Entries By seth burns

The Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir September 4 - 9 led by RMI Guides Dustin Wittmier, Seth Burns, Drew O'Brien and Will Ambler reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team has spent the last several days training on the mountain and enjoying the views. Today they put their work to the test and made their summit attempt, reaching the crater rim around 7:30 am. After enjoying a bit of time on the summit the team is descending to Camp Muir where they will spend the night. Tomorrow they will descend the remaining 4.5 miles to Paradise.  A team celebration will be in order tomorrow afternoon before they conclude their six day program.

Nice work team!

The Five Day Climb led by RMI Guides Seth Burns and Alan Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. Thanks to the recent route work by many of our RMI Guides the team had a great route and were on the top in five and a half hours. The team enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and clear skies. The team is back at Camp Muir where they will spend one more night and descend Sunday Morning. 

Congratulations Team! 

Although Paradise remains in a bit of a cloud this morning, it is sunny and clear above Camp Muir. The Five Day Climb August 21 - 25 led by RMI Guides Henry Coppolillo and Mike Bennett reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.  The teams found a bit of new snow on the upper mountain but the route was in good shape and the weather is beautiful, so they had a great climb to top. They started their descent from the crater rim around 7:20 am. They will return to Camp Muir for a quick break and continue down to Paradise. Their program will conclude this afternoon.

Congratulations to today's climbers!

The Five Day climb with Seth Burns and Mike Bennett made a sunset climb of Mt. Rainier. The team enjoyed a great route, and beautiful sunset on their way to the top. They plan to depart Camp Muir around 10am.

Congratulations Team! 

RMI Guides Seth Burns & Leif Bergstrom led their team of Mt. Baker - North Ridge climbers to the summit yesterday. They enjoyed a nice day on the mountain and returned to camp after their summit.  They spent last night on the mountain and will be returning to the trailhead later today to conclude their program.

Nice work team!

RMI Guide Seth Burns and team checked in from the summit of Mt. Shuksan this morning.  It looks like they had a beautiful blue bird sky and excellent conditions for their climb of Fisher Chimneys. They will descend back to camp and continue to the trail head later today to complete their adventure.

Nice work team!

RMI Guides Alan Davis and Seth Burns led their teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier in the wee hours of the morning. The team was on Columbia Crest at 3:45am. They reported good route conditions and are currently on their descent. 

Nice work team!

Seth Burns and Team had a great three days on Mt. Baker. The team practiced mountaineering skills just outside of camp and climbed the Easton Glacier under bluebird skies reaching the 10,781' summit early this morning. 

Congratulations Team! 

RMI Guides Seth Burns and Calvin Jiricko reached the summit of Forbidden Peak yesterday afternoon. The team had a beautiful day climbing in the North Cascades Range! The route to the summit of Forbidden Peak consists of climbing a small glacier below the South Face and then low 5th class rock and 40- to 50- degree snow and ice in the West Ridge Couloir. At the top of the couloir the team cached their glacier gear and don rock shoes for the enjoyable 5.0 to 5.6 rock climbing along the exposed crest to the summit.

The West Ridge of Forbidden is a true alpinist's classic. Congratulations Team! 

Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - 10:27 pm PT

Reflection from summit day

14,000’ Camp

Staring At The Headwall. Our Team Summited Denali today! I did not. I take no credit for their achievement, having been a hindrance at best, but I’ve come to love these people and I am inspired by their triumph. Unless you’ve been here, you cannot understand the magnitude of their accomplishment. Logistical. Physical. Emotional. Each member of our team may remember when my quest came to an end on what is arguably the Crux of the West Buttress Route. My anguished cry when my knee hit the ice of the bergschrund and I instantly knew that I had denied myself the Summit. But I pushed on, climbed the fixed ropes of The Headwall, and descended with the team back to our 14,000’ camp. Then, two days later, full of optimism and with a taped up knee, I climbed The Headwall again, plus a little more, as our team pushed for the highest camp. Why? How can we hold the knowledge that something is impossible, it cannot be done, while at the same time holding the conflicting conviction that we can do anything if we just keep striving in the face of insurmountable challenges? Each of you reading this has met your own Denali and you know the answer. That’s just Life. So while I take no credit for their achievements, having been a hindrance at best, I have come to love people and I am inspired by their triumphs. Keep climbing your Headwalls, they are the only paths to your Summits.

