February 24, 2015
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- Working the snowfield (Photo by Susan Ershler)
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- The Beehive on Mt. Rainier. (Photo by Josh McDowell)
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- One hell of a sunrise! (Photo by Josh McDowell)
The first Rainier program of the year, a Winter Ascent Seminar, is up at Camp Muir having a blast. They started out here at IMG with a gear check on Saturday. Then on Sunday they went straight to Camp Muir. It’s a long day to go all the way to Muir in the winter, especially with heavy packs. They had great weather, took it slow and steady, and pull into Camp Muir at 4:30 in good form. They bumped into Phil and Sue Ershler on the snowfield; it’s always nice to see a friendly face, even if he is the boss.
Yesterday was a spent scouting and exploring the Camp Muir area. The team spent some time climbing on and around The Beehive. Afterwards, IMG Guides Josh McDowell and Cedric Gamble scouted Gib Ledges. They didn’t like what they saw so they opted to give the Ingraham Direct a shot today. Given the weather forecast, their only window for getting on the upper mountain was likely today. They gave it a shot, but once they got through the Cathedral Gap and up to The Flats, Josh and Cedric didn’t like the conditions and opted to turn around at 11,300ft. Pretty safe bet they enjoyed the sunrise!
Unless the weather forecast improves, the rest of the week will be spent learning skills like climbing on fixed lines, anchor building, crevasse rescue and avalanche safety.
Tye Chapman