April 24, 2018

IMG Senior Guide Betsy Dain-Owens reports that the good weather continues on Mt. Rainier! The team had a great day of training around their first camp yesterday and opted to take advantage of the good weather and head up to Camp Muir today.  Getting up to Camp Muir this time of year is a big day so that was pretty much their only goal for today.

Mission accomplished…sort of. Once at Muir they still had a little bit of work to do! Snow has blown in and blocked some of the doors and buildings around Muir. One surefire way to keep warm at Camp Muir is to pick up a shovel. The good news is that there are plenty of shovels to go around.

All is well on Mt. Rainier!

Tye Chapman

April 22, 2018

Great view in perfect weather from Lower Cornice Camp (Dustin Balderach)

Clear blue skies and moderate temperatures met IMG’s final 2018 Denali Seminar as they arrived in Paradise on Sunday. In fact, if the forecast holds they should receive beautiful weather the whole week as they work their way up the mountain. Fingers crossed!

Already today the team has covered some basic knots, fixed rope ascension, sled rigging and are on their way to the first camp. These Seminars are always chock full of learning experiences, regardless of weather.  Bad weather dials in your camp and self care skills, while good weather should allow this team to complete significant work on their technical skills. Its day one of a long trip and you can’t ask for a better start!

Robert Jantzen

April 11, 2018

Paradise Webcam Screenshot (April 11, 2018)

The Denali Prep Team checked in by radio again today reporting that they’ve opted to hang tight another day to train.  They’ve got their eyes on a frontal system that’s moving into the area. It’s likely bringing a good bit of precip (snow) with it, so better to hunker down & take advantage of what Mt. Rainier gives them. The good news is that there is plenty to do, and great terrain to train on in the area.  After breakfast the team loaded up for the day and ventured from their camp on Mazama Ridge, over to the nearby Paradise Glacier.

Tye Chapman

April 10, 2018

Paradise Webcam – Mt. Rainier National Park

IMG Senior Guide Nickel Wood radioed in from Mazama Ridge on the lower flanks of Mt. Rainier today.  After a road closure on Sunday, the team was able to get into Mt. Rainier National Park & up to the Paradise parking lot yesterday. All the prep work was done, so once they got to the parking lot it was go time. They put the packs on and grabbed their pre-rigged sleds and made their way to camp. Once in camp, the team got right to work digging tent platforms & building wind walls around their tents.

The plan for today is to hang tight around camp and train. If the weather improves they’ll move up to Camp Muir or an intermediate camp along the way. Patience is part of the training!  Hopefully the guys will be able to sneak out a photo. For now we’re stuck looking at the webcam!

Tye Chapman