RMI Climber Kris Reitz

Tuesday, June 25, 2024 - 11:11 pm PT

Final dispatch: 
Waking up this morning, I’m filled with an intense sense of wonder. 

“Did we really pull that off?”
The memories of the day before play in mind. The views, the wind, the struggle, the summit.

“Hey team, it’s time to wake up,” our guide Seth rouses us, “we’re gonna try and get out of here around 10:00am.”

I check my watch. It’s just after 8:00. I consider getting up. The ache of the day before confirms that it all wasn’t just a dream. It pulsates through my body, intensified by the lack of oxygen available to us at 17200ft. 

Seth asks how we feel, my tent mate Chris replies: “I feel like I climbed a 20000ft mountain.”  I laugh, still comfortably in my sleeping bag. 

We begin slowly packing the randomly strewn about items that we didn’t care to pack after our 12 hour summit day. 

Not much later, we’re on the move again. Our packs are heavy again, a change from the light summit packs we grew accustomed to yesterday. We say our final goodbyes to the friends we made during our brief stay and begin the walk to the narrow balance beam that is the West Buttress I carefully scramble through the granite boulders that line the upper ridge, to my left and right, 3000ft drop offs. We waltz secured by our rope and fixed protection put in long ago. The dance is lento. Each move is precise and requires our complete focus. 

Clip, reclip. Clip, reclip. Check the rope isn’t getting caught in the feet of the person in front of you. Clip, reclip. Make a careful move through an awkward position. Clip, reclip. Glance at Foraker or Hunter. Clip, reclip. Finally, we make it through without incident, arriving to the 2000ft, 50° fixed lines.

We slide down carefully. The rope is wrapped  around our arms like a cobra squeezing its prey. We make good progress, arriving to the bergschrund much faster than it took us to area of the route. As we continue downward, Chris and I share a laugh as we remember we’re still wearing our long underwear. We make it back to the 14200ft camp where we pause for a while, giving Chris and I the chance to free ourselves from the heat prison surrounding our legs, much to the humour of the rest of our team. 

After sorting out the gear we stashed here  before heading up, (struggling to figure out how on earth we’d get it into our already full packs), we start marching downward again. We pass sights we remember only in an upward sense. They take on a different feeling, knowing that  for some of us, this may be the last time we see them. Windy corner, Thunder ridge, the Peters glacier. All deeply beautiful. 

We arrive into the ghost town that is 11000ft camp, with most of the climbers who would populate this place either higher on the mountain, or long gone, returned to civilization Our stay here won’t be long. We plan to move again once the glacier refreezes. Even still, we make set the nylon homes that have housed us for the last 14 nights, one final time. 

As we eat our last dinner on the mountain, bagels with salmon and cream cheese, a feeling of sadness begins to creep over us. 

In a strange way, as we reminisce about having ate an ungodly amount of quesadillas, or how badly we smell, or funny encounters we had with other climbers en route, it begins to set in this journey is nearing its end.
Soon, all of these moments will become memories. Our mistakes, funny stories. Our hardships, that which built our character. Our triumphs, our legacies. 

As we settle into our down bags one final time, the evening air beginning to become cold, an unexplainable emotion begins to emerge. The one perhaps felt when you realize you’re in a memory. Gratitude? Thankfulness? Satisfaction?
Perhaps some things in life are better left unanalyzed. 

Thank you, Denali. You have been so, so kind. 

RMI Climber Thomas Goossen