Entries By solveig waterfall
RMI Guides
Brent Okita and
J.J. Justman are leading the Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir this week. The team hiked to
Camp Muir on Monday and has spent several days training at the 10,060' camp. Today the team is receiving instruction on crevasse rescue techniques. The weather has been clear with warm temperatures. We hope the weather holds for their summit attempt tonight.
Good luck to the team!
Our Four Day Summit Climb teams led by
Dave Hahn and
Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. Dave reported clear and sunny skies with winds at about 10mph. The teams were going to spend some time enjoying the great views before starting their descent back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Our
Mt. Rainier Summit Climb led by Billy Nugent and Solveig Waterfall reached the crater rim at 6:59 a.m. this morning. The teams reported clear and windy skies and very cold temperatures. Billy and Solveig radioed at 8:15 a.m. that both teams started their descent back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's summit climbers!
The
Four Day Summit Climb August 13 - 16, 2012, led by RMI Guide
Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 6:30 a.m. this morning. They reported a beautiful day on the mountain with clear skies, light wind and warm temperatures. The team began their descent from the crater rim at 7:30 a.m.
RMI Guide Adam Knoff and the
Expedition Skills Seminar - Paradise completed their six day program with a summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team began their descent from the top shortly after 8:00 a.m. They will return to Camp Muir and spend some time repacking their gear before continuing their descent to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
Our
Four Day Summit Climb Teams led by Billy Nugent and Solveig Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. It was a beautiful morning on the summit and the teams were able to spend some time enjoying the views. They have started their descent back to Camp Muir and will be back at Ashford Basecamp this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
RMI Guides
Casey Grom and
Solveig Waterfall reported a nice day with light breeze, no clouds in sight and temperature near 30 degrees from the summit of Mt. Rainier. The
Four Day Summit Climb team members were able to enjoy the views on the summit before starting their descent just before 8 a.m.
We look forward to seeing them back in Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's summit teams!
RMI Guide
Pete Van Deventer led the
Four Day Summit Climb July 27 - 30 to the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The
Five Day Summit Climb July 26 - 30 led by
Solveig Waterfall also topped out this morning. The teams reached the crater rim around 6:30 a.m. They reported clear skies, light wind and chilly temperatures. They were able to enjoy the view from the summit for 1 hour before beginning their descent. The teams will return to Camp Muir and then continue their descent to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's teams!
The last guided climb of the
Denali 2012 season is done and down. Safe. But, without a summit, which happens sometimes. We got together in Talkeetna way back at the end of June—eight climbers and four guides—and we talked strategy and packed gear and we were issued permits. And, since the weather was a little sloppy, we didn’t fly immediately. Instead, we ate some more and drank some more and talked a bit more strategy. But on the 29th of June, we did get to fly into the Alaska Range and of course it was worth the wait.
As is always the case in late season, we’d been concerned as to how well put-together the lower glacier might be, but a few minutes flight over the Kahiltna in a de Havilland Otter convinced us it had been a good year for snow. Once on the ground (7,200 feet on the Southest Fork of the Kahiltna) we reviewed glacier travel techniques and waited for the middle of the night so as to allow the glacier surface to freeze solid. It did just that and we moved out early the next morning. We made pretty decent progress those first days… camp at 7,800 feet, move to 9,500 feet, migrate on up to 11,000 feet. As always, we started doing “carries” at 11,000 feet… climbing high and sleeping low so as to let our bodies catch up to the altitude. The gang was healthy and doing great and the weather was workable… if not stable. It was snowy and cloudy somewhere each and every day… just not exactly on top of us, and so we were able to make good use of the days.
The mountain got a lot more interesting as we left the valleys and ventured up onto the ridges on our move to
Genet Basin at 14,200 feet. We “caught up” to about a dozen guide parties from other companies there and everybody was still optimistic about climbing high and making the top. We’d been on the mountain for a week at that point. But it started snowing. And then it seriously started snowing. Teams began to run out of food and fuel and quit the mountain. Then it snowed about two feet in 24 hours and we had an avalanche problem. The problem was that we believed there was instability on the steep slopes we needed to climb up in order to make any progress and there was no solution but to wait for stability. Which didn’t come.
We needed hot, sunny days to settle the problem and instead we got day after day of a little more cloud, snow and wind. Teams quit and descended… one after another. Finally, we teamed up with the last two guided parties on the hill to bust trail and evaluate hazard and perhaps find a way to the “fixed ropes” leading to the crest of the
West Buttress. The mission took all day and required some dicey belays across “whumping” snow, but it resulted in a workable and safe track to the ropes… we were back in business. Until it snowed that night and the next morning.
