June 23, 2016

Our ultimate goal at IMG is to ensure that our clients have the best (and safest) experience possible, regardless of who they are, how long they’ve been climbing, or whether or not they reach the summit. So, we were thrilled to receive an email on Tuesday from one of our clients, Dawn Tanner, to tell us how impressed she was with IMG. About two weeks ago, Dawn and her husband, Jordan, climbed with us on Rainier. Although she didn’t make it to the summit, she was an exceptional client with an amazing story, which she graciously allowed us to share here on our blog. Here’s Dawn:

It’s been a couple weeks since Jordan and my Mt. Rainier climb and I continue to reflect on just how great of an experience we had, how amazing our group (specifically our guides) was and how very glad we are that we chose to climb with IMG.

I wanted to share with you a little more about why this climb was so special to me.  I was 9 years old when I was diagnosed with leukemia. I completed a 2 1/2 year long protocol of chemotherapy successfully and was off treatment for aprox. 10 months when the cancer returned.  My relapse was much harder to treat, I developed secondary infections and fractures that landed me in the ICU for months with dismal hope of survival.  I was very sick and was unable to walk for a little less than a year.  Around this time St. Jude had just started performing bone marrow transplants and I was very blessed that my youngest brother was a perfect bone marrow match, so in 1993 I had a bone marrow transplant (at that time a very new, risky treatment) and by the grace of God have been cancer free since that time.

While I was in the hospital a close friend of my family decided to climb Mt. Rainier and he ended up climbing in my honor.  He told me that he climbed the mountain for me and that one day he knew I would be healthy and strong enough to climb Mt. Rainier myself.  I’ve been dreaming about climbing Mt. Rainier since that time.

I have been blessed with good health and the ability to maintain an active, healthy life for the last 20+ years and I’ve successfully completed many different events, but climbing Mt. Rainier was always a huge goal.  I trained hard for our climb and was without a doubt in the best shape that I’ve ever been prior to our climb – but I would not have made it far at all without the amazing guides that lead our climb.

Max, Dan, Betsy, Rob and Eric went above and beyond what anyone could ever hope for from their guides (and Angie was great, too)!  From the very start of the climb throughout the entire 3 days they were fun, encouraging and it was very clear that they did everything that they possibly could to make our climb the best that it possibly could be.  Each of them in different ways helped to make my climb a successful one that I thoroughly enjoyed.  From the great meals, to the fun stories along the way, to the constant help and encouragement every single time that I needed it … they truly made the experience better than I ever could have hoped for.

At the meeting on Monday following our return back to IMG we were told “IMG is only as good as our guides.” Well, your guides are not only exceptional mountaineers, but they are also really great people – and they make IMG exceptional!  I am so very glad that we chose to climb with IMG. I’m sure that we will climb again and we will certainly always climb with IMG from now on (and advise everyone that we know to do the same) – it couldn’t possibly get any better!

I cannot thank everyone (specifically our guides) enough for an experience better than we ever could have hoped for!

Thank you.

Thank you again, Dawn, for climbing with IMG and for letting us share your story. We hope to see you again soon.

June 20, 2016

It isn’t the typical climb that two clients get engaged, but apparently last Thursday’s DC trip wasn’t typical at all. Yup, two of our clients, Kathryn Hardcastle and John Carter, are getting married! Upon hearing the news, we at the office were pretty excited and decided to buy a gift for them. We couldn’t find any champagne, so a case of Rainier beer would have to do instead. At least we put a pretty bow on it.

Leave it to Mt. Rainier to still be romantic and beautiful despite the mandatory blue bag usage.

Congratulations, Kathryn and John!

June 13, 2016

With all the posting we do about Rainier climbs, we don’t always provide a blow-by-blow for every trip. Luckily, I got the chance to jump on a trip myself last weekend. We ended up with beautiful (read: warm) weather, way more photos than anyone should take in a three-day period, and now a detailed report of our trip.

