start, waiting until the sun hit our tents around 8am. We drank some coffee and ate some toasty bagels, and then we got to work. Today was a skills focused day. We worked on footwork, rope travel, knots, and anchors. We didn’t venture too far out of camp, but we did do a little tour of the new neighborhood. Along the way we scoped out some crevasses that should work nicely for practicing rescue in the next few days.
We’re turning in now, tomorrow we’re going to get up a little earlier and put our newly practiced skills to use on a smaller climb close to camp. We’ll let you know how it goes.
Sunday, May 23, 2021 - 7:10 pm PT
The Kahiltna Seminar team all arrived in Talkeetna last night. We got to town, ate some dinner, settled in to our rooms and called it an early night. The real work began this morning. An early breakfast set us up for a full day of prepping and organizing gear, packing everything up, weighing it all, and loading the mountain of equipment onto planes.
With some unsettled weather around base camp, we played hurry up and wait around Talkeetna for a few hours. That allowed us to catch up on a bit of napping and a bit of extra snacking before heading on to the glacier. Now everything is loaded up, and it sounds like the weather is good at base camp, so we’re going to get on the planes and fly in. It’s looking like weather is going to hold for us this evening, so my guess is we will be setting up camp on the Kahiltna glacier about an hour from now. Wish us luck, and we’ll check in again tomorrow!
Wishing you all fair weather leading to amazing adventures!
Posted by: Melanee Strootman on 5/24/2021 at 1:22 pm
May 16, 2021
Posted by: JM Gorum, Alan Davis
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
The RMI Mt. Baker Summit & Ski May 14 - 16 team led by RMI Guides JM Gorum and Alan Davis, reached the summit of Mt. Baker around 10:30 am this morning. The team climbed well and was spending a bit of time on the summit. Once things soften up a bit they will be making turns all the way backt to camp!
Congratulations to today's Mt. Baker climbers!
May 5, 2021
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Avery Parrinello, Cal Smith, JM Gorum, Ben Ammon, Matias Francis
Categories:
Elevation: 12,600'
The Five Day Climb May 1 - 5 led by RMI Guides Dave Hahn and JM Gorum has returned to Camp Muir after making their summit attempt today. The team reached 12,600' today before being forced to turn around due to route conditions. On Tuesday the group ascended to Camp Muir and spent time yesterday getting in more glacier training and exploring parts of the route before morning their attempt this morning. The group will pack up their gear and decend to Paradise this afternoon.
maybe i have previously been on your list. I know i have been for years. I climbed with you guys in 1969, 1970, and 1972
Also, Please add my two sons, one of which climbed with you in 2016 I believe. also, my daughter-in-law.
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Posted by: Bill Bussey on 5/6/2021 at 8:17 am
Great work!!
Posted by: TK Ito on 5/6/2021 at 7:45 am
August 22, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom, JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Yay! Jennifer so proud of you!!!! What a feat! You are amazing!!
Posted by: Mariah Moody on 8/22/2019 at 4:08 pm
JJ, GOLD STAR!!!!!!!
Posted by: Brand Strategy Team on 8/22/2019 at 4:04 pm
August 17, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum, Ben Ammon
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Great accomplishment for all! Way to go Emily and Phil .. another goal reached for you both.. so proud of both of you!!
Posted by: JoAnn Bolton on 8/18/2019 at 7:36 am
Congratulations to all summiteers. Hope you are suitably proud of your accomplishment. In spite of your bravado, it is a big deal. To the guides, thanks for taking such good care of my son, Nathan and helping him reach one of his goals.
Posted by: Don Evans on 8/17/2019 at 9:38 am
August 1, 2019
Posted by: JM Gorum
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
Great Job you two!!! Super Excited to hear all about it. Take Care!
Posted by: Susan Stassen on 8/1/2019 at 3:04 pm
Congratulations to all the climbers. Annu I am very happy for you. Can’t wait to hear the whole experience!
Posted by: Viji Thuppul on 8/1/2019 at 11:48 am
So happy to get to follow the adventures through your blog posts. Sounds like a continuous balance of learning, practicing and relaxing with the company of the team.
Posted by: Melanee Strootman on 5/28/2021 at 6:42 pm
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