Back at square one with a new hazard and no track. The other guided teams quit the mountain that day and we stayed another two days in a last attempt at getting some sort of good luck. But that didn’t come, just more snow and more clouds and more predictions for snow and clouds. We spent about 12 days at 14,200 feet and then we turned our backs on the summit and started busting trail down through the powder. Things got easier as we got lower on the mountain and we were at the SE Fork again by morning of our 19th day on the hill. And the weather cleared magnificently then… allowing a view of the summit we hadn’t reached, but also making the flight off possible.
Showers and dinners and drinks and beds in Talkeetna were pretty good, even without a summit. We’ll get it next time.
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
I'd intended to wake the climbing team at 2 AM for their final day on Denali, but folks were snoring so hard at that hour that it seemed kinder to wait until three. Besides, our camp at 7,800' on the
Kahiltna Glacier was blanketed with cloud and I didn't figure the snow surface had frozen up. But at three, the clouds began to flee and the snow got crusty, making sled-pulling and crevasse-crossing vastly easier and safer. We ate a hot breakfast, knocked down the tents and hit the trail at 5:15. There actually was a trail since a West Rib team had gone out the evening before, plowing an easy-to-follow groove in what had then been soft snow. After weeks of telling the team how tricky it could be to get through the lower glacier in mid-July, I was almost embarrassed that our task had become so simple. As we cruised along in the early morning shadows it was something of a surprise to realize that we were finding better bridges and fewer open crevasses than on our way in. The constant snowstorms that kept us from climbing high had greatly improved conditions down low. We made it to the Southeast Fork in just a couple of hours and began a slow walk up "Heartbreak Hill". The last of the clouds seemed to evaporate, leaving us in bright sunshine and giving us excellent views of Mount Hunter and Mount Foraker. By 9:30 AM we were unclipping our carabiners and shaking hands at the "upper strip". Since it was the first clear day over the
Alaska Range in some time and there was a lot of flying to be done, we had to wait our turn for a pickup. But waiting was pretty easy in such wonderful conditions... we rolled out sleeping pads and napped, threw snowballs, and nibbled at the last delicacies in what -until then- had been our carefully rationed lunch food. K2 Aviation landed two beautiful DeHaviland Otters at precisely 4 PM. Fifteen minutes later we slid down the runway and off the mountain that had been our home for 19 days.
The flight out in perfect summer weather -our first of the trip- was spectacular. A million shades of green dazzled our eyes as we left the mountains and neared Talkeetna. Then it was a few frenzied hours of drying and sorting gear in the hot sunshine. With the chores done, we got to the pleasant and easy hours of celebrating over a fine dinner at the West Rib Pub. And finally there was the obligatory visit to The Fairview where open mike night was already in progress. Our Norwegian teammate, Frode, took the stage and had the big stuffed animal heads rocking off the walls with his thundering rendition of Hootchie Cootchie Man. And that was how our Denali climb ended... Without a summit, but with a lot of laughter and twelve new friends.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
Back down at 8,000 ft on the Kahiltna Glacier. We packed things up at 14K this morning with the usual mix of clouds and clearing. Nobody was looking upward any longer even though the peak was out. Our focus became getting down safely. We went into the clouds and murk as we came around
Windy Corner. Walking in fresh powder with big packs and sleds was a challenge, but we were able to find the remains of a packed trail under the powder for much of the day. We took a good rest at 11k as we dug up our cache there and switched out crampons for snowshoes. Travel on the upper Kahiltna was much less complicated than the steep hills we began the journey with. We found excellent glacier conditions and even came out of the clouds a little below 10,000 ft. At the base of Ski Hill we set a quick camp, had dinner and dove in the tents for a few hours of rest. We'll give the glacier surface a chance to freeze up hard before we aim for the airstrip in the morning.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
hi . my name is mike . i am brand new to the area from georgia, and a through hiker of the appalachian trail, to my surprise these mountains are nothing like im used to ;) trying to find info about hiking rainer hopefully in the peak season of 2013 . any info or traing etc.. would be very helpfull. thanks . happy hiking
Posted by: mike harris on 1/11/2013 at 10:57 am
Wishing the team much success. A special SHOUT OUT to Phil Goss from the Trustmark Clan - we’re all rooting for ya’ Phil!
Posted by: Lorena Reyes on 9/27/2012 at 6:19 am
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