Our climbers showed up to their half day on June 2^nd right on time with all of their gear. Needless to say, we were off to a great start. After everyone got their gear all sorted out and knew how to use it and pack it away, everyone (or at least most of us) went to sleep early to prepare for the climb.

Our second day was where the fun really began. We gathered together bright and early, introduced ourselves, and took a group photo.  After our photo, we drove off to Paradise, where we unloaded our van, laced up our boots, and made one final stop to a flush toilet. Then we headed uphill! Because it’s relatively early in the season, very little of the trail is melted out, so we walked on snow the entire first day. But just because it was snowy, doesn’t mean it was cold. In fact, our trip up the Muir snowfield was hot and sweaty, even with thin clothing and sun protection. Luckily, we moved fairly quickly into camp and we got to spend a couple hours relaxing before dinner. Our dinner was excellently prepared (credit to guides Betsy Dain-Owens and Dan Zokaites), and we all agreed that all burritos should have snap peas in them to provide additional texture.

The next morning, after another lovely meal of pancakes and bacon, we had a mellow few hours of training at Muir. The group learned cramponing techniques, self-arresting, and how to travel together on a rope, all invaluable skills for the upper mountain. I have to say, it looked pretty nice to slide around in the slushy snow on such a hot day. Once everyone had honed their skills, we roped up and headed through Cathedral gap and onto Ingraham flats, a short journey. At camp, we moved into our tents and discussed our upcoming summit day. We ate an early dinner, which was again excellent (Betsy is just really good at cooking!) and went to sleep. “Sleep” is used loosely here, as it was broad daylight for about four of the seven hours before we had to wake up again at midnight.

Summit morning is my personal favorite part of every climb. It’s certainly not fun to wake up in the middle of the night, crawl out of your warm sleeping bag and walk for several hours in the cold and dark, but it’s what carries you to your ultimate goal. Beyond that, a group that suffers together stays together! Summit day is where you really get to bond with your fellow climbers, even if it’s through commiseration.

On our summit morning, we woke up at midnight, ate a little breakfast, drank some coffee (mercifully), packed up and headed uphill. It happened to be about as warm as it gets on a Rainier summit day, although that’s not saying much. After about an hour and a half of walking, we made it to the top of the Disappointment Cleaver, which was only about a third rock (because it’s early in the season and it hasn’t quite melted out). A few turned back but the rest of us continued on towards the summit. Because two of our guides, Dan Zokaites and Eric Schafer, had done some route work the day before, our path was nicely shoveled out and smooth. At around seven in the morning, we arrived on the crater rim, tired but thrilled to be there!

Three of us walked across the crater to the summit register, where we signed for our group, and then walked up to Columbia Crest, which is technically the highest point on the mountain (although anywhere on the crater rim is officially the summit). Once we had taken a few pictures, we started walking back down. Descending, in my mind, can be the worst part of climbing, particularly if you have my knees. It does, however, go pretty quick, so we made it to the top of the cleaver and down to Ingraham flats in a relatively short stretch of time.

At the flats, we made a quick stop to pack up our gear, get some water, and put on some sunscreen.  The trip to Muir, where we had a longer break, went quickly even though it was roasting hot outside. After we’d disposed of our blue bags (yum) we started back down the snowfield. The conditions on the snowfield were perfect if you like boot-skiing and glissading: just perfect slushy snow all the way back down to the parking lot. Hot days do have their upsides!

Even though we had a great climb, it was nice to make it back to the parking lot and back to HQ. In celebration of our summits, we received summit certificates and signed IMG’s 2016 summit board. That’s a perfectly good way to celebrate an accomplishment like climbing Mt. Rainier, but my personal favorite post-climb treat is trading in my wet mountaineering boots for some flip flops. Ultimately, the satisfaction of a successful climb comes from the actual act of putting in hard work, not whether or not you reached the summit. Fighting through the cold, tiredness, and type 2 fun is both the accomplishment and the reward, along with the satisfaction of looking up at a mountain and knowing that you were there.

Angie Diana
IMG Intern