Entries By mike walter
August 7, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories:
Elevation: 14,410'
The Four Day Summit climb led by RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team climbed early and had beautiful weather the entire climb. They have started their descent and are en route to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's team!
July 31, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team are standing on top of Mt. Baker! They had beautiful weather and a great route for climbing via the classic and technical
North Ridge. They will descend on the Coleman-Deming Route and spend one more night on the mountain before descending back to the trailhead tomorrow.
Congratulations to Mike and team!
July 28, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
The Mt. Baker North Ridge team led by RMI Guide Mike Walter just checked in from the summit of Mt Baker!. This team of experienced climbers ascended Mt. Baker via the challenging North Ridge route. Mike reported that the team is doing well, and will be starting their descent after enjoying the views from the summit.
Congratulations Team!
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team climbed both Sahale and Sharkfin Tower yesterday. The team reported great climbing and 100% to the top for the two peaks! Today, the team climbed Forbidden Peak by its iconic and classic West Ridge and were standing on the summit at 10:20 this morning.
Way to go team!
July 18, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches North Cascades
Elevation: 10,781'
We are standing on top of
Mt. Baker after ascending the North Ridge. 100% of our team summited! The weather is beautiful with light winds and clear skies. We will begin our descent back to camp shortly.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
July 10, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 14,410'
The
Four Day Summit Climb July 7 - 10 led by
RMI Guide Mike Walter reached the summit today. Mike reported moderate winds with clear skies and a cloud deck below around 9,000'. The team enjoyed a bit of time on the summit. They started their descent from the crater rim around 8:30 AM PT heading for Camp Muir.
Congratulations to the Summit Climb team!
July 6, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter, Chris Ebeling
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Mount Rainier
Elevation: 13,400'
The
Four Day Summit Climb led by RMI Guides Mike Walter and Chris Ebeling reached 13,400' before high winds and a cloud cap forced the team to turn. The team is on their descent and will be returning to Rainier Basecamp early this afternoon.
Congratulations to Today's Team!
June 28, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
Last night we enjoyed a delicious fresh, local trout dinner—served at the
16,000’ Cotopaxi Climbers’ Hut!...and then we went to bed early, in preparation for an alpine start wake-up for our summit bid on Cotopaxi. I woke before midnight to check the weather. It wasn’t perfect—we were in thick clouds, but there wasn’t any wind. We got the ball rolling at midnight, coffee-ed up and got ready to climb. As we prepared the weather kept fluctuating: a little snow here, a little wind there, clouds that we could see the moon through…
At just after one a.m. we headed out of the Jose Ribas Refugio on Cotopaxi. Winds increased during our first hour of climbing, which brought us to the glacier where we donned crampons and roped up. The winds continued above, coupled with Viento Blanco (White Wind, ~30 mph wind inside a 100% humidity cloud) that iced up everything—our clothes, our packs, our ice axes, and even our eyes—as we climbed. We persevered through the Viento Blanco as it increased in strength until we conceded to it due to safety; at less than 800 feet from the summit we turned around and headed back to the Climbers’ Hut. Even the descent was challenging; Viento Blanco was relentless, trying to blow us off of our feet, limit our visibility to near zero, and continue to dominate everything it could think its icy teeth into. Arriving safely back at the Climbers’ Hut we were a spectacle, pasted in white ice from head to toe.
It’s bittersweet to return from fierce weather unscathed but without a summit. We all know which one is more important. I am confident that had we had decent weather for our summit day 100% of our climbers would have made the top. Everyone performed well on our preparatory climbs, and everyone was acclimatizing to the extreme altitude well. But such is mountain climbing. Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
June 26, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
After a relaxing stay at the hacienda Chilcabamba, we are all packed up and heading for
Cotopaxi, the stunning 19,347’ stratovolcano that is our main climbing objective. We will drive a dirt road that winds through Cotopaxi National Park to an altitude above 15,000’. A 45-minute hike will lead to the climbers’ hut, which sits near the toe of the glacier just shy of 16,000’. The goal of today is to arrive at such high altitude accommodations feeling good, resting, and adjusting to the altitude. Tomorrow we will hike to the Glacier and review the climbing techniques we will employ on the climb the following morning.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
June 25, 2018
Posted by: Mike Walter
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
Elevation: 16,000'
This morning we checked out of our hotel and left the urban confines of Quito, headed south toward
Cotopaxi. Our first stop today was another acclimatization hike, this time to the climbers' hut that sits in the saddle between Illinizas Norte and Sur. Our hike today took us up to ~15,400' where we enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee in the climbers' hut. The weather was pleasant for climbing today, although clouds up high obscured our views of the Illiniza peaks.
We're now resting at the rustic and peaceful hacienda Chilcabamba, where we have great views of
Cotopaxi as it dances in the clouds.
RMI Guide Mike Walter
On The Map
congrats to all of the team!!
Posted by: luke larkin on 8/9/2018 at 9:07 am
Outstanding efforts. I am looking at the mountain right now.
Posted by: Stuart Nyren on 8/8/2018 at 7:31 am
View All